Chinese swimmer Ning Zetao claimed a historic win for China at the world swimming championships on Thursday, grabbing the most eye-catching men's 100m free gold in 47.84 seconds.

Ning,22, who had been the first Asian swimming into 48 seconds in theevent, broke the tight control of the event by Western swimmers and became the first Chinese to win the event in the world top arena.

After winning the competition, the 22-year-old swimmer soon became a focus of the Internet. "He is a hero" ,"He is so cute," said the netizens.