(Tokyo Olympics) Swimming preview: Five points for one gold and expecting new stars to shine
China News Service, Beijing, July 16th, title: Swimming prospects: Five points for one gold and expecting new stars to shine
China News Agency reporter Gao Kai
The opening of the Tokyo Olympics is just around the corner. As a "veteran" event established since the first Olympic Games, the swimming event will produce 35 gold medals this time. On this fiercely competitive arena, the Chinese swimming team, which has just experienced the transition between the old and the new Whether to retain the glory brought by the gold medal?
Can this national team without Sun Yang usher in a new star?
Will the situation where the US dominates the world swimming world will be shaken?
Five years have passed since the Rio Olympics, and a series of new questions are waiting for new answers.
Five points for one gold
Although it has undergone a substantial transition between the old and the new, and despite the loss of Sun Yang due to the suspension, the Chinese swimming team, which has been preparing for the five-year Special Olympics cycle, still retains many promising events during this trip to Tokyo, and strives to secure one. Kim's goal is not out of reach.
In the men's 100m backstroke, Xu Jiayu will participate in the Olympics for the third time.
At the Rio Olympics, the veteran won the runner-up with a difference of 0.34 seconds.
Xu Jiayu has maintained a good competitive state in recent years by virtue of his technical advantages. This year's domestic competitions have played steadily, maintaining an Asian record of 51.86 seconds.
This time in Tokyo, Xu Jiayu is very hopeful that he will hit the gold medal in this project.
The Chinese team's strongest gold point in Tokyo this time was in the traditionally dominant event in the women's 200-meter butterfly. Liu Zige has maintained the world record of 2:01.81 in this event.
The biggest achievement of the Chinese swimming team in this Olympic cycle is the rookie Zhang Yufei, whose current best score is 2:05.44, which is the world's best score for this event in the past three years.
Another good news is that since last year, the 23-year-old Zhang Yufei's performance on the project has been very stable, and this gold medal is worth looking forward to.
It is worth mentioning that Zhang Yufei, who focuses on the 200-meter butterfly, has made breakthroughs in both short-distance butterfly and freestyle in the past year. If he can perform well in Tokyo, it may bring surprises to the Chinese people.
The Chinese team is also quite strong in the new men's and women's mixed relay event of the Olympic Games.
In the 2020 National Championship, Xu Jiayu, Yan Zibei, Zhang Yufei, and Yang Junxuan joined hands to create a new world record for the men's and women's 4×100m medley relay, making the Chinese team a strong contender for the gold medal in this event.
In addition, in the men's 200-meter medley, Chinese athlete Wang Shun will usher in his third Olympic trip.
He once picked copper for the Rio Olympics. This veteran has maintained a relatively stable high level this Olympic cycle, and Tokyo has a good fight.
Looking forward to new stars
From Zhuang Yong's 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games' first gold in the Chinese swimming Olympics, to 2004 Luo Xuejuan ended the eight-year Olympic champion shortage of the Chinese swimming army in Athens, and then Liu Zige, Sun Yang, Ning Zetao, Ye Shiwen, Jiao Liuyang and other outstanding athletes continued to emerge. In recent Olympic Games, the Chinese swimming team has always had eye-catching players with eye-catching performance to attract people's attention.
Compared with previous Olympics, this Tokyo Olympics is the least number of Chinese swimming team participants.
During this trip to Tokyo, there was no superstar Sun Yang. Ye Shiwen, the former "genius girl", failed to make it to the end due to a decline in her status. Fu Yuanhui, who won the popularity of Chinese netizens with her personality and achievements, also lost the election. In terms of starlight, China Yong Jun seemed a lot bleak.
However, this may be the situation most conducive to the emergence of new stars.
It is understood that this Olympic cycle of the Chinese swimming team is at a critical stage of the transition between the old and the new, and the training of newcomers is regarded as the top priority.
From the combing of the gold points, it is not difficult to see the prominent position of the teenager Zhang Yufei.
The postponement of the Tokyo Olympics gave Zhang Yufei more time and space to grow up.
Zhang Yufei has shown good strength and mental state from 2020. She has repeatedly set her personal best results in the main butterfly and secondary freestyle, and set new Asian and national records one after another. It is reported that she has gradually passed through multiple competitions. Adapted to the rhythm of the morning finals of the Tokyo Olympics.
The swimming floret has constantly refreshed his personal best results in the main event of the 200-meter butterfly. The world's best results in the national championship in May this year are the most straightforward way to provide the Chinese team with sufficient confidence to defend the superior project. .
At the same time, Zhang Yufei is also quite capable in the 100-meter butterfly and relay events. As long as the state of the competition is adjusted, this Jiangsu girl is likely to become a new star of the Chinese swimming army in Tokyo.
U.S. dominance is still difficult to change
Waiting for 5 years, the entire international swimming arena is also looking forward to a new round of testing in the Olympic arena.
In the last Olympic Games, the US team won 16 of 33 swimming gold medals in Rio.
In view of this Olympic cycle, although Japan has played in the favorable status of the host this time, although the superstar Phelps will no longer appear in the stadium, the situation of the United States dominance in this Tokyo Olympics may still be difficult to change.
At the 2019 World Swimming Championships, the US team swept 14 gold medals, once again showing its strong strength.
All along, the US team has obvious advantages in short-distance events, and also has good competitiveness in medley and middle-distance events.
The women's team headed by Ledki can be said to have a strong ability to win gold in the freestyle, backstroke and breaststroke.
For the U.S. swimming team, which has an excellent overall ability and talent pool, the competitiveness in the relay event is even more self-evident.
Throughout the international swimming world, it is still hard to find the force that can shake the dominance of the United States.
At present, outside the United States, the most powerful team is the Australian team, which has gathered famous players such as Chalmers, Wilson, Campbell and Horton. In addition, the Italian women's team, the Hungarian women's team, and the Japanese men's team have also won in certain events. The strength to win the gold medal.
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