SINGAPORE, Singapore (AFP)—China’s Qin Haiyang reeled in Olympic champion Nicolo Martinenghi to reclaim his 100m breaststroke world title in Singapore on Monday.

Qin recovered from a slow start to come home in 58.23sec, beating Italy’s Martinenghi on 58.58 and Kyrgyzstan’s Denis Petrashov on 58.88.

Qin swept all three breaststroke races at the 2023 world championships in Japan, breaking the 200m world record.

But he crashed and burned at last year’s Paris Olympics, finishing seventh after leading the 100m breaststroke final at the turn.

The 26-year-old had no such problems in Singapore as he delivered China’s first swimming medal of the championships.

“I’m so appreciative for tonight, it’s been a long time,” said Qin.

“Finally, I’ve come back.”

Qin went into the race in ominous form, having swum the two fastest times of the year and topped the semi-finals ahead of Martinenghi.

Martinenghi was initially disqualified in the semi-finals but was later reinstated for the final.

The Italian said he had been sick through the night and was “really proud” of his performance.

“That silver is like a gold for me,” he said.

“I’ve got nothing inside me, I’ve got only my heart and my brain.”

The race did not feature Paris Olympic joint silver-medallists Adam Peaty and Nic Fink.

Britain’s Peaty, who owned the 14 fastest times in the history of the 100m breaststroke heading into Singapore, decided to skip the world championships.

American Fink is also taking a break from competition.

Qin’s preparations for the Paris Olympics were thrown into turmoil when he was implicated in a major doping scandal months before the Games.

A report named Qin among 23 Chinese swimmers who had tested positive for a prescription heart drug ahead of the pandemic-delayed 2021 Tokyo Olympics.

They were not sanctioned after the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) accepted the argument of Chinese authorities that the positive tests were caused by contaminated food.