China Outpaces Japan in Nagoya Asian Games as “Gen Alpha” Stars Break World Records

The Nagoya Asian Games have opened with a commanding surge by the Chinese delegation, which captured 14 gold medals to lead the early standings, according to regional reports.

China’s early dominance was anchored by historic performances on the shooting range and in the pool. According to competition records, the Chinese shooting team broke world records twice within two days. In the women’s 10米气步枪团体赛 (10m air rifle team event), shooters 王子菲, 韩佳予, and Du Yuchen combined for a total of 1904.2 points, rewriting world, Asian, and Asian Games records. Du Yuchen, at just 16 years old, became the youngest shooting champion in Chinese Asian Games history.

The men’s team event saw a notable victory for shooter Sheng Lihao, who teamed up with Ma Sihan and Zhang Changhong to secure the gold with a total score of 1899 points, also establishing a new world record. Sheng previously recorded 635.4 points in the individual qualification round to break his own Asian record before capturing a second gold in the individual final.

In the swimming events, 13-year-old Yu Zidi secured victory in the women’s 200m butterfly with a time of 2:05.08, breaking the Asian Games record and making history as the youngest swimming champion in the event’s annals. Established competitors also delivered strong results: Pan Zhanle defended his title in the men’s 100m freestyle, Xu Jiayu claimed his third crown in the men’s 100m backstroke, and Tang Qianting set a new Asian record in the women’s 50m breaststroke. The women’s 4x100m freestyle relay squad—consisting of Yu Yiting, Zhang Yufei, Cheng Yujie, and Wu Qingfeng—clocked 3:33.10 to establish a new meet record.

China also made a breakthrough in triathlon, a discipline historically dominated by Japanese competitors in the Asian region. Lin Xinyu and Huang Anqi secured first and second place respectively in the women’s individual race, with Lin crossing the finish line in 57 minutes and 37 seconds. In the men’s division, Zhang Xirui claimed a silver medal, marking a best-ever Asian Games finish for the Chinese men’s team in the sport. The squad subsequently secured the mixed relay gold medal in 1 hour, 25 minutes, and 54 seconds.

Additional gold medals came from modern pentathlon, where 李刘畅 finished first in the men’s individual event to secure China’s first title in the discipline in 12 years, and wushu, where Tong Xin won the women’s taijiquan and taijijian all-around event.

Competition continues across multiple venues in Nagoya, with further preliminary rounds and medal events scheduled throughout the week.