When China's Sun Yingjie, 23, took the lead with a sudden burst of speed after 4,000m of the women’s 10,000m race at the recent Asian Games in South Korea, many in the crowd at the Busan Main Stadium were wondering if it was a matter of “too fast, too soon”.

After all, the pre-race favourite for the race, Japan's Kayoko Fukushi, had come to the Games after a fantastic season, which saw her become the first Japanese woman to dip below 15 minutes for the 5,000m (14:55.21).

Also, Yingjie who hails from Liaoning, in a few of her previous major international races, had gone out fast, only to fade away later on. For instance, in the Boston Marathon last spring, she led the field through 25 km at a record pace but faded in the second half to give way to the Kenyans Margaret Okayo, Catherine Ndereba and Ethiopia's Elfenesh Alemu.

So the crowd in Busan waited – and waited, expecting Fukushi, a talent in her own right, to respond. But that didn’t happen and Yingjie eased towards the finish line to take the 10,000m gold in a Games record of 30:28.26. The time improved the personal best she had set earlier in the year (31:09.34, 10 June 2002), and was the 8th fastest on the world all-time list. Fukushi won the silver in a highly respectable time of 30:51.81 (18th world all-time) while another Chinese (a junior), Xing Huina, bagged the bronze in 31:42.58.

With such a stunning performance, it was no surprise when Yingjie, who had previously focused on the Marathon, also dominated the 5000m which took place two days later. In an incredible display of front-running, she took control after just the third lap and raced away to finish in 14:40.41, a Games record, ahead of a valiant but totally eclipsed Fukushi (14:55.19). Remarkably, considering her earlier efforts over 10,000m, the Chinese girl’s effort was 15th on the world all-time list and the fourth fastest time run in 2002.

Based on this sort of form, Yingjie has emerged as perhaps “the athlete of the moment” to challenge the immensely talented Paula Radcliffe of Great Britain. More significantly, her rise in international distance races means China – after a long wait - has found a successor to its distance greats of the mid 1990s, including 1993 World 10,000m and 1996 Olympic 5000m champion Wang Junxia.

With her double in Busan, Yingjie was named in the IAAF’s World Ranking’s as Performer of the Week. She also became the first in the history of the IAAF World Rankings to complete the double of owning the two highest Performance Scores of the week. Deservedly, she rose from 41st to 17th in her Event Rankings and from 380th to 117th in the women’s Overall Rankings.

Not that such honours are likely to go to Yingjie’s head. For she has set higher goals for herself than just Asian Games medals or records. After her 10,000m win in Busan she commented, “I was very much confident that I would win here. Next, I want to break the Asian and world record (of 29:31.78 set by Wang Junxia in Beijing in 1993). I believe I have the strength to do this.”

After all, she had not gone all out in Busan! “The most important thing here for me was to win. Records and times aren’t as important. So for the 10,000m, I just followed the leader in the first half. Otherwise, I could have run fast from the start,” she explained.

As if to emphasise her words and her strength, just days after her Busan triumphs, Yingjie returned home to China and improved her Marathon best to a staggering 2:21:21 (20 October) in Beijing, when finishing second to Wei Yanan's 2:20:23 clocking. 

Yingjie’s coach Wang Dexian expects her to challenge the world record before the 2004 Olympics in Athens. Based on current times, Radcliffe is still considerably faster in the 5000m, 10,000m and Marathon. But if indeed Yingjie didn’t stretch herself all the way in Busan and her subsequent marathon run would indicate that, one can only imagine what great races await us if these two ladies ever do meet.

Hardly an unknown - Yingjie's running pedigree

Yingjie made her Marathon debut did in the 1997 National Games Marathon - Beijing, 4 October 1997 with 2:32:43 - but by the end of the month had already run her second race reducing her best to 2:30:10 for third place in Dalian on 26 October!

In 1998, she made a dramatic breakthrough with races in Tianjin, Dalian and Beijing. Most significantly, her time of 2:25:45 in Tianjin, when winning the national championships signalled her potential in no uncertain terms.

In 1999, she made a number of other Marathon forays. For instance, she was placed 12th at the World Championships in Seville (2:30:12), but along with her other races in Boston (11th, 2:37:11), Beijing ( 2nd, 2:31:19) and Tokyo (7th, 2:30:29) didn't come near to her personal best.

In 2000, after an improvement to eighth place in Boston (2:31:22), she dipped under 2:30 again with second place in Beijing at the national championships with 2:36:36, before returning again to the USA for seventh place finish in New York (2:30:13).

In 2001, an 11th place showing in Beijing in October was followed by, what would now seem to have been a dress rehearsal for her feats at year’s Asian Games. In Guangzhou at the National Games on 19 November, she first took a silver medal at 10,000m in a new personal best of 31:49.47, and then four days later on 23 November took bronze at 5000m, also in another best of 15:02.70.

Yingjie came to last month's Asian Games with a season's 5000m best of  “just” 15:32.00 compared to Fukushi's 14:55.21. Also, while Yingjie entered the Games with a 10,000m season's best of 31:09.34, as compared to Fukushi's slower 31:55.59, Yingjie’s improvement at both distances in Busan was to be substantial, while Fukushi's by comparison was only marginal. As such, come the end of the 5000m Final in Busan, there was no doubt that Sun had well and truly eclipsed Japan's rising star.

Chua Chong Jin for the IAAF