Yu Zidi smashes Asian record for stunning 200m medley gold

Tokyo [Japan], September 22: China's 13-year-old swimming sensation Yu Zidi lit up the Asian Games pool again on Monday as she claimed the ​200 metres individual medley gold medal with a blistering time.
Yu touched in two minutes, 6.10 seconds at the Tokyo Aquatic Centre to smash runner-up Yu Yiting's Asian record (2:06.82) and fall only four-tenths of a second short of 20-year-old ​McIntosh's world record (2:05.70).
"Very excited, very happy. It's an achievement that shows the hard ​work of our team," said Yu, who won the 200m butterfly on Sunday. "I'm happier with the second gold medal than the first.
"She's a strong opponent who motivates ​me to improve and work harder," she added of 21-year-old Chinese teammate Yu.
Zidi closes in on Summer McIntosh's world record
Olympics.com adds: Yu Zidi is now less than half a second away from Summer McIntosh's 200m individual medley world record.
In the opening two days of the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games 2026, Yu has already won two gold medals, opening with a Games record of 2:05.08 in the women's 200m butterfly, before producing an even more remarkable swim in the 200m individual medley.
Yu powered through the four strokes in 2:06.10, touching the wall in an Asian-record and world-junior-record time and becoming the second-fastest woman in history over the distance, ahead of swimming greats including Katinka Hosszú and Kaylee McKeown.
It is also faster than McIntosh's Paris 2024 Olympic-title-winning time of 2:06.56.
McIntosh's world record (set in 2025) stands at 2:05.70. And Yu is still three years younger than McIntosh was when the Canadian set her first senior world record.
"I feel even happier about this gold medal than the first one," Yu said after claiming her second Asian Games title in the space of 48 hours.
Perhaps the most remarkable thing about Yu, though, is how quickly she refocuses after doing the remarkable.
After winning the 200m butterfly in Games-record time and improving her personal best by 0.9 seconds, she described the swim as merely "so-so". Her technique, she added, is "still slightly lacking", with her head position, reach and leg movement all areas she believes can be improved.
Her speed has certainly come quickly since Yu was first spotted by a swimming coach at the age of six, when her father took her to a water park to cool off during the summer.
Six years later, in 2025, Yu announced herself on the world stage, becoming the sport's youngest ever world championship medallist as part of China's bronze medal-winning 4x200m freestyle relay team. She also finished fourth in each of her three individual events, narrowly missing the podium against swimmers many years her senior. all at the age of 12.
Yu now has the chance to complete the individual treble on Wednesday, when she races the women's 400m individual medley.
In other action, Japan star Shin Ohashi dead-heated with China's Dong Zhihao to give them each a gold in the men's 100m breaststroke.
"I'm really happy to get a gold but it was a tie so it's a little frustrating," said Ohashi. "The feeling is 50-50."
Hong Kong's Siobhan Haughey defended her title in the women's 200m freestyle.
The women's football group stage meeting between North and South Korea was hotly anticipated but turned into a niggly affair which ended 1-1 in Shizuoka.
Palestine baseball team made their debut at Asian Games and although they lost 12-0 to the Philippines their team leader said that just being there "was a win".
"With everything that's going on, what we are trying to do is bring hope to people who do not have a lot of it," said Oney Roberto Guillen Cardenas.
"Just by us being out there on the same stage as countries like Japan ... that's a win in itself."
Hasan Ammar, who registered his team's first hit, said: "This is probably the greatest honour of my life, playing for something so meaningful and on such a big stage.
"You know, two of our teammates were killed in Gaza, and we're playing for them, and we're playing for all the people over there."
Source: Qatar Tribune