Members of the Chinese team, (from left to right) Cheng Yujie, Zhang Yufei, Qin Haiyang and Xu Jiayu, win the mixed 4x100-meter medley relay at the World Aquatics Championships 2023 in Fukuoka, Japan on July 26. [Photo/tianmunews.com]
Xu Jiayu, a native of Wenzhou in East China's Zhejiang province, made headlines on July 26 when he and his teammates Qin Haiyang, Zhang Yufei, and Cheng Yujie won the first gold medal ever for China in the mixed 4x100-meter medley relay at the World Aquatics Championships 2023 in Fukuoka, Japan.
Xu, 28, became this year's third world champion from Wenzhou following Ding Liren, a chess player, and Zheng Siwei, a shuttler.
In the final, Xu took the backstroke leg and engaged in a fierce battle with his old rival, American swimmer Ryan Murphy. He finished the leg in 52.42 seconds, putting China in second place and laying the foundation for the victory.
In the men's 100m backstroke final the day before, Xu finished fourth with a time of 52.64 seconds, missing out on the podium by only 0.08 seconds. Hope had been high for Xu’s backstroke performance. He achieved the glory in two consecutive World Aquatics Championships titles in 2017 and 2019, but also experienced the low point of failing to make the final in 2022. Now that he is returning to the world stage once again, Xu has proved that he is still a formidable competitor.
In addition to Xu, Pan Zhanle performed well in the men's 100m freestyle semifinals, finishing with a time of 47.61 seconds and snagging the third slot in the final. In the women's 200m freestyle final, Liu Yaxin finished in eighth place.
Xu Jiayu is ready to compete. [Photo/tianmunews.com]
