(Race Video) Defending 400 IM Olympic Champion Ye Shiwen Finishes 7th in China

Jul 31, 2012; London, United Kingdom; Ye Shiwen (CHN) poses with her gold medal and a China flag after winning the women's 200m individual medley finals during the London 2012 Olympic Games at Aquatics Centre. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Photo Courtesy: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Ye Shiwen, who wowed the swimming world with uncommon closing speed to win the women’s 400-meter IM at the 2012 London Olympics, does not look to be in position to defend her title after finishing seventh in the event at the 2016 Chinese Nationals.

After leading qualifying this morning, Ye posted a 4:50.74 in finals to finish seventh, well outside any margins it would take for China to find a way to get her onto the Olympic roster.

CCTV’s Liu Jingjing snapped the following shot of Ye and shared it on Weibo. Ye complained of stomach cramps following the race.

Photo Courtesy: CCTV’s Liu Jingjing

Full Session Report:

Wang Shun qualified for the 2016 Rio Olympics with a 4:13.62 in the men’s 400-meter IM. That swim pushed him up to fifth in the world rankings as he cleared the FINA A cut of 4:16.71. An Jiabao, who was just caught up in a clenbuterol scandal and only suffered a warning, took second in 4:17.66. Zhou Wang placed third in 4:17.75.

Li Zhuhao punched his ticket to the 2016 Rio Olympics with a 3:47.99 in the men’s 400-meter free. That moved him up to seventh in the world, and cleared the FINA A cut of 3:50.40. Wang Kechang just missed the A cut with a time of 3:50.55 for second. Zhang Jie placed third overall in 3:52.81. That means that Sun Yang’s A cut of 3:42.58 from last year at Worlds puts him in a strong position to remain on the Rio Olympic team in this event, after pulling out of nationals this year.

Zhou Min topped the women’s 400-meter IM with a time of 4:36.97. That swim jumped Zhou up to sixth in the world and easily cleared the FINA A cut of 4:43.46. Wang Xinya also cleared the A cut with a second-place time of 4:42.45. Xu Danlu wound up third in 4:45.57, while defending 400 IM Olympic champion Ye Shiwen finished seventh in finals with a 4:50.74. Ye had led preliminary qualifying with a 4:44.17 in the morning, but was unable to pull off a victory at night.

During semifinal action, Chen Xinyi moved to sixth in the world in the women’s 100-meter fly with a 57.60. Zhang Yufei placed second in 58.20, while Lu Ying (58.22) and Zhou Yilin (58.33) made up the top four heading into finals.

Wang Lizhuo, another of the three swimmers who tested positive for clenbuterol last year, but were let off with a warning by China, set a national record in the men’s 100-meter breast semis with a 59.64. That swim broke his own record of 59.79 set at the 2015 Chinese Nationals. The swim moved him up to third in the world behind only Adam Peaty (59.55) and Cameron van der Burgh (59.61). Yan Zibei raced his way to second out of semis with a 59.94 to move to sixth in the world rankings. Li Xiang qualified third in 1:00.52.

In relay action, Shanghai won the women’s 400-meter free relay in 3:40.69 with Beijing Water Cube taking second in 3:40.77. Guangdong wound up third in 3:42.90.

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