On the evening of July 28th, in the men's 200m breaststroke final at the Fukuoka Swimming World Championships, Haiyang QIN, a Chinese athelte and 2019 undergraduate student from the School of Economics and Management, Tongji University, broke the world record with a time of 2:05.48 and winning the gold medal with a strong lead. This is QIN's fourth gold medal at this World Championships.

QIN in the competition

QIN winning the Championship

QIN had already won three gold medals in the men's 50-meter breaststroke, men's 100-meter breaststroke, and men's 4x100 meter medley relay events, making him the first "triple champion" in history to win gold medals in the 50-meter, 100-meter, and 200-meter men's breaststroke at a single World Championships.

Since the start of this World Championships, QIN has been in excellent condition. On the 24th, in the men's 100m breaststroke final, he won the gold medal with a time of 57.69 seconds and broke the Asian record. On the 26th, he won the gold medal in the men's 50m breaststroke final with a time of 26.29 seconds. On the 26th, after the men's 50m breaststroke final, QIN teamed up perfectly with his teammates and won the men's and women's 4 × Champion of the 100m medley relay.

After the competition, QIN stated that his pre-competition goal was to win three gold medals in breaststroke. "I have the confidence to fight. There is still pressure in the final against Cook, but I believe in my speed. I didn't think too much about the world record. My new world record was both unexpected and surprising."

Regarding whether there will be pressure after winning a historic gold medal, QIN said, "When the gold medal is won, it will become past tense. A gold medal can only be seen hanging on the wall, not worn on me. Wearing it on me will become a burden. I will always treat every competition as a new challenge.

After bidding farewell to the World Championships, QIN will compete in the 31st Summer Universiade for men's 50m, 100m, and 200m breaststroke at the Universiade.

Before the Championships, QIN shared his personal story with his peers at an Outstanding College Student Symposium at Tongji University. He said, "If a miracle has a color, it must be Chinese red. During competitions, our goal is only to raise the national flag and play the national anthem.

QIN will continue to pursue his master's degree in the Physical Education Department of Tongji University in September 2023.