DudinceThe traditional international walking meeting (EAA Permit) “Dudinska patdesiatka“ in Spa town Dudince in South Slovakia will have on Saturday in its 24th annual a strong group from China competing.
All the best walkers from the country that will host the 2008 Olympic Games made the trip to Slovakia and could well bring an unexpected quality to the event.
As it looks now it is the only competition before Helsinki where Chinese walkers are taking part in such a big number in Europe.
In total 11 men and 4 women came to Dudince.
The women‘s quartet is headed by Sydney Olympic champion Wang Liping and includes this year‘s champion Yiang Ying (1:27:19 in February). Also in the team are World junior record holder Song Hongyuan and 17-year-old Bai Yanmei with a best of 1:30:44.
Only one from the 11 Chinese men, Gadasu Alatan (3:45:17 in February), will contest the 50km event. The rest of the team headed by Han Yucheng (3:36:20 in February, third best mark ever) and IAAF World Rankings second placer Yu Chaohong will go for 20 km.
The six other Chinese walkers competing in Dudince are currently in the TOP 20 of the IAAF World Rankings.
Alfons Juck for the IAAF