China’s swimming prodigy attracts world reward and a word of warning

HONG KONG — A 12-year-old Chinese swimmer has turn into a worldwide sensation along with her history-making instances, whilst observers and followers again dwelling warning in opposition to overhyping the younger athlete.

On Thursday, Yu Zidi turned the youngest-ever medalist on the World Aquatics Championships, that are being held in Singapore this 12 months.

Yu was a part of the Chinese workforce that took bronze within the ladies’s 4×200-meter freestyle relay, with the United States profitable silver and Australia profitable gold. Though she didn’t compete within the remaining, she obtained a medal as a result of she swam within the qualifying race.

“I was really excited to join the relay. It felt great,” Yu informed reporters Thursday. “The World Championships are fun, and I hope to swim faster.”

The Chinese prodigy started swimming round age 6 simply to beat the warmth in her dwelling province of Hebei. She stated she by no means considered changing into knowledgeable athlete till a coach approached her at a swimming pool at some point.

“At the time, I thought: why not give training a try?” Yu informed Xinhua, China’s state-run information company, in May.

Yu, who can also be the youngest individual to medal at a serious worldwide competitors since 1936, might earn a person medal on Sunday within the ladies’s 400-meter medley. Her instances are so quick that they allowed her to compete on the World Aquatics Championships despite the fact that the minimal age requirement is often 14.

She has already come near medaling in two different occasions in Singapore, lacking the rostrum by 0.06 seconds within the ladies’s 200-meter medley on Monday and 0.31 seconds within the ladies’s 200-meter butterfly on Thursday.

At the Chinese nationwide championships in May, Yu completed the 200-meter particular person medley with a time of two:10.63, profitable a silver medal and setting a world document within the occasion for any 12-year-old, male or feminine.

Hailed because the world’s best swimmer her age, Yu has been in comparison with phenoms comparable to Katie Ledecky of the United States and Summer McIntosh of Canada, with instances that might have put her on the verge of medaling on the 2024 Paris Olympics. Already, Yu is swimming the 400-meter particular person medley about 15 seconds quicker than McIntosh was on the identical age.

Her gorgeous efficiency earlier than she’s even a young person has many questioning how she would possibly form aggressive swimming within the years to come back.

But some Chinese sports activities followers and commentators have urged the general public to not overhype the preteen rising star.

Yu’s sudden fame could expose her to “disproportionate” stress that might maintain her from reaching her full potential, the state-backed digital information outlet Shanghai Observer stated in an editorial Thursday.

“We must let this 12-year-old grow her splash slowly into a wave,” it stated, including that there’s “no need to rush into hero worship.”

The warning hinted at a shift in how China promotes its elite athletes within the wake of persistent doping allegations and what has been criticized as a “toxic” fan tradition.

Success on the highest ranges of sport has been central to China’s building of nationwide id, with the federal government targeted on dominating medal tables on the Olympics and different occasions.

But the push for gold medals additionally places quite a lot of stress on the international locations’ star athletes, as does the depth of public scrutiny.

Organized sports activities fandom first emerged round 2016 when Chinese social media customers, jaded by intercourse scandals that had tarnished the healthful picture of pop stars they beforehand adored, started following Olympic athletes as an alternative, stated Zhang Bin, a veteran sports activities commentator in China.

The new followers introduced “sophisticated strategies” from the leisure trade, setting off “fandom wars” amongst totally different teams that attempted to outdo one another in supporting their athletes, Zhang stated.

China’s excessive sports activities fan tradition, which may embody fan mobs, cyberbullying of athletes and heckling habits at sports activities occasions, was particularly seen across the Paris Olympics final 12 months.

When gold-medal-winning diver Quan Hongchan returned to her hometown, guests flocked to her dwelling for days. Some livestreamed with their telephones whereas others flew drones, and journey businesses even began providing excursions of her village.

Pan Zhanle, an Olympic champion swimmer, was praised for disbanding his official fan group after his success on the Paris Games overwhelmed him with a surge of latest followers.

The Chinese authorities has been cracking down, with its our on-line world watchdog saying in April that it had shut down over 3,700 social media accounts with unlawful or noncompliant content material aimed toward Chinese athletes.

But generally the frenzy goes past the web. Chinese desk tennis participant Fan Zhendong, an Olympic gold medalist, stated he was traumatized when a stranger sneaked into his resort room in 2023.

“I never thought, as an athlete, I would have to go through something like this,” he informed Phoenix TV final week, including that organized on-line abuse had induced him “severe” psychological stress that contributed to a number of surprising losses.

Since sports activities prodigies naturally entice followers, fan teams is also a priority for Yu sooner or later, stated Zhang, who was on the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore.

China is usually overprotective of its athletes, nevertheless it “may not be a good thing if Yu is living in isolation like protected giant pandas,” he stated.

“For athletes, learning to interact with the media is a necessary part of their development,” Zhang added.

Jessie Zhou, 23, a graduate pupil in Hong Kong who carefully follows desk tennis star Fan, stated it was a “good call” for Chinese media to cowl Yu in a “restrained tone” whereas excessive sports activities fandom stays unresolved.

“Just let the kid stay focused on training,” Zhou stated.