dexinwin China's Dong Zhihao won the men's 100-meter breaststroke gold medal at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Monday after finishing in exactly the same time as Japan's Ohashi Akira.
Dong and Ohashi both touched the wall in 58.64 seconds, sharing the gold medal in a dramatic final at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre. China's Qin Haiyang finished third in 59.01 to take the bronze medal.
The victory was the first Asian Games gold medal of Dong's career. The 21-year-old Chinese swimmer had previously won silver in the men's 200m breaststroke at the Hangzhou Asian Games, making his latest triumph another important step in his development as one of China's leading young breaststroke swimmers.
Dong Holds Off a Strong Challenge
Dong entered the final after recording 1:00.28 in the preliminary round, ranking sixth among the qualifiers. He produced a significantly faster performance in the final, cutting more than a second from his morning time.
The final developed into a close battle between Dong, Ohashi and several of Asia's leading breaststroke swimmers. Dong maintained his position through the race and produced a strong finish to match Ohashi's 58.64.
Neither swimmer could separate himself at the finish, resulting in a shared gold medal.
The result was particularly notable for Ohashi, who is only 17 and had set a Japanese national record of 58.54 seconds earlier in August. He had also qualified fastest for the Asian Games final with a time of 59.38.
A Major Step for Dong
Born in Xuzhou, Jiangsu, in 2005, Dong began specialized swimming training at the age of 11 before joining the Jiangsu provincial team in 2021.
He first attracted international attention in the 200m breaststroke. At the 2023 World Championships in Fukuoka, he finished fourth and set a world junior record. At the 2024 World Championships in Doha, he produced a spectacular late-race comeback to win the 200m breaststroke in 2:07.94, claiming his first world championship title and setting another world junior record.
Dong also reached the men's 200m breaststroke final at the Paris 2024 Olympics, where he finished fourth.
A Successful Shift to the Sprint
In 2026, Dong placed greater emphasis on the shorter breaststroke events. At China's National Swimming Championships in June, he won the men's 100m breaststroke in 58.57 seconds, setting a personal best at the time.
His 58.64 performance in Nagoya was slightly slower than that national championship mark, but it was enough to deliver his first Asian Games title.
The victory also gave China two medals in the event, with Qin Haiyang taking bronze behind Dong and Ohashi. For Dong, however, the shared gold marked a significant milestone as he continues to establish himself in the highly competitive men's breaststroke field.
With more swimming events still to come at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, Dong's victory provides China with another strong result and adds a new chapter to the young swimmer's rapidly developing international career.
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