Yan Ziyi gave notice of a new force in women’s javelin at the World Athletics Diamond League meeting in Xiamen, obliterating the Asian record with a performance that came close to setting a new world best.The Chinese 18-year-old’s first throw of 71.74 metres easily eclipsed the previous regional high of 67.98m held by compatriot Lyu Huihui, and also shattered Yan’s own junior world record of 65.89m.Such was the strength of her performance on Saturday that Yan’s distance would not only have been more than enough to claim gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics – which was won by Japan’s Haruka Kitaguchi with a throw of 65.80m – it was also just 54cm shy of the world record of 72.28m set by the Czech Republic’s Barbora Spotakova in 2008.Yan did not throw again and easily won the competition, with Norway’s Sigrid Borge finishing second with a 65m effort.“I came to this event with the goal for 65m, so it really blew my mind to see that result coming,” said Yan, whose record throw served as a birthday present to herself, as she turned 18 only the day before.Yan Ziyi has only just become eligible to compete at the World Championships and Olympics. Photo: Xinhua“A flash in the pan ⁠is not what I want, I don’t want this 71.74 to be just a one-time thing … I think I can push harder. I’ll see how it will go for the next couple of years and prepare for breaking the world record,” said Yan, who won both the shot put and the javelin at the 2023 World School Games.