Xing Huina enroute to her 5000m win at the 10th Chinese National Games (© Jiro Mochizuki-Agence SHOT)
An Asian record by Yu Chaohong in men's 50 km Walk and a second victory by Olympic champion Xing Huina were the highlights of the sixth and final day of the 10th Chinese National Games in Nanjing.
World Record assault in the 50 km Walk
The 28-year-old Yu, the fourth place finisher at the Olympic Games last year, and 21-year-old Zhao Chengliang, who was fifth at the World Championships in Helsinki maintained a World record pace until the waning stages when Yu pulled ahead to take the win in 3:36:06, just three seconds shy of Robert Korzeniowski's World record. Zhao held on for second, just seven seconds behind in 3:36:13. Yu, who had taken the bronze in the 2001 Games, said that despite his stunning performance, he isn't sure if he'll continue to compete until the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. In a fast race in which the top six top finishers set personal bests, Inner Mongolia walker Gadasu Alatan, 21, took the bronze in 3:40:23, with 19-year-old Ni Liang setting a world junior best* time of 3:41:30 for the fourth place.
Liaoning walker Han Yucheng, who set an Asian record of 3:36:20 in the national championships last February, was the favourite here too, but suffered the a fate similar to that in his outing at the Helsinki World Championships. Not able to maintain the leaders' fast pace, he didn't finish the race. Another favourite, Xu Xingde, who was second in the National was disqualified this time. In Helsinki he was another non-finisher.
Xing completes long distance double
Athens Olympic 10,000m champion Xing Huina took an easy win in the 5000, adding to the gold in the 10,000 she claimed on Monday. Breaking from the tight field at the bell, the Olympic 10,000 meter champion reached the line in 15:20.09.
Zhu Xiaolin took the only distance running medal for once strong Liaoning province, clocking 15:22.35, a 36-second improvement of her personal best. Beijing runner Xi Qiuhong was third in 15:25.36, a 16-second improvement. Sun Weiwei, also from Liaoning, who was fourth in the marathon last Sunday, equalled her placing here with a personal best 15:26.21. Her earlier best of 15:50.67 was set at the World Junior Championships in 2004.
The double Asian Champion over 5000 and 10,000m, 16-year-old Bai Xue, couldn't do better than eighth, but her 15:29.06 was a personal best for the teenager.
With a pack of nine in contention at the bell, the men's 5000 was a slow tactical bout. Sun Wenyong of Shandong, who had lost the 3000m Steeplechase to his twin brother over the final sprint, was the swiftest kicker here, winning with a season's best 13:58.02. Finishing a close second was Chen Mingfu in 13:58.84, just missing a double distance win of his own. 2001 winner Zheng Kai had to settle for a bronze this time around, clocking a season's best of 13:59.23. With the slow initial pace, the top nine finished within 2.7 seconds of each other.
In the men's Triple Jump, competitors faced the difficult wind conditions that severely affected the women yesterda (21 October). The relatively cold weather, which affected the quality of the results throughout the week, was a factor as well. Pre-competition favourite Li Yanxi dealt best with the conditions and showed that his injury woes may be behind him after a 16.95 winning effort into a 1.3 metre-per-second headwind.
Lin Mujie took the silver medal with a 16.50 leap, while Li Ming surprised the Asian champion Gu Junjie to take third with a 16.46 personal best, just two centimetres ahead of Gu. At the Asian Championships, Gu reached a wind-assisted 16.90. The reigning champion, Wu Ji, finished eighth (15.91) while Zhu Shujing, another podium favourite, met with disappointment, reaching just 15.31 for 17th.
Liu anchors Shanghai to silver in 4x100
In the men's one-lap relay, favourites Guangxi took the expected gold in 39.41. With 100m winner Gong Wei anchoring, along with bronze medallist Pang Guibin on the team, the win was clear.
But behind Guangxi, there was a surprise name running for the Shanghai team in the final straight. 200m winner Yang Yaozu passed the baton to 110m Hurdles co-World record holder Liu Xiang, who showed that he is one of the fastest 100m runners in China as he battled valiantly against Guangdong anchor Wen Yongyi (10.34 PB) and Jiangsu anchor Chen Shu (10.41 PB). Liu finished second, giving the Shanghai team the silver in 39.65 just ahead of Guangdong (39.72). Jiangsu, also credited with a 39.72 clocking, were fourth.
The Guangxi team, who come from an area with temperature at 25 C. or warmer for most of the year, said that the weather, which saw temperature below 15 C, was too cold for them to perform at top level, but they managed to win anyway.
In the women's 4x100. hosts Jiangsu added another gold with their 44.19 win. Guangxi, who clocked 44.02 in the semis, was second in 44.25s. Jiangsu anchor Qin Wangping, the winner of the 100 and 200, became the only triple winner of these Games. Sichuan province finished third, anchored by former star sprinter Li Xuemei, the Asian record holder in the short dashes and 4x100 relay. Most likely, this will be Li's final competition.
Huang denied third gold
In the women's 4x400m Relay, double winner Huang Xiaoxiao (400m/400m hurdles) was just inches away from the third gold of the Games, but the reigning champion Shandong team had to be content with second place. Surprisingly, the Guangdong anchor, Tang Xiaoyin, held off the challenge of Shandong's Bu Fanfang, the 400m runner-up. Guangdong won in 3:30.51, just ahead of Shandong's 3:30.63. Hunan took the bronze in 3:37.17, whose anchor, Wang Xing, broke the World junior record in the 400m Hurdles yesterday.
Guangdong won the men's 4x400 in 3:06.97 anchored by 400m winner Wang Liangyu, who collected his second win of the Games. Guangdong's quartet also included national record holder Xu Zizhou (45.25, 2001), who has not raced an individual 400 this season. Fujian was second in 3:08.79, with hosts Jiangsu third (3:09.84).
In the athletics medal table, Shandong claimed nine golds and 20 medals in all, ahead of the hosts Jiangsu who captured 21 medals, seven of them golds. Shanxi was third in the medal table, taking five golds, but no other medals.
Shandong also passed Jiangsu in the points table, scoring 378.2 points ahead of Jiangsu's 366. Guangdong was third with 250.5, just edging Liaoning, fourth place with 247.
* pending ratification
Mirko Jalava for the IAAF
