Asian Games Aichi-Nagoya 2026: Pan Zhanle retains males’s swimming 100m freestyle title with late cost previous Kim Youngbeom in Tokyo

Pan Zhanle retained his Asian Games males’s 100m freestyle title on Sunday (20 September), clocking 47.61 to beat the Republic of Korea’s Kim Youngbeom by 4 hundredths of a second on the Tokyo Aquatics Centre.

Kim led into the closing metres earlier than Pan got here again at him over the ultimate strokes, the world document holder operating the Korean right down to win by 0.04. Kim took silver in 47.65, and Hwang Sunwoo made it two medals for Korea with bronze in 47.79.

Pan’s successful time was outdoors the Games document of 46.97 he set at Hangzhou 2022 and properly wanting the 46.40 world document he produced at Paris 2024. Even so, it was his quickest swim over 100m freestyle since that Olympic closing in France.

He arrived at these Games seeking to regain momentum after a tough 2025, when he missed the 100m freestyle closing on the world championships in Singapore after clocking 47.81 within the semi-finals.

Zhang Zhanshuo completed fourth in 48.23, forward of Japan’s Murasa Tatsuya in 48.40 and Matsumoto Katsuhiro in 48.50.

The swimming programme on the Tokyo Aquatics Centre continues till 25 September. The males’s 100m freestyle may even function at LA28, the place Pan could have the prospect to defend his Olympic title.

Asian Games 2026: Results — males’s 100m freestyle closing

1. Pan Zhanle (CHN) 47.61
2. Kim Youngbeom (KOR) 47.65
3. Hwang Sunwoo (KOR) 47.79
4. Zhang Zhanshuo (CHN) 48.23
5. Murasa Tatsuya (JPN) 48.40
6. Matsumoto Katsuhiro (JPN) 48.50
7. Hassan Ali (QAT) 48.63
8. Trithan Pongpanod (THA) 49.10
9. Tan Jonathan (SGP) 50.21
10. Lee Mikkel (SGP) 52.06