Fukuoka, Japan, July 27, 2023: China had to settle for a single bronze medal on the fifth night of swimming at the World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan on Thursday.
The lone medal came in the women’s 4x200m freestyle relay as China beat Great Britain for the third step on the podium behind swimming super powers Australia and the United States.
Australia won their third gold medal of the night in a world record time of 7:37.50, eclipsing the 7:39.29 set in Birmingham last year.
The Aussies finished 3.88 seconds ahead of the United States, who took silver in 7:41.38.
With the race for gold over long before the finish, the battle between China and Britain for the bronze was equally gripping – and China produced the stronger finish to stop the clock at 7:44.40. Britain finished fourth in 7:46.63.
China opened with Li Bingjie, 21, followed by Li Jiaping, 19, Ai Yanhan, 21, and finally Liu Yaxin – the most experienced of the team at 24 years.
China ended the day with a total of 19 gold medals, five silver and nine bronze for a total of 33 during the July 14-30 world championships.
Australia closed the gap to 11-6-1, with nine of those gold medals and four silvers coming in the swimming pool.
China have won four gold medals in swimming, along with five bronze medals. The United States and France have both won three gold medals in swimming.
*China’s Pan Zhanle, 19, finished fourth in the men’s 100m freestyle on Thursday night - in a new Asian record of 47.43 seconds.