Swimming-Japan's Ohashi smashes 200m breaststroke world record for Asian Games gold

Japan's 17-year-old ​wunderkind Shin ‌Ohashi set ​the men's 200 metres breaststroke world record on the ‌way to Asian Games gold on Thursday, soaking up the moment in front of a ‌thrilled home crowd.

Ohashi's blistering time of 2:04.83 ‌at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre eclipsed the previous mark (2:05.48) set by China's Qin Haiyang at the 2023 ⁠world ​championships ⁠in Fukuoka. "The world record was my goal so I'm ⁠very happy to get it," he told reporters.

"Thanks ​to my fans, my family, all who ⁠supported me. "My next goal is for the gold ⁠medal ​at the world championships."

Ohashi's triumph comes days after French great Leon Marchand, the ⁠Olympic 200m breaststroke champion, praised the Japanese swimmer ⁠as a ⁠major threat, saying he was "scared" of his potential.