NAGOYA, Japan, Sept 25 (Reuters) – China’s Zhang Zhanshuo became the first swimmer to win seven gold medals at a single Asian Games on Friday, capping a dominant campaign in the pool with victory in the men’s 400 metres freestyle.
The 19-year-old Zhang marked the achievement by counting his golds on his fingers after winning in a Games-record three minutes, 41.28 seconds. Japan’s Kazushi Imafuku finished a distant second.
Zhang had already won the 200m, 400m and 1,500m freestyle titles, along with three relay golds, surpassing the six-gold hauls of compatriot Zhang Yufei at Hangzhou in 2022 and Japan’s Rikako Ikee at Jakarta in 2018.
Only North Korean shooter So Gin-man, who won seven golds and a silver at the 1982 New Delhi Games, has won more medals of any colour at a single Asian Games.
“The Asian Games is not the goal. I’m still aiming for the Olympics and competing with the best,” Zhang said.
His performances helped China finish the swimming programme with 30 gold medals from 41 events, while Japan were second with seven titles.
The Games have also highlighted a new generation of young swimmers. China’s 13-year-old Yu Zidi won three gold medals, while Japan’s 17-year-old Shin Ohashi claimed the men’s 200m breaststroke title in a world record.
Ohashi was denied another title by China’s Qin Haiyang, who retained his men’s 50m breaststroke crown. Zhang Yufei won the women’s 50m butterfly for her fourth gold of the Games, while Ikee took bronze.
Miracle for Yulo
Philippines Olympic champion Carlos Yulo won his second gymnastics gold of the Games on Friday, taking the men’s vault title ahead of Iran’s Mahdi Olfati, with Hong Kong’s Ng Ka-ki claiming bronze.
Yulo, who won the floor exercise on Thursday, said he had struggled to qualify for the vault final and was relieved to secure another gold.
“Today was really a miracle for me,” he said.
“I was really scared in the training hall when I tried my vault and couldn’t land it properly, but I trusted myself.”
China’s dominance in another sport was also broken on Friday when Japan defeated the defending champions 3-2 to win the men’s table tennis team gold for the first time since Beijing in 1990.
Tomokazu Harimoto was the key figure for Japan, winning two matches, including a 3-0 victory over twice Olympic champion and world number one Wang Chuqin.
For Harimoto, the victory represented a breakthrough in confidence as well as a sporting achievement.
“What we lacked was proof, and the confidence, that we could beat them once,” he said.
“We got the one thing we’d been missing – confidence.”
