The 19-year-old opened the 100m leg with a time of 46.80 seconds, beating the Romanian by six-hundredths. david popovichis now a former world record.
Pan started at a blistering pace, clocking a time of 22.26 seconds in the first 50 meters, but recovered in the second half with a time of 24.54 seconds.
Popovic set the previous record at the 2022 European Championships, shortly after winning two world titles at the 2022 Budapest World Aquatics Championships.
Image source: world swimming
China took an early lead and never looked back. Ji Xinjie, Zhang Zhenshuo and Wang Haoyu He won with a time of 3 minutes 11.08 seconds. Italy won the silver medal with a time of 3:12.08, and the United States won the bronze medal with a time of 3:12.29.
After the race, Pang hinted at the possibility of further record breaking, saying, “I believe I can run faster than today’s time. It was natural to break the world record, and now my goal is to swim even faster.” Ta.
“The Chinese team really surprised us. We didn’t expect a world record in the first race in February. 46.80 seconds is crazy!”
Pan entered Doha with one world championship medal in her career, including silver in the 4x100m medley relay at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka.
Image source: world swimming
Following Fukuoka, Pan won three gold medals at the Asian Games held in Hangzhou, China. This included a win in the men’s 100m freestyle event, where he improved on his previous personal best of 46.97, making him the fifth fastest athlete of all time by tonight.
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