Wang Shun of China celebrates vicotry after the Men's 200m Individual Medley final at the 13th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, Dec. 6, 2016. Wang Shun claimed the title with a time of 1:51.74. (Xinhua/Zou Zheng)
BEIJING, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- Chinese swimmer Wang Shun won gold in the men's 200m medley at the FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) in Windsor, Canada on Wednesday.
Wang wrapped up the victory in 1:51.74 and won the first gold for China at this event. The result is still more than two seconds slower than the World Record.
The 22-year-old is a consistent swimmer in the 50m pool, having won bronze at the Rio Olympics and 2015 World Championships. Daiya Seto of Japan came through for the bronze in 1:52.89 behind German Philip Heintz' s 1:52.07.
In the initial final of the day, Park Taehwan of South Korea clocked in at 3:34.59 in the men's freestyle 400m race and won his first gold of the week-long competition. After being declared eligible by his Olympic Committee to compete at the Rio Olympics a couple of weeks before the event, he eventually did not qualify for the decisive races in the 100m, 200m and 400m free.
In women's 200m freestyle final, Italian swimmer Federica Pellegrini earned gold in an impressive 1:51.73, beating Hungary's Katinka Hosszu. 28-year-old Pellegrini has two Olympic medals and a roll of honor in the 200m free at the long course World Championships. She has been on the podium at every edition of that event from 2005 to 2015, with two gold, three silver and one bronze awards to her name.
In the women's 400m individual medley, Hosszu finally earned a gold in 4:21.67. The FINA Best Female Swimmer of 2016 totally dominated the race and won her 15th medal in the Championships since 2012.
Anh Vien Nguyen of Vietnam arrived second, but an irregular turn after the backstroke leg caused her disqualification. The medals then went to the American duet of Ella Eastin 4:27.74 and Madisyn Cox 4:27.78.
South African Chad Le Clos touched for gold in 1:48.76 in the men's butterfly 200m, still short of his own world record in the distance at 1:48.56. The owner of four Olympic medals, Le Clos deployed all his energy to overcome the opposition of Tom Shields of the United States at 1:49.50 and Japanese swimmer Daiya Seto at 1:49.97.
Canadians arrived in second in the women 4x100m free relay, but then were disqualified due to deception. The swimmers performed in the wrong order and the victory went to the United States. The Dutch took advantage of Canada's disqualification, earning bronze in 3:31.10, while Italy, anchored by Federica Pellegrini, won silver in 3:30.28.
In the last final of the day, a Russian quartet earned gold in 3:05.90 in men's relays freestyle 4x100m, leaving the French in second in 3:07.35. The bronze was shared by Australia and the United States, in 3:07.76.
