China's 13-year-old swimmer Yu Jidi won the gold medal in the women's 200-meter butterfly event at the Asian Games 2026, delivering an outstanding performance.
In the final match held at the Tokyo Aquatics Center, Yu Jidi set a new Asian Games record by clocking a time of 2 minutes 05.08 seconds.
Yu Jidi surpassed the record of 2:05.57 seconds set by China's Olympic champion Zhang Yufei at the Hangzhou Asian Games 2022. She secured the gold medal by defeating her teammate Chang Mohan by more than three seconds, while Japan's Misa Okuzono won the bronze medal.
This is not Yu Jidi's first major international appearance; last year at the World Swimming Championships held in Singapore, she became the youngest medalist at the age of just 12. In that competition, she was part of China's bronze-medal-winning 4x200-meter freestyle relay team and also finished fourth in three individual events.
Earlier this year, Yu Jidi had defeated American Olympic champion Regan Smith in the 200-meter butterfly. Now, on her debut at the Asian Games, she has also set a record with an individual gold medal.
Notably, Yu Jidi will turn 14 next month. The 200-meter butterfly was her first individual event at the Asian Games, and she still has two other individual events to participate in.
Despite the victory, Yu Jidi did not appear completely satisfied with her performance, describing it merely as 'okay.' She believes she has the potential to perform even better. With 13 years old, having become an Asian Games champion and record holder, all eyes are now on Yu Jidi worldwide.
