Pan's world record leads China to relay gold at swimming worlds

Pan Zhanle reacts during the men's 4x100m freestyle relay heats at the World Aquatics Championships 2024 in Doha, Qatar, Feb. 11, 2024. (Xinhua/Du Yu)

China's Pan Zhanle set a new men's 100m freestyle world record at the 2024 World Aquatics Championships in Doha.

DOHA, Feb. 11 (Xinhua) -- Doha ushered in the opening day of the swimming events on Sunday night, marked by China's Pan Zhanle setting a new men's 100m freestyle world record.

Swimming the opening leg of the men's 4x100m freestyle relay, Pan clocked 46.80 seconds, surpassing David Popovici's previous world record of 46.86 seconds.

"I'm extremely happy. Breaking a world record brings joy to me, proving that the training has paid off," the 19-year-old remarked. "My goal now is to go even faster. I can't predict how fast I can swim, but I hope my record won't be broken too soon."

Inspired by Pan's show, China's subsequent swimmers Ji Xinjie, Zhang Zhanshuo and Wang Haoyu delivered stellar performances, ultimately securing China's first gold medal in swimming events with a time of three minutes and 11.08 seconds.

Italy, represented by Alessandro Miressi, Lorenzo Zazzeri, Paolo Conte Bonin and Manuel Frigo, claimed silver exactly one second behind China. The United States quartet of Matt King, Shaine Casas, Luke Hobson and Carson Foster clinched bronze in three minutes and 12.29 seconds.

"My target in Doha now is the 100m freestyle title," Pan stated, "And winning the Olympic gold is my ultimate goal this year, and that means I need to train even harder."