China's Olympic champion Ye Shiwen claimed the women's 200m breaststroke gold medal at the national swimming championships on Wednesday, and qualified for the Paris Olympics after an eight-year wait. Her winning time of 2:22.55 bettered the Olympic qualifying time of 2:23.91.
Ye Shiwen won the women's 200m breaststroke at China's national swimming championships in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, April 24, 2024. /CFP
"I had considered quitting this event after finishing the 400m medley, it was the fans' support that reaffirmed my determination to carry on," said Ye, who had to deal with a "huge blow" just three days ago when she ranked only the 11th in the 400m medley, which failed her to qualify for the Olympics.
Ye rose to fame when she won two golds at the London Olympics at the age of 16. She retired in 2017 after an unsuccessful Rio Olympics before returning to the pool in 2019. She failed to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics and announced retirement again. Ye made her second comeback in 2022 and won a gold medal at the Hangzhou Asian Games last year. The ongoing national swimming championships in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, would be her last chance to book a place for the Paris Games.
Meanwhile, Olympic champion Zhang Yufei won the women's 200m butterfly in 2:06.40 to claim her third gold in Shenzhen. World champion Xu Jiayu won the men's 200m backstroke gold in 1:57.70.
(With input from Xinhua)