Yan Ziyi
Chinese javelin thrower (born 2008)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Yan Ziyi (Chinese: 严子怡; pinyin: Yán Zǐyí; born 22 May 2008) is a Chinese track and field athlete who specializes in javelin throw. She won the gold medal at the 2024 World U20 Championships. In 2026, she set a world under-20 record and Asian record of 71.74 metres, which is the second-best mark in history.[1]
Yan at the 2026 Bislett Games | |||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nationality | Chinese | ||||||||||||||
| Born | 22 May 2008 Ningbo, China | ||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||
| Sport | Track and Field | ||||||||||||||
Event | Javelin throw | ||||||||||||||
| Achievements and titles | |||||||||||||||
| Personal bests | Javelin: 71.74m m (Xiamen, 2026) WU20R | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Biography
Yan began surpassing 60m regularly in 2024, winning her country's women's javelin title in March 2024 in Tianjin with a throw of 61.31 meters.[2] She threw past 60m in four of her five competitions in 2024 and set a personal best mark of 62.23m in Chengdu in April 2024.[3] Later that month, she set a under-20 world record for the javelin with a throw of 64.28m to win at the China Athletics GP, breaking Yulenmis Aguilar mark of 63.86m from 2015.The throw also beat the unratified mark of 63.96m achieved by Greek Elina Tzengko in 2020.[4] However, Yan was not allowed to compete in the 2024 Olympics due to the age limit set by World Athletics.[5] On 30 August 2024, Yan won the gold medal at the 2024 World Athletics U20 Championships in Lima, Peru.[6]
She broke the under-20 world record for a third time when she threw 64.83 metres in Chengdu in March 2025.[7] She threw 60.54 metres to place fifth at the 2025 Shanghai Diamond League event in China on 3 May 2025.[8] In August, she won the Chinese Athletics Championships with a throw of 65.89 metres, breaking the world under-20 record for a fourth time, despite competing with an ankle injury. As with the Olympic Games the previous year, she was not permitted to compete at the 2025 World Athletics Championships due to her young age and despite being a favorite for the world title.[9][10] In November, she was nominated for the World Athletics Women's Rising Star Award.[11]
On 23 May 2026, she set a new world under-20 record and Asian record of 71.74 metres at the 2026 Xiamen Diamond League, to move to second on the world all-time list.[1] Her world under-20 record was ratified by World Athletics on 23 July 2026.[12]
On 10 June, she won in the Diamond League again with an opening throw of 67.11 metres at the 2026 Bislett Games in Oslo, her first Diamond League event outside China.[13] On 28 June, Ziyi threw 67.44m in the first round to win the 2026 Meeting de Paris.[14] On 10 July, she won with 68.75m in the final round at the 2026 Herculis Diamond League event in Monaco.[15]
