HONG KONG — A 12-year-old Chinese language swimmer has change into a world sensation together with her history-making instances, whilst observers and followers again house 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 12 months.
Yu was a part of the Chinese language group that took bronze within the girls’s 4×200-meter freestyle relay, with the US profitable silver and Australia profitable gold. Although she didn’t compete within the ultimate, she acquired 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 informed reporters Thursday. “The World Championships are enjoyable, and I hope to swim sooner.”
The Chinese language prodigy started swimming round age 6 simply to beat the warmth in her house province of Hebei. She mentioned she by no means thought of turning into knowledgeable athlete till a coach approached her at a swimming pool sooner or later.
“On the time, I assumed: why not give coaching a strive?” Yu informed Xinhua, China’s state-run information company, in Might.
Yu, who can also be the youngest particular person to medal at a serious worldwide competitors since 1936, may earn a person medal on Sunday within the girls’s 400-meter medley. Her instances are so quick that they allowed her to compete on the World Aquatics Championships although the minimal age requirement is often 14.
She has already come near medaling in two different occasions in Singapore, lacking the rostrum by 0.06 seconds within the girls’s 200-meter medley on Monday and 0.31 seconds within the girls’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, profitable a silver medal and setting a world file 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 reminiscent of Katie Ledecky of the US and Summer time McIntosh of Canada, with instances 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 sooner than McIntosh was on the identical age.
Her beautiful efficiency earlier than she’s even an adolescent has many questioning how she may 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” stress that would maintain her from reaching her full potential, the state-backed digital information outlet Shanghai Observer mentioned in an editorial Thursday.
“We should let this 12-year-old develop her splash slowly right into a wave,” it mentioned, 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 centered on dominating medal tables on the Olympics and different occasions.
However the push for gold medals additionally places a variety of stress on the international locations’ 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 a substitute, mentioned Zhang Bin, a veteran sports activities commentator in China.
The brand new followers introduced “refined methods” from the leisure trade, setting off “fandom wars” amongst totally different teams that attempted to outdo one another in supporting their athletes, Zhang mentioned.
China’s excessive sports activities fan tradition, which may embody fan mobs, cyberbullying of athletes and heckling conduct at sports activities occasions, was particularly seen across the Paris Olympics final 12 months.
When gold-medal-winning diver Quan Hongchan returned to her hometown, guests flocked to her house 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, mentioned 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 informed Phoenix TV final week, including that organized on-line abuse had triggered him “extreme” psychological stress that contributed to a number of sudden losses.
Since sports activities prodigies naturally appeal to followers, fan teams may be a priority for Yu sooner or later, mentioned Zhang, who was on the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore.
China is usually overprotective of its athletes, but it surely “is probably not a great factor if Yu resides in isolation like protected big pandas,” he mentioned.
“For athletes, studying to work together with the media is a needed a part of their improvement,” Zhang added.
Jessie Zhou, 23, a graduate pupil in Hong Kong who carefully follows desk tennis star Fan, mentioned 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 centered on coaching,” Zhou mentioned.
