Swimming prodigy says ‘interviews way harder than racing’

TOKYO — The 13-year-old Chinese swimmer Yu Zidi has taken the Asian Games by storm, but when it comes to the intense interest in her, she said: “Interviews are way harder than the race.” Yu smashed the Games record in winning the women’s 200m butterfly on Sunday in Tokyo and then repeated the feat in Monday’s 200m individual medley. The schoolgirl’s 2min 06.10sec in scorching to victory in the medley was the fastest time in the world this year. She was only 0.40sec off the world record held by Canada’s Summer McIntosh. Yu has been the talk of swimming since becoming the youngest medallist in world championships history last year with bronze for China’s relay team aged just 12. She is shaping up to be a major medal threat at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics. But out of the pool she openly admits to struggling with what to say in front of large numbers of Chinese and international reporters eager to hear from her. Yu, who turns 14 next month, has tried to shy away from speaking to journalists following her latest eye-popping triumphs. When eventually coaxed into giving some remarks, she has done so hesitantly. “How do I answer this question? Can you teach me? You just want...