The National Games, held every four years, serve as China’s premier domestic multi-sport event and often feature the same Olympic and World Championships medallists who dominate on the global stage.

After nine months out with a shoulder injury, the 24-year-old Lian delivered a remarkable comeback performance, overtaking reigning Olympic champion Cao Yuan, World Aquatics’ 2024 Male Diver of the Year, on his final dive to secure gold with 530.85 points.

Cao opened strongly with 91.80 points on his first attempt and briefly regained the lead heading into the last round. But Lian’s closing dive – worth 105.45 points, the highest of the competition – clinched the narrow victory by just 3.5 points. Fourteen-year-old Zhao Renjie impressed throughout the final to claim bronze.

In the women’s 3m springboard, Lin Shan took the title with 379.10 points after a composed performance throughout the final. Olympic champion Chen Yiwen faltered on her backward 2½ pike dive and settled for bronze. Chen Jia claimed silver, having briefly led before an error in the penultimate round opened the door for Lin to take control.

Zhang Yufei and Qin Haiyang secure titles; 13-year-old Yu Zidi breaks Asian record

The second night of swimming competition in Guangzhou showcased both rising talent and proven international stars, as 13-year-old Yu Zidi broke the Asian record in the women’s 200m individual medley, as Olympic medallists Zhang Yufei and Qin Haiyang each added national titles to their collections.

Zhang powered to victory in the women’s 100m butterfly, touching in 56.88 to finish comfortably ahead of Wang Yichun (57.60) and Wang Jingzhuo (57.94). The two-time Olympic medallist, who won silver in Tokyo 2020 and bronze in Paris 2024, was just shy of her season-best 56.47 from the World Championships earlier this year.

In the men’s 100m breaststroke, World and Olympic champion Qin Haiyang was the only swimmer under 59 seconds, winning in 58.98 ahead of Zheng Yinghao (59.47) and Yan Zibei (59.49).

The men’s 50m butterfly final went to Wang Changhao in 23.30, narrowly edging Xu Fang (23.45) for gold.

In semifinal action, Xu Jiayu led qualifiers for the men’s 100m backstroke final with a time of 52.70, while Tang Qianting topped the women’s 100m breaststroke heats in 1:06.31. Wan Letian was the only swimmer under one minute in the women’s 100m backstroke (59.71), and Zhang Zhanshuo paced the men’s 200m freestyle with a 1:46.89 effort.

The Chinese National Games continue through the end of the week.