“Age is just a number” is often used when senior athletes turn back the clock, offer glimpses of their past glories or silence recent criticism with a stirring performance.
Strangely, at the Asian Games, the phrase has taken on a different meaning. At Aichi-Nagoya, teenagers and even younger athletes have been stealing the spotlight with performances well beyond their years.
The youngest to stun the crowd on Saturday was 11-year-old Yuki Kurihara, a Japanese elementary school student who clinched gold in esports.
Kurihara beat South Korea’s Kang Dongshin 10-2 in the final of the Puyo Puyo Champions puzzle game and, according to the Associated Press, became the youngest-ever gold medallist in Asian Games history, dating back to the inaugural edition in New Delhi in 1951.
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Teenagers have been making giant strides throughout these Games. Here are some of the young athletes who have caught the eye in Aichi-Nagoya.
Yu Zidi (China, swimming)
China’s 13-year-old swimming star Yu Zidi sealed a hat-trick of Asian Games titles with a dominant victory in the women’s 400m individual medley, clocking a Games-record 4min 28.56sec.
Yu had earlier won gold in the 200m butterfly and 200m individual medley. In the latter, she finished just 0.4 seconds outside the world record held by Canada’s Summer McIntosh, who could emerge as a major rival for Yu at the Los Angeles Olympics.
Zhang Zhanshuo (China, swimming)
The 19-year-old etched his name in the history books after winning seven gold medals — in the 200m, 400m, 800m and 1,500m freestyle events, along with three relays.
He became the first swimmer to win seven gold medals at a single Asian Games, matching North Korean shooter So Gin-man’s overall record of seven golds at one edition. So Gin-man, however, remains the record-holder for most medals at a single Games, having won seven golds and a silver in 1982.
Shin Ohashi (Japan, swimming)
The breaststroke sensation became the first man to break the 2:05 barrier in the men’s 200m breaststroke, setting a new world record at the Asian Games.
Ohashi had already won gold in the 100m breaststroke after a dead heat with China’s Dong Zhihao. His performances have put him firmly among the names to watch ahead of the Los Angeles Olympics.
Anahat Singh (India, squash)
The 18-year-old scripted the biggest win of her career on Saturday, rallying to beat Japan’s world No. 6 Satomi Watanabe 3-2 and storm into the women’s singles squash final.
The victory guaranteed Anahat at least a silver medal and also kept alive her hopes of earning direct qualification for the Los Angeles Olympics.