12-Year-Old Yu Zidi Proves Future is Bright After Scaring Podium on Three Occasions at World Championships
Not yet a teenager, China’s Yu Zidi was one of the most-watched athletes at the 22nd edition of the World Championships, which concluded on Sunday in Singapore. Being a 12-year-old prodigy will attract the spotlight, and the youngster’s presence in multiple events ensured plenty of deck time during evening sessions. Being in three finals featuring Summer McIntosh only amplified the attention.
On the final day of action, Yu delivered a career-best time of 4:33.76 in the 400-meter individual medley. The effort left her a half-second behind co-silver medalists Mio Narita (Japan) and Jenna Forrester (Australia), who touched the wall in identical marks of 4:33.26. It was the third fourth-place finish of the meet for Yu, who also narrowly missed the podium in the 200 individual medley and 200 butterfly.
The fact that Yu even qualified for the World Champs was a testament to her precocious talent. That she nearly secured a medal in three individual events suggests a future filled with promise. To put her youth in perspective, Yu will only be 15 years old when the 2028 Olympic Games are held in Los Angeles.
Yu opened the World Champs by nearly grabbing the bronze medal in the 200 individual medley, where she was .06 behind Canada’s Mary-Sophie Harvey, who went 2:09.15 to the 2:09.21 of Yu. In the 200 butterfly, Yu’s swim of 2:06.43 left her .31 back of Australian bronze medalist Elizabeth Dekkers (2:06.12). Add in her fourth-place showing in the 400 medley and Yu missed the podium by a combined .87 over her three solo disciplines.
Yu didn’t walk away empty-handed from Singapore. As a prelims performer in the 800 freestyle relay, Yu was awarded a bronze medal, the finish for China in the final. That medal made the pre-teen the youngest medalist in global competition in 89 years. At the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, Denmark’s Inge Sorensen earned the bronze medal in the 200 breaststroke less than a month after turning 12 years old. Yu won’t turn 13 until October.
There is no global championship in 2026, but Yu will still get the chance to compete at a high level at the Asian Games, scheduled for September in Japan’s Aichi Prefecture. Meanwhile, Chinese Nationals will offer the opportunity for elite competition.
Will Yu continue her rapid ascension toward the top of the sport? Time will answer that question. If nothing else, she is a unqiue talent who has shown she belongs.
