Asian Games 2023: Pan Zhanle rewrites own Asian record to win men's 100m freestyle
Nineteen-year-old Chinese star storms to gold in Hangzhou, finishes one-two with countryman Wang Haoyu.
Swimming
Pan Zhanle won the men's 100m freestyle to upgrade his own Asian record in a 46.97 at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou on Sunday (24 September).
Pan capped a one-two with Chinese compatriot Wang Haoyu, who touched in 48.02 on a spectacular opening night of swimming for the host country, which included wins in seven out of seven races.
Hwang Sunwoo of the Republic of Korea wrapped up the podium, finishing in 48.04.
Pan came within 0.11 of David Popovici’s world record, which the 19-year-old later said he felt he should have broken.
“I had my eyes on the world record (of 46.86 seconds). To miss it by 0.11 seconds is quite a pity," Pan said. "I wanted the world record so I personally don’t think I did well enough.
“The Asian record doesn’t feel like something extraordinary. This is something I should get."
Pan, who previously set the Asian record of 47.43 at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka in July, is determined to surpass the Romanian world record holder sooner or later, on top of the Olympic gold medal he hopes to snare at Paris 2024.
“It’s the world record and a gold medal in Paris,” the teenager replied when asked what his future goals are.
“I just train hard and pay attention to the details, especially the weaknesses.”