Chinese swimmer Yu Zidi, 12, missed out on claiming a sensational medal at the World Championships in Singapore by just 0.06 seconds.
The pre-teen, who was born on October 16 in 2012, finished fourth in the women’s 200 metres individual medley final on Monday.
Canada’s Summer McIntosh, a triple Olympic champion at 17 in Paris last year, claimed gold in the event in a time of 2:06.69.
United States Alex Walsh and Canada’s Mary-Sophie Harvey completed the podium in 2:08.58 and 2:09.15, with Yu finishing just 0.06 seconds further back in fourth.
In doing so, the Chinese swimmer lowered her already existing record for a 12-year-old swimmer in the event.
World Aquatics typically requires swimmers to be 14-years-old by December 31 in the year of competition to be eligible for its senior and junior World Championship events. At just 12-years-old, Yu is also too young under World Aquatics rules to hold a junior world record.
Chinese swimmer Zidi Yu finished 0.06 off a medal at the World Championships aged just 12
The swimmer finished fourth in the women’s 200 metres individual medley event in Singapore
At just 12 years old, Yu would be too young to be able to set a junior world record time
Yu, however, was able to participate in Singapore having achieved the A-standard qualification time at the Chinese National Championships in May.
She would have become the youngest athlete to win a swimming medal at the Olympics or World Championships for 89 years after Denmark’s Inge Sorensen.
Sorensen won a bronze medal at the 1936 Berlin Olympics in the 200m breaststroke when she was 12 years and 24 days old.
Yu had come within two seconds of qualifying for the Olympics last year at the age of 11, meaning Wednesday marked her debut at a major Championships.
‘My goal was to give my best and try for a podium finish, even though I thought it might be beyond my reach, but I wanted to give it a shot,’ Yu said post-race.
‘I’ll keep working hard.’
Yu was hailed as ‘phenomenally talented’ by silver medallist Walsh, who added ‘I think it will be interesting to see how she takes this meet and translates it into the future swims she has because she’s definitely got a really bright future.’
Yu will also contest the women’s 400m individual medley and 200m butterfly in Singapore, two events in which she was crowned national champion in May.
Yu, who already holds national titles, was hailed as ‘phenomenally talented’ by a rival
Yu will be in action in two further events at the ongoing World Championships in Singapore
Her times at the National Championships would have been enough to finish fourth in both Olympic finals last year.
Yu, who began training at the age of six, is remarkably not the youngest athlete to compete at the World Championships.
Bahrain’s Alzain Tareq competed at the age of 10 back in 2015, before World Aquatics strengthened regulations around entries.
Swimming has typically been a sport where young athletes have thrived, with McIntosh, Katie Ledecky and Michael Phelps having been among teenage prodigies.
Ledecky and Lithuania’s Ruta Meilutyte won Olympic titles at the age of 15, the same age Phelps debuted at the Games.
Japan’s Kyoko Iwasaki also won the women’s 200m breaststroke title at the Barcelona 1992 Olympics at the age of 14.
China are among the nations to have fielded young athletes in numerous elite sporting events in recent years.
The country had the youngest Olympian at Paris 2024 last year, with Zheng Haohao competing in skateboarding at just 11 years and 11 months old.
