Kong Yaqi

Chinese swimmer (born 2008)
Kong Yaqi
Personal information
Native name孔雅琪
Born (2008-01-24) January 24, 2008 (age 16)
Ningbo, Zhejiang, China
Sport
SportSwimming
Medal record
Women's swimming
Representing  China
Olympic Games
Bronze medal – third place 2024 Paris 4×200 m freestyle

Kong Yaqi (Chinese: 孔雅琪; born 24 January 2008) is a Chinese swimmer. She competed at the 2024 Summer Olympics and won a bronze medal in the 4 x 200 m freestyle relay.

Biography

Yaqi was born on 24 January 2008.[1] She grew up in Ningbo, Zhejiang, China.[2] She started swimming at age four and then trained regularly in the following years, winning many area youth championships.[3][4] She attended Shaocheng Primary School and then Meishan School for junior high school.[4] At the provincial championships in November 2022, Yaqi was the gold medalist in the women's 100m freestyle and 200m freestyle, competing in the 14-16 age bracket.[4]

She won a silver medal in the 4×200m freestyle relay at the 2023 National Swimming Championships, and later that year won both bronze as an individual at the National Student Games in the 100 metres freestyle and gold as part of the Ningbo 4×200m freestyle relay team.[4] At the 2024 National Spring Swimming Championships, held in March 2024, she won gold in the 200m freestyle and silver in the 100m freestyle and 400m freestyle.[5][6] The following month, she competed at the National Swimming Championships and placed fifth in the 200m freestyle, also winning silver in the 4×200m freestyle relay.[5][6]

Yaqi was selected to compete at the 2024 Summer Olympics in the 4×200m freestyle relay event.[5][6] At age 16, she was the youngest 2024 Olympic swimmer from her province.[3] She competed in the preliminary round of the Olympics and helped the Chinese relay team win the bronze medal.[2][7]

References

  1. ^ "Yaqi Kong". World Aquatics.
  2. ^ a b "宁波孔雅琪,铜牌!16岁的姑娘,恭喜了!" [Ningbo Kong Yaqi, bronze medal! Congratulations to the 16-year-old girl!]. 163.com (in Chinese). 2 August 2024.
  3. ^ a b "孔雅琪:出征奥运浙江游泳选手中年龄最小的,"后浪接前浪"" [Kong Yaqi: The youngest Zhejiang swimmer to compete in the Olympics, "the wave behind will follow the wave ahead"]. Sohu.com (in Chinese). 14 July 2024.
  4. ^ a b c d "北仑姑娘孔雅琪,将出征巴黎奥运会!" [Beilun girl Kong Yaqi will go to the Paris Olympics!]. 163.com (in Chinese). 19 June 2024.
  5. ^ a b c "奥运之星 | 孔雅琪:泳坛小花,年方二八" [Olympic Star | Kong Yaqi: A young swimming star, only 16 years old]. Sohu.com (in Chinese).
  6. ^ a b c "奥运时间|孔雅琪,何许人也?" [Olympic Time | Who is Kong Yaqi?]. Sohu.com (in Chinese). 21 June 2024.
  7. ^ "泳坛新星孔雅琪今日出战女子4×200米自由泳接力" [Swimming star Kong Yaqi competes in the women's 4×200m freestyle relay today]. Yunnan.cn (in Chinese). 1 August 2024.