China News Service, Beijing, February 19th. On the 18th local time, the 2024 World Swimming Championships concluded the last competition day in Doha, the capital of Qatar. The newly crowned 100-meter breaststroke champion at the World Championships, China's Tang Qianting, won silver in the women's 50-meter breaststroke final. The Chinese swimming team ended its trip to the Doha World Championships with 7 golds, 3 silvers and 1 bronze.
In the women's 50-meter breaststroke semifinals, Tang Qianting set a new Asian record for the event in 29.80 seconds. In the final, her main opponent was the last world championships women's 50-meter breaststroke champion and Lithuanian star Melutit, who held the world record in this event with a time of 29.16 seconds.
In the final, Tang Qianting started in the fifth lane and followed Melutit in the fourth lane after entering the water. The gold medal competition between the two lasted until the last moment. In the end, the Lithuanian won the gold in 29.40 seconds, and Tang Qianting once again broke the Asian record and won the silver in 29.51 seconds.
After the game, Tang Qianting concluded that the final sprint in the semi-finals was not decisive enough and the finals had to be optimized. In addition, Melutet performed well in the adjacent lane, which also brought her a lot of pressure. "But I am still young, and there is still room for improvement after solving the details." Looking forward to the Paris Olympics, Tang Qianting said that she must continue to adhere to the current training direction and turn the results of this World Championships into motivation.
With Tang Qianting winning the silver medal, the number of medals of the Chinese swimming team in this World Championships has finally been fixed at 7 golds, 3 silvers and 1 bronze. Affected by the schedule, many teams did not send their strongest lineups to compete. The Chinese swimming team also hid Zhang Yufei, Qin Haiyang and other main players, and the contestants sent were mainly new generations.
The Chinese swimming team, headed by a young player, brought a surprise. The number of gold medals won by the Chinese swimming team in this World Championships not only exceeded that of the last World Championships in Fukuoka, but many "famous scenes" also became the highlight moments of the young athletes. Pan Zhanle broke the men's 100-meter freestyle world record, Dong Zhihao came back to win the 200-meter breaststroke, and multiple relays set records and won gold... Many young athletes won their first world championships in Doha, adding more confidence to Chinese swimming. (over)