Sawt Falasteen - China's Qin milks 'miracle' second breaststroke gold at swim worlds

World record holder Qin surged to the wall in 2min 07.41sec, ahead of Japan's Ippei Watanabe (2:07.70) and Caspar Corbeau of the Netherlands (2:07.73).

The 26-year-old Qin won the 100m breaststroke earlier in the week but he celebrated his second victory as if it were his first.

He punched the air before whipping up the delighted Chinese fans in the arena, who screamed him on to a thrilling victory.

Qin started the race in lane eight after qualifying slowest from the semi-finals but it made no difference as he regained the world title he won in 2023 in style.

"Amazing," said Qin. "Have you heard of the lane eight miracle?

"I did not know if I was second or third, I just heard 'whoo', so I knew I had won."

The lead changed hands several times, with American AJ Pouch and Russian Kirill Prigoda also challenging.

In the end it was Qin who got the decisive touch ahead of Watanabe, giving the Chinese swimmer his fourth medal of the championships in Singapore.

Qin is returning to form after flopping at last year's Paris Olympics, where he did not even make the final of the 200m breaststroke.

His preparations for the Games were thrown into turmoil when he was implicated in a major doping scandal months before the Games.

A report named Qin among 23 Chinese swimmers who had tested positive for a prescription heart drug ahead of the pandemic-delayed 2021 Tokyo Olympics.

They were not sanctioned after the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) accepted the argument of Chinese authorities that the positive tests were caused by contaminated food.

The flamboyant Qin, who won bronze in the 50m in Singapore, gave his overall performance at the competition full marks.

"In the past I always felt there's room for improvement. Now I'm better at encouraging myself," he said.

"I can give myself 100 out of 100. I should rest well after this."

Qin, who clinched all three individual breaststroke crowns in Japan in 2023 to announce himself to the world, feels there is still room for improvement.

The Los Angeles 2028 Olympics are already on his mind.

"What I've done best here is take this pressure on well," he added.

"That was truly the hardest thing I faced here.

"When a person faces challenges, it's natural to want to run away and hide from it. In this respect, I think I've done well."

J.Saleh--SF-PST