When 16-year-old Ye Shiwen shattered a world record at London Olympics

Chinese swimmer Ye Shiwen hogged the headlines after she shattered a world record at the 2012 London Olympics. At the tender age of 16, the athlete showed what she was capable of. The then-youngster won the gold medal in the 400-meter individual medley, as she finished with a timing of four minutes and 28.43 seconds and broke the earlier record by three seconds.

The record previously belonged to triple Olympic champion Stephanie Rice of Australia. In London, Shiwen left behind Spain’s Mireia Garcia Belmonte, who clocked four minutes and 31.27 seconds. Li Xuanxu of China bagged the bronze medal with a timing of four minutes and 32.91 seconds.

Shiwen completed the last 50 meters in 28.93 seconds, a mere 0.5 second slower than the winner of the men’s event, Ryan Lochte of the United States of America (USA) in the same category.

After she finished at the top of the podium, Shiwen was accused of doping by the public and media. However, researchers later concluded that the swimmer was clean and did not resort to any unfair means.

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Ye Shiwen to take part in the Paris Olympics 2024

In April this year, Ye Shiwen qualified for the Paris Olympics, ending an eight-year wait of participating in the mega event. She clinched gold in the women’s 200-metre breaststroke and made her way through to the Olympics. Shiwen, now a 28-year-old, finished with a timing of 2:22:55, bettering the qualifying timing of 2:23:91.

Back in 2017, she announced her retirement after not being able to perform in the Rio Olympics. In 2019, Shiwen made a comeback and again retired from the sport after failing to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics. Returning in 2022, Shiwen will be looking to make a mark when the event in Paris gets underway later this month.

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