The enterprising Chinese swimming army wrote another historical record in the early morning of February 18, Beijing time! When the 2024 World Swimming Championships entered the 7th competition day, the Chinese swimming team had the last laugh in the men's and women's 4x100m freestyle relay finals, and the national swimmers won the 7th gold medal since the start of the World Championships and the 4th gold medal in the relay event, breaking the record of 3 relay events in a single world-class competition created by the predecessor national players at the 1994 World Championships. In the past few days, the new generation of Chinese swimmers has shown their good team strength by constantly joining forces to win gold.
At the 1994 World Swimming Championships, the Chinese swimmers won all three relay gold medals in the women's event in the 4x100m freestyle relay, 4x200m freestyle relay and 4x100m medley relay. For many years, this record of domestic swimming has not been surpassed.
After the opening of this year's World Swimming Championships, the Chinese swimmers showed good strength and momentum, first Pan Zhanle, Ji Xinjie, Wang Haoyu, Zhang Zhanshuo struggled to win gold in the men's 4x100m freestyle relay, and then Li Bingjie, Ai Yanhan, Gong Zhenqi, Yang Peiqi won the women's 4x200m freestyle relay, and then Pan Zhanle joined hands to climb the men's 4x200m freestyle relay championship podium. In the early morning of February 18, Beijing time, when Pan Zhanle, Wang Haoyu, Li Bingjie and Yu Yiting successfully won gold in the men's and women's 4x100m freestyle relay finals, the Chinese swimming army quietly won 4 gold medals in the relay event at this World Championships, breaking the record of winning gold in a single relay event in a single world's top competition that has been in the dust for nearly 30 years. Congratulations!
Of course, we should see that the gold medal content of the four relay events is not very high, for example, many masters are absent from this World Championships, and the men's and women's 4x100m freestyle relay won this morning is not an Olympic event. However, it is undeniable that winning four gold medals in a row has undoubtedly increased the confidence of the Chinese swimmers, which is conducive to the national swimmers to better prepare for the Paris Olympic Games, which will open in five months, and strive to achieve new breakthroughs.
Unlike individual events, relay events reflect the strength of a team, and to some extent, winning gold is more significant. In the past 30 years, the Chinese swimmers have won gold in the relay event of the World Championships many times, but they have only succeeded once in the Olympic arena, which was done by Zhang Yufei and Li Bingjie in the women's 4x200m freestyle relay final at the Tokyo Olympics.
Entering the Paris Olympic cycle, with the rise of Qin Haiyang, Pan Zhanle and other good players, plus the strength of Zhang Yufei, Xu Jiayu and other famous generals, now the Chinese swimmers in the men's and women's 4x100m medley relay, men's 4x100m medley relay has the strength to impact the gold medal of the Paris Olympics, since the start of the World Championships, the national swimmers have won 4 relay gold medals, fully demonstrating the new generation of Chinese swimmers relay project has the energy of rushing gold.
5 months later, at the Paris Olympics, the Chinese swimmers relayed to the gold medal!