Year-ender: China's rising sports stars set podiums on fire
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Qin Haiyang
To the excitement of Chinese fans, 24-year-old Qin Haiyang has emerged as the nation's new "Aquaman" to cheer on at next summer's Paris Olympic Games after completing a golden sweep of all three breaststroke events at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships in Japan.
At the Worlds in Fukuoka, Qin became the first swimmer in history to win all three breaststroke titles at a single edition of the event. In addition, he claimed the 200m gold in a world-record time of 2:05.48, shaving 0.47 seconds off the previous mark set by Australia's Zac Stubblety-Cook.
Qin was honored as the best male swimmer of the year by World Aquatics in October.