DAKAR, Nov. 7 (Xinhua) -- Chang Mohan, one of China's flagbearers at the opening ceremony, captured gold in both the women's 200m freestyle and 200m butterfly within the span of an hour as the swimming program of the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games (YOG) came to a close on Friday.
Chang's tally of two golds and two silvers makes her the most decorated Chinese athlete at the Games so far. Together with teammate Xie Yichen, the teenage duo helped China wrap up its swimming campaign with an impressive seven-medal haul of four golds and three silvers.
"I came down with diarrhea and fever yesterday," Chang recalled. "I didn't want to leave the final day with regrets, so I tried my best to adjust my form. I faced a lot of uncertainty coming into today, because I didn't know how well I could bounce back on the deck."
"Winning these two gold medals on the final day is a huge inspiration. Although there are many things I could have done better in the earlier events, it ended up being a deeply memorable and successful meet for me," the 15-year-old added.
Chang opened her action-packed day, clocking 2:05.03 in the women's 200m freestyle heats to secure Lane 3 for the final.
She went on to claim the 200m freestyle title in 1:59.59, pulling ahead in the second half of the race, before dominating the 200m butterfly final from start to finish in 2:09.93.
Reflecting on her 200m freestyle victory, Chang noted that the intense afternoon sun made it hard to spot Croatia's Ana Bobanovic pulling ahead over the first 100 meters.
"But I really wanted this medal. I hadn't made it to the top of the podium in my previous two events, so I was hungry for this gold. I told myself to just give it everything to win the 200m freestyle first -- that way I'd have the confidence I needed to tackle the 200m butterfly," she said.
Even with four medals under her name, Chang remained clear-eyed and self-critical, noting that her race execution, stroke technique, and aerobic base still trailed the world's elite.
The Youth Olympics provided invaluable experience for her development, Chang noted, adding that she would prepare for early December's World Aquatics Swimming Championships (25m) in Beijing, China, before entering a winter training camp to build towards the Los Angeles Olympics.
In the men's events, Russia's Bogdan Toropkin prevailed in the 200m freestyle to capture his second gold of Dakar 2026, clocking 1:47.78. Egypt's Zain Ali dominated the 200m butterfly in 1:57.88, claiming his third gold of the meet after sweeping the 50m and 100m butterfly titles. ■
