TOKYO: China’s 13-year-old swimming sensation Yu Zidi completed a hat-trick of gold medals at the 2026 Asian Games after winning the women’s 400-meter individual medley in a new Games-record time of 4 minutes 28.56 seconds.
Yu led the race from the start and finished 3.95 seconds ahead of compatriot Ke Wenxi, who took silver. Japan’s Mio Narita claimed the bronze medal.
Her winning time improved the previous Asian Games record, set by China’s Ye Shiwen in 2014, by almost 4.5 seconds. The performance was also the fourth-fastest time in the world this year, with Canadian world-record holder Summer McIntosh holding the three faster marks.
The victory completed Yu’s clean sweep of her three individual events in Tokyo. She had already won gold in the 200m butterfly and 200m individual medley, setting Games records in both events.
Yu’s 200m individual medley victory came in 2:06.10, just 0.40 seconds outside McIntosh’s world record of 2:05.70. Her 200m butterfly gold was won in 2:05.08.
The teenager also made history last year by becoming the youngest medalist at the World Aquatics Championships, winning a bronze medal as part of China’s women’s 4x200m freestyle relay team at the age of 12.
Speaking after her latest victory, Yu said she had gained a lot from the Asian Games but also had areas she wanted to improve. She said she would continue working hard and reviewing aspects of her performance after returning home.