Twelve-year-old Yu Zidi has etched her name into the record books by becoming the youngest swimmer ever to claim a medal at the World Aquatics Championships.
The Chinese prodigy contributed to her country’s bronze-medal finish in the 4x200m freestyle relay, though she did not compete in the final race, where Australia clinched gold and the United States secured silver.
Yu also came close to an individual podium finish in the 200m butterfly final on Thursday, placing fourth.
Her narrowest miss, however, came in the women’s 200-meter medley, where she trailed Canadian bronze medalist Mary-Sophie Harvey by just 0.06 seconds.
Despite her age, Yu qualified to compete under an exception to the championships’ minimum age requirement of 14, granted to swimmers who meet exceptional performance standards.
Her achievement brings back memories of Inge Sorensen, the last 12-year-old to medal at a major international swim event, earning bronze in the 200-meter breaststroke at the 1936 Olympics.
Yu’s rise has ignited a mix of awe and concern. Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live, four-time world champion Karen Pickering described the feat as remarkable but raised questions about the toll it might take on such a young athlete.
“To see a youngster go in the events she is doing is on the one hand astonishing, but it does slightly raise the question of how long has she been training hard?” Pickering said.
