Culture
14:43, 07-Sep-2017
Shine bigger: Ning Zetao and Liu Xiang collect more than just medals
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China’s former world champion swimmer Ning Zetao, in spite of illness, was able to clinch a freestyle double on Wednesday in the National Games after he collected another medal the previous day.
The 24-year-old won the first medal in the 100m freestyle final with a time of 47.96 seconds.
In addition to the stability of the upgrade, more importantly, Ning said he is getting better and finally gave a speech after being silent for a long while, “It was the first time I participated in the East Asian Games as the representative of China four years ago, four years flew away and I became a man from a boy. I’ve experienced a lot.”
Ning Zetao was not alone for good performance in the national games. Liu Xiang set a new Asian record 24.04, in the women's 50m freestyle semi-finals. She had bettered the Asian mark in the preliminary in 24.32
Liu, who finished sixth at the FINA World Championships with 24.58, sprinted 24.32 to top the event in the morning heats. The previous Asian record of 24.48 was held by Ikee Rikako of Japan.
The 21-year-old Liu's latest performance is the fifth fastest time in the world rankings.
"I was so happy that I improved my personal best for about half a second this time. In fact, I should have done better in Budapest. I hope I can be faster in the final," said the sprinter.
The swimming competition, with a field of 621 swimmers, closes on Thursday.