HONG KONG — A 12-year-old Chinese language swimmer has turn into a worldwide sensation together with her history-making occasions, at the same time as observers and followers again residence warning in opposition to overhyping the younger athlete.
On Thursday, Yu Zidi grew to become the youngest-ever medalist on the World Aquatics Championships, that are being held in Singapore this yr.
Yu was a part of the Chinese language workforce that took bronze within the ladies’s 4×200-meter freestyle relay, with the US successful silver and Australia successful gold. Although she didn’t compete within the last, she obtained a medal as a result of she swam within the qualifying race.
“I used to be actually excited to affix the relay. It felt nice,” Yu instructed reporters Thursday. “The World Championships are enjoyable, and I hope to swim quicker.”
The Chinese language prodigy started swimming round age 6 simply to beat the warmth in her residence province of Hebei. She stated she by no means considered turning into knowledgeable athlete till a coach approached her at a swimming pool someday.
“On the time, I assumed: why not give coaching a attempt?” Yu instructed Xinhua, China’s state-run information company, in Might.
Yu, who can 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 occasions are so quick that they allowed her to compete on the World Aquatics Championships though the minimal age requirement is normally 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.
On the Chinese language nationwide championships in Might, Yu completed the 200-meter particular person medley with a time of two:10.63, successful 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 resembling Katie Ledecky of the US and Summer time McIntosh of Canada, with occasions that may 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 similar age.
Her gorgeous efficiency earlier than she’s even a youngster has many questioning how she would possibly form aggressive swimming within the years to return.
However some Chinese language 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” strain that would preserve her from reaching her full potential, the state-backed digital information outlet Shanghai Observer stated in an editorial Thursday.
“We should let this 12-year-old develop her splash slowly right into a wave,” it stated, including that there’s “no must 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 “poisonous” fan tradition.
Success on the highest ranges of sport has been central to China’s building of nationwide identification, with the federal government targeted on dominating medal tables on the Olympics and different occasions.
However the push for gold medals additionally places a variety of stress on the nations’ star athletes, as does the depth of public scrutiny.
Organized sports activities fandom first emerged round 2016 when Chinese language 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 brand new followers introduced “subtle methods” from the leisure trade, setting off “fandom wars” amongst completely different teams that attempted to outdo one another in supporting their athletes, Zhang stated.
China’s excessive sports activities fan tradition, which might embrace fan mobs, cyberbullying of athletes and heckling habits at sports activities occasions, was particularly seen across the Paris Olympics final yr.
When gold-medal-winning diver Quan Hongchan returned to her hometown, guests flocked to her residence 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 Video games overwhelmed him with a surge of recent followers.
The Chinese language 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 language athletes.
However typically the frenzy goes past the web. Chinese language desk tennis participant Fan Zhendong, an Olympic gold medalist, stated he was traumatized when a stranger sneaked into his resort room in 2023.
“I by no means thought, as an athlete, I must undergo one thing like this,” he instructed Phoenix TV final week, including that organized on-line abuse had brought about him “extreme” psychological stress that contributed to a number of surprising losses.
Since sports activities prodigies naturally appeal to followers, fan teams may be 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, but it surely “is probably not an excellent factor if Yu resides in isolation like protected big pandas,” he stated.
“For athletes, studying to work together with the media is a needed a part of their improvement,” Zhang added.
Jessie Zhou, 23, a graduate scholar in Hong Kong who carefully follows desk tennis star Fan, stated it was a “good name” for Chinese language media to cowl Yu in a “restrained tone” whereas excessive sports activities fandom stays unresolved.
“Simply let the child keep targeted on coaching,” Zhou stated.
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