At simply 12 years previous, China’s Yu Zidi has made historical past by changing into the youngest-ever medalist on the World Aquatics Championships, incomes bronze within the ladies’s 4×200-meter freestyle relay.
Yu has additionally impressed in her particular person occasions, narrowly lacking out on medals twice this week. In the 200m butterfly, she positioned 4th, simply 0.31 seconds behind Australia’s Elizabeth Dekkers. In the 200m medley on Monday, she completed 0.06 seconds behind bronze medalist Mary-Sophie Harvey of Canada.
She’ll have another probability to step onto the rostrum individually within the 400m medley on Sunday, with each heats and the ultimate scheduled for a similar day.
Yu’s breakout efficiency has reignited debate over age eligibility in elite swimming. World Aquatics presently requires athletes to be not less than 14 years previous to compete within the World Championships, however exceptions are allowed for extraordinary qualifiers like Yu.
“I didn’t think I’d have this conversation, but now I think we have to go back and say, ‘Is this appropriate?’” stated Brent Nowicki, Executive Director of World Aquatics. “Do we need to put guardrails up? Do we allow it under certain conditions? I don’t know the answer yet.”
As the worldwide swimming neighborhood marvels at Yu Zidi’s expertise, questions on youth athlete welfare, equity, and eligibility requirements are more likely to take middle stage within the months forward.
