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Aussie gold girl Ariarne Titmus has 400m freestyle world record ‘absolutely destroyed’ by emerging Chinese superstar…beating them by more than four seconds at the Tokyo Olympics
- Li Bingjie has broken Australian star Ariarne Titmus’ record in the 400m short course
- Titmus’ time was reduced by 2.6 seconds during the Chinese Swimming Championships
- Her time was also smoked in Toronto, where 16-year-old Canadian Summer Mcintosh beat it by more than a second.
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Chinese swimming sensation Li Bingjie has swept Ariarne Titmus’ 400-meter short course freestyle record by a whopping 2.6 seconds – making for a ravishing battle as the golden girl picks up the young gun at their next encounter.
The 20-year-old raced to a time of 3:51.30 at the Chinese Swimming Championships, taking over Titmus and setting a new world record in the process.
20-year-old rising star Li Bingjie pumps her fist after breaking the world record 400m short course freestyle
Titmus, a two-time gold medalist at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, set the previous record for short course swimming in 2018.
Bingjie won bronze at the Tokyo Olympics, with a time of 4:01.08, almost four and a half seconds behind the Australian.
The sheer size of her record shocked social media and the swimming world, as 16-year-old Canadian Summer Mcintosh and American Katie Ledecky both broke Titmus’ record, swimming under 3:53.
Ariarne Titmus stunned after setting the new world record for the women’s 400m course at the Aussie Swim Championships in Adelaide in May
CODE sports journalist Lachlan McKirdy tweeted: ‘Big news in the swimming world, Ariarne Titmus’ 400m short course world record has just been absolutely destroyed.’
American swimmer Kyle Sockwell wrote ‘NEW WORLD RECORD! China’s Li Bingjie just went 3:51.30 in the 400m freestyle and REMOVED the old world record of 3:53.92 by Ariarne Titmus.’
After touching the wall, there was little reaction as Bingjie’s fast time flashed on the screen.
It wasn’t until she took off her glasses and saw the ‘WR’ inscription that she had indeed broken the world record.
Titmus, 22, still holds the record in the long course 400m freestyle, breaking it in the 2022 Australian swimming trials.
Titmus poses with her gold medal for the 200-meter freestyle at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics – it was her first-ever appearance at the Olympics
Titmus has avoided representing Australia at the short-course world titles in December, depriving fans of what would have been a spectacular race between four up-and-coming competitors.
Ledecky showed off her status as one of the greatest distance swimmers of all time and broke another world record time in the 1500m freestyle, which she improved by 10 seconds.
Canadian Summer Mcintosh, 16, strokes the pool in the women’s 400m freestyle final at the FINA Swimming World Cup, October 28
Australian pole star Kyle Chalmers won his signature 100m freestyle event at the Toronto Circuit, with a time of 45.52.
Binjie then set a new Asian record in the 1500m freestyle and a national record in the 200m freestyle, finishing a stellar performance in the championship.