Fukuoka World Championships: The Chinese team won one bronze medal and broke three Asian records! Zhang Yufei | China Team | Fukuoka World Championships
The highlight of the Fukuoka World Championships swimming competition kicked off on the 23rd. The Chinese team won a bronze medal in the women's 4x100m freestyle relay, while Qin Haiyang and Zhang Yufei advanced to the finals with first place in their respective events. On that day, three world records were also broken.
In the women's 4x100m freestyle relay final, the Chinese team sent Cheng Yujie, Yang Junxuan, Wu Qingfeng, and Zhang Yufei to compete. The four of them put in all their efforts and ultimately broke the Asian record with a time of 3:32.40 seconds, winning a bronze medal. The Australian team broke the world record with a time of 3 minutes 27.96 seconds and won the championship. The US team won a silver medal with a time of 3 minutes and 31.93 seconds.
On July 23rd, Chinese team players Zhang Yufei, Wu Qingfeng, Yang Junxuan, and Cheng Yujie participated in the final. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Xu Chang
Yang Junxuan said, "Everyone performed exceptionally well, and this medal was also won by everyone. I hope on the first day we can boost our morale and our teammates can also create good results in the future."
Zhang Yufei, who swam the last stroke, also participated in the women's 100m butterfly semi-finals on the same day and ranked first to advance to the finals with a time of 56.40 seconds. In the women's 200m medley semifinals, Yu Yiting and Ye Shiwen advanced to the finals with second and seventh place respectively.
Looking ahead to the final, Zhang Yufei said, "The goal will not change, it must be aimed at the championship. Before coming to Fukuoka, the coach set a time of swimming in 56 seconds. I set my own time of swimming in 56.1 seconds. As long as I can achieve this result, I will give myself a 90 point mark."
On July 23rd, Chinese athlete Zhang Yufei competed in the women's 100m butterfly preliminaries. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Xia Yifang
The Chinese men's 4X100 meter freestyle relay also made a breakthrough. Pan Zhanle, Chen Juner, Wang Changhao, and Wang Haoyu performed excellently and ultimately finished fourth with a time of 3 minutes and 11.38 seconds, breaking the Asian record and also the best result for the Chinese team in this event at the World Championships. The Australian team won the championship with a time of 3 minutes and 10.16 seconds, while the Italian team and the American team finished second and third respectively.
Chinese athlete Qin Haiyang was in great form that day, breaking the Asian record with a time of 58.26 seconds and ranking first in the men's 100m breaststroke preliminaries. In the semi-finals that evening, his form was even better than the preliminary rounds, surpassing the other players by half a meter after 50 meters. In the end, he broke the Asian record again with a time of 57.82 seconds and advanced to the finals as the first place. Yan Zibei advanced to the final with fourth place.
On July 23rd, Chinese athlete Qin Haiyang competed in the men's 100m breaststroke semifinals. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhang Xiaoyu
In addition to winning two relay championships, the Australian team also won gold medals in the men's and women's 400m freestyle on the same day. Tokyo Olympic champion Titus broke the women's 400m freestyle world record and won the gold medal with a time of 3:55:38. American superstar Ledecki and New Zealand athlete Fairweather won silver and bronze medals respectively. Chinese athlete Li Bingjie ranked fifth.
In the men's 400m freestyle final, 19-year-old Australian athlete Samuel Short competed fiercely with Tunisian athlete Hafnavi, the champion of the event at the Tokyo Olympics, in the final 100 meters. In the end, Short narrowly won with a time of 3: 40.68 seconds, and Hafnavi won the silver medal with a time of 3: 40.70 seconds. The third place is German athlete Lucas Martens.
On July 23rd, French athlete Marchamp and American star Phelps took a group photo at the award ceremony. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Xia Yifang
French athlete Marchamp broke the long forgotten men's 400m medley world record with a time of 4:02:50. The original world record was set by American athlete Phelps at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. American athlete Foster and Japanese superstar Seto Da also ranked second and third respectively.
