World champion Zhao Jing snatches backstroke gold at National Games

Hubei's Zhao Jing shows her medal after winning the women's 200m backstroke final at the 11th Chinese National Games in Jinan, east China's Shandong province, Oct. 23, 2009. Zhao clocked 2 minutes 7.57 seconds to win the title. (Xinhua/Fan Jun)
World champion Zhao Jing turned on the style to win the women's 200m backstroke final here on Friday at the Chinese National Games.

Zhao, winner of the Rome World Championships and world record holder in 50m backstroke, powered home in 2:07.57 to take her second title at the National sports extravaganza.

Bai Anqi from east China's Zhejiang province clocked 2:08.40 to take silver while Zhou Yanxin from Shanghai stood third in 2:09.01.

"I was disappointed and surprised about my result today," said Zhao after the games.

"The goal I set for myself in the final was to clock within two minutes and seven seconds, and to break record, at least national best," she added.

"I was not quite clear about where the problem lies, maybe in the front and middle part of the race," said Zhao from central China's Hubei province.

Earlier Zhao asserted her authority by winning the 100m backstroke final with an Asian record.

"Actually I thought the 100m backstroke was tougher for me than the 200m, and tried to achieve more encouraging result in today's event. However, I failed to do that," she regretted.

Zhao said she was very tired after days of tough competitions. "It seemed to me the National Games were even tougher than the World Championships."

At the Rome Worlds in July, Zhao Jing shattered the women's 50m backstroke world record with a time of 27.06 seconds to win the world title.

So far, one world record and nine Asian records have been established in the swimming competitions of the National Games, which drew a record of 525 swimmers from China's 24 provincial teams, Hong Kong, and the Chinese Army.


Hubei's Zhao Jing reacts after winning the women's 200m backstroke final at the 11th Chinese National Games in Jinan, east China's Shandong province, Oct. 23, 2009. Zhao clocked 2 minutes 7.57 seconds to win the title. (Xinhua/Fan Jun)
Source:Xinhua