World Junior Championships, Day 5 Finals: Raito Numata Grabs Elusive Gold in 400 IM; Yang Peiqi Triples
Only two championship sessions remain at the World Junior Championships, but they are loaded with anticipation. The Night Five finals on Saturday in Otopeni, Romania will be highlighted by the final of the men’s 400-meter individual medley, where Japan will look to make noise. World junior record holder Yumeki Kojima and Raito Numata, both 16-year-olds, are the future of the event for a country with a rich tradition in the 400 IM.
The fastest heat of the women’s 1500 freestyle will open the session, with China’s Yang Peiqi in search of her third title of the competition. Yang has already captured gold medals in the 400 freestyle and 800 freestyle, in addition to helping China prevail in the 800 freestyle relay. Meanwhile, American Rylee Erisman will contest the semifinals of the 50 freestyle, where she was the sole sub-25 performer during prelims.
Here is an event-by-event recap of the Night Five finals and semifinals:
Women’s 1500 Freestyle (Final)
China’s Yang Peiqi, who was eighth in the 1500 freestyle at the World Championships in Singapore earlier this summer, claimed the global junior crown in the event. Yang was timed in 16:08.37, which handed her a comfortable margin over Russia’s Ksenila Micharina (16:12.63). It was the third individual gold medal of the meet for Yang, who previously won the 400 freestyle and 800 freestyle.
The bronze medal went to Italy’s Emma Vittoria Giannelli in 16:15.40.
Men’s 100 Freestyle (Semifinals)
Great Britain’s Jacob Mills and Italian Carlos D’Ambrosio positioned themselves for a gold-medal duel in the final of the 100 freestyle. Mills (47.74) and D’Ambrosio (47.86) were the only athletes to break the 48-second barrier during the semifinals, with Russia’s Roman Zhidkov more than a second behind in the third spot, thanks to a swim of 48.92.
Mills, who set a personal best with his sub-48 outing, was the silver medalist earlier in the meet in the 50 freestyle. D’Ambrosio has already claimed the 200 free title at World Juniors and has been 47-low in the 100 freestyle during relay duty for Italy.
Women’s 100 Butterfly (Semifinals)
Japan’s Mizuki Hirai locked up the top seed for the final of the 100 butterfly with a championship record. Hirai, who was a finalist in the event at the recent World Championships, registered a swim of 57.02, which bettered the meet standard of 57.25. The former record was set in 2017 by Japan’s Rikako Ikee. Hirai was out in 26.65 and came home in 30.37.
American Audrey Derivaux will chase her fourth individual title of the meet after qualifying second in 57.57. Derivaux has already won gold medals in the 200 backstroke, 200 butterfly and 200 individual medley. She was followed in third by China’s Gong Zhenqi (57.84) while the United States’ Charlotte Crush advanced as the fourth seed in a time of 58.17.
Men’s 50 Butterfly (Final)
Great Britain’s Dean Fearn headlined the 50 butterfly through the prelims and semifinals, and nothing was different during the final. Fearn produced a time of 23.54 to claim the gold medal over Nigeria’s Abdul Jabar Adama, who checked in with a swim of 23.64. Adama was also a finalist in the 50 freestyle and his medaling at a major international competition is a major achievement for a country not well known in the sport.
The Czech Republic’s Jan Foltyn was the bronze medalist in 23.65.
Women’s 50 Freestyle (Semifinals)
The pace picked up considerably from the prelims to the semifinals of the 50 freestyle, but American Rylee Erisman was still on top. The 16-year-old locked up the No. 1 seed for the final with a performance of 24.69, which was a tenth quicker that the 24.79 of Croatia’s Jana Pavalic. Great Britain’s Theodora Taylor (24.82) and the United States’ Annam Olasewere (24.94) were third and fourth.
Men’s 50 Breaststroke (Semifinals)
Could a sweep be on the horizon for Great Britain’s Filip Nowacki in the breaststroke events? The champion in the 100 and 200 distances at World Juniors, Nowacki has some work remaining to get the job done in the 50 breaststroke. The British star went 27.43 in the semifinals, good for fourth. Leading the way was Germany’s Jan Malte Grafe, who went 27.18, off the world junior record of 26.95 he set in the prelims.
Turkey’s Nusrat Allahverdi (27.22) and Japan’s Shin Ohashi (27.34) were second and third and Great Britain’s Max Morgan was fifth.
Women’s 50 Backstroke (Final)
Seeded third heading into the final, Australian Ainsley Trotter was the only athlete to go under 28 seconds with the medals on the line. Trotter clocked a mark of 27.88, which got her to the wall ahead of Korea’s Kim Seungwon, who was the top seed. Kim earned the silver medal in 28.00, with the bronze medal going to Great Britain’s Blythe Kinsman in 28.04.
Men’s 400 Individual Medley (Final)
The bronze medalist in the 200 freestyle and 200 individual medley, Japan’s Raito Numata was not going to be denied in the 400 medley. Numata claimed the gold medal in a matchup with countryman Yumeki Kojima, the world junior record holder in the event. Sitting second at the midway point, Numata took the lead on the breaststroke leg and pulled away on the last lap of freestyle to record a personal best of 4:11.37. That time was ahead of the 4:12.99 of Kojima, who holds the WJR at 4:09.38.
Numata went through the butterfly leg in 56.71 and split 1:05.23 on the backstroke. The 16-year-old covered the breaststroke in 1:12.18 and dropped a 57.25 finish on freestyle, including a 27.11 effort for the last 50 meters. The bronze medal went to Romania’s Robert-Andrei Badea, who touched in 4:13.79.
Women’s 400 Freestyle Relay (Final)
The United States foursome capped Night Five of action at World Juniors with a spectacular showing in the 400 freestyle relay, as the squad of Rylee Erisman, Liberty Clark, Julie Mishler and Lily King established a world junior record of 3:35.53. That performance broke the 2017 standard of 3:36.19, set by a Canadian unit that featured Penny Oleksiak and Taylor Ruck.
Russia won the silver medal in 3:37.87 while China took bronze in 3:40.38.
