Yang Peiqi seals MVP at World Junior Swimming Championships with five golds

BUCHAREST, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- China's Yang Peiqi was named best overall female athlete after winning her fifth title in the women's 200-meter freestyle at the World Junior Swimming Championships on Sunday.

Yang, 18, who had already won the 400-meter, 800-meter and 1,500-meter freestyle events as well as the 4x200-meter freestyle relay, overcame sore muscles and lack of sleep to clock one minute 56.26 seconds in a new championship record. She later added a silver medal in the women's 4x100-meter medley relay.

"I did not expect to lift my personal best in 200-meter free since I was very, very tired," Yang said. "I was into tears before the final. Thanks to my coach who encouraged me and told me to fight for myself in 200 first, and then fight for the team in the relay. Once I jumped into the water, I calmed down to focus on my race."

Yang said she was also surprised to receive the MVP trophy. "I didn't expect this. I just focused on my event, one by one. I learned a lot on how to deal with the tiredness and anxiety during the competition. It was a great lesson for me to learn from other junior swimmers all over the world."

Italy's Carlos D'Ambrosio was named best male athlete, while the United States won the best team award with 10 golds, six silvers and six bronzes. The Neutral Athletes B Team finished second with 5-5-5, followed by China with 5-3-3.

In total, 21 countries and regions claimed at least one medal, with about 900 swimmers from 121 teams competing over six days. ■