Chen Yujie, 17, Chases Down Thailand's Anchor to Win the Asian Games' First Mixed Relay Gold

China won the first-ever Asian Games gold in the mixed 4x100 metres relay on Tuesday night in Nagoya, and the finish came down to hundredths of a second — and to one teenager. Thailand's third leg had pushed clear midway through the final; then Chen Yujie took the anchor for China and ran the race back down, timing 40.78 seconds and touching the wall nine hundredths of a second ahead.

Her post-race analysis was as cool as the run. As long as the last handoff came at roughly the same time as Thailand's, she said, taking first was no problem.

Chen is 17, and Chinese social media has settled on a name for her: "xiao hai jie," or "little miss" — the affectionate tag for a young girl who does what grown professionals cannot. She arrived in Nagoya already holding two golds; the mixed relay made it three, in an event making its Asian Games debut, so the title had never been won before by anyone. Fan blogs have run out of superlatives. One widely shared post reckoned her top-end speed at around 10.9 seconds over 100 metres and argued that, with Chen anchoring, Chinese relays are simply unbeatable in Asia — the same blogger wanted her entered in the other relays too, on the ground that raw speed decides them and she has more of it than anyone in the region.

The Nagoya Games have doubled as a farewell tour for China's established stars — one golden night earlier in the week mixed titles with goodbyes — which makes Chen's arrival feel pointed: the next generation is turning up early.

The margin in the mixed final — nine hundredths of a second — says the rest of Asian sprinting is closer than the highlight reels suggest. The person who closed that gap described it, afterwards, as no problem at all.