A TWELVE-YEAR-OLD swimmer has made history by winning a bronze medal at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore.
Chinese schoolgirl Yu Zidi became the youngest athlete to secure a podium place in World Aquatics.
Yu – who was born in October 2012 – will be going home with a medal after China secured bronze in the relay final on Thursday.
While the pre-teen was not involved in the final, Yu qualified for a medal after swimming in the heats of the women’s 4x200m freestyle relay.
China finished third in the final, behind the United States and winners Australia.
Yu is the youngest medallist at a major international competition since Denmark‘s Inge Sorensen won bronze in the 200m breaststroke at the 1936 Olympics, less than a month after her 12th birthday.
Yu said: “It feels quite emotional, it’s a nice feeling.”
But her participation at the World Championships has divided opinion.
Competitors must be at least 14 years of age but Yu was permitted entry because her times met the association’s ‘A’ standard.
World Aquatics executive director Brent Nowicki admitted that he hadn’t considered the possibility of a 12-year-old being able to qualify to compete.
Nowicki said: “Our “A” standards are so thin, they’re so tight that I don’t think I actually, in my mind, thought that it was a potential that a 12-year-old earned such a time.”
AlamyChina claimed bronze behind the USA and Canada[/caption]BEST ONLINE CASINOS – TOP SITES IN THE UK
However Nowicki also admitted that the organisation may need to reevaluate their policy going forward.
He continued: ‘She’s great there’s a big future there for her.
“Hopefully there could be good things that could happen out of this, and it could be great.
“Obviously we have to make sure that that’s what it is, right? We’ll have a look and see whether we need to go steps further or whether we’re comfortable with where we are.”
Yu’s participation echoes Sharron Davies, who represented Great Britain at the 1976 Olympics at the age of 13.
The schoolgirl, who turns 13 soon, came close to earning individual glory in the women’s 200m butterfly final on Thursday, but narrowly missed out on a medal in fourth place.
In Monday’s individual medley final, Yu missed out on a medal by 0.06 seconds with another fourth-placed finish.
In May, Yu set a world record for a 12-year-old in the 200m individual medley with a time of 2:10.63.
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