The swimming world championships opened and the diving dream team attacked.
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| ▲ Cao Yuan Xie Siwei |
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| ▲ Chen Yuxi is all red. |
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Doha, Qatar has become the focus of sports fans in Asia and even the world this winter. The Asian Cup has just reached the climax of the quarter-finals, and the FINA Swimming World Championships opened here yesterday, with a duration of 17 days.
This is the first time that the event has come to the Middle East. There will be 2,500 players from 197 countries and regions competing for 75 gold medals in six sports.
All the main players of the "Dream Team" played.
The diving competition of this World Championships will be held in Hamad Aquatic Center from February 2 to 10, and the ownership of 13 gold medals will be decided. The China team sent all the main players to fight, including Chen Yuxi and Quan Hongchan, two star players in the most popular women’s platform event, and two experienced male players who came back, Olympic champions Cao Yuan and Xie Sicai. When China came to Doha this time, there was no clear medal index. The goal was to let the athletes challenge themselves and train for the Paris Olympics.
This time, the China diving team gave up three non-Olympic events, namely, the women’s 1m springboard, the mixed 3m springboard and the mixed team competition. It is of little significance to participate in these events in the Olympic year. This will also give athletes from other countries some space to compete for gold medals, which is beneficial to promoting and developing diving events.
In the previous three World Championships, China won almost all diving gold medals. In Gwangju, South Korea in 2019, China deliberately gave up the competition for the mixed 10-meter platform in the last match day after winning 12 gold medals; In the 2022 World Championships in Budapest, the China team won all 13 gold medals; At the Fukuoka World Championships in 2023, the "Dream Team" accidentally missed the men’s platform event and also won 12 gold medals. This time, the China diving team will strive for gold in all 10 events, and at least in eight Olympic events, it is necessary to establish enough self-confidence and deter competitors from other countries in the Olympic year.
The frog king hangs a war-free card after the butterfly
Speaking of the swimming events in this World Championships, it is destined to be a "chicken rib" competition. The China Swimming Team is expected to arrive in Doha four days before the start of the competition, and the competition will be held from February 11th to 18th. In this list, the "golden couple" who dominated the international swimming world for a whole year last year-Qin Haiyang and Zhang Yufei all hung up their war-free cards and devoted themselves to winter training to accumulate physical strength for the Paris Olympic Games. In addition to these two Mesozoic stars, three veterans, including two Olympic champions Ye Shiwen and Wang Shun, and Xu Jiayu, the winner of two gold medals in men’s backstroke in the World Championships, are also trying to concentrate on the Olympic Games this year and have not been selected for the World Championships in Doha.
Pan Zhanle, the rookie of men’s freestyle, and Li Bingjie, the Asian overlord of women’s middle and long distance freestyle, are the most famous China team members who went to Doha to participate in the competition. Even Yang Junxuan, a member of the women’s 4× 200m freestyle relay champion at the Tokyo Olympic Games and a gold medalist in the women’s 200m freestyle at the Budapest World Championships, chose to stay at home for winter training.
Many world star players are absent.
As for other world masters, the five-time world champion Molly O’Callaghan, three-time world champion Kelly mckeown, kyle Chalmers, Aryan Titmes, Canadian double champion Summer McIntosh, a new generation of "flying fish" caleb Dressel (USA) and the world record holder David Popovich (Romania) are confirmed to be absent from this event. Of course, Laideji, the king of women’s long-distance freestyle in the world, has also announced that she will not participate in this World Championships. She has 21 gold medals in the World Championships and announced early that she will "concentrate on participating in the Paris Olympics" and will not go to Doha.
There are still more than five months before the Paris Olympic Games to hold such a world championship, which is held in the same year as the Olympic Games and for the first time in winter. It is very normal for star players to be absent in large numbers, because participating in the competition will disrupt their preparation rhythm. For Li Bingjie, 21, and Pan Zhanle, 19, winning the gold medal for China will be a high probability event.
Text/Reporter Liu Ailin Coordinator/Wang Wei
Photo courtesy/vision china