A total of 41 Chinese athletes will compete in 17 disciplines at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, from August 19 to 27 as they also bid to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
China aims to snatch two to three golds at the biannual athletics showpiece, but more importantly it is a great opportunity for the young athletes to gain experience and strive for more berths for next year’s Paris Olympic Games.
The average age of the Chinese squad is 27, one year younger than the track and field roster for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. Among the athletes, 10 were born in the 2000s.
In the last world championships in Oregon, the US, China finished with two golds, one silver and three bronzes. Wang Jia’nan made history to become the first man from the Chinese mainland to win the long jump gold in a worlds. Feng Bin was another surprise performer as she upset Olympic champion Valarie Allman and four-time worlds champion Sandra Perkovic to clinch gold in the women’s discus throw.
Adding to the two defending champions Wang and Feng, China’s roster also boasts four-time world champion race walker Liu Hong, Olympic women’s javelin champion Liu Shiying, Olympic women’s shot put champion Gong Lijiao, and men’s triple jump Olympic silver medalist Zhu Yaming.
Race walking has always been a strength in China’s track and field, especially women’s race walking.
The Chinese team is a hot favorite to go for medals in the men’s and women’s 35 kilometer race walking and the women’s 20 kilometer race walking.
Liu Hong and Yang Jiayu, two of the world’s fastest race walkers in history, will battle it out in the women’s 20 kilometers race walking.
It’s 36-year-old Liu’s eighth journey to the worlds. The evergreen race walker came back from retirement in 2018 and won bronze in the Tokyo Olympics.
Yang, the current world record holder, clocked a time of 1:26:41 at the first World Athletics Race Walking Tour in March, ranking world’s No.3 so far this year.
Ma Zhenxia is a young race walker to watch as China is bidding for a rebound from the previous world championship woes as the team only won two bronzes in Oregon and ended a gold medal haul of five consecutive worlds.
In the men’s 35 kilometers race walking, He Xianghong, Wang Qin and Zhaxi Yangben will eye for a podium finish. In March’s race walking tour, He set a new Asian record of 2:22:55, which was also the best result in the world this season. Wang Qin’s personal best this season is 2:26:37, ranking sixth in the world.
China remains a formidable force in the women’s throwing disciplines. Olympic champion Gong Lijiao will be seeking her third world title in women’s shot put in her 9th world championships.
The 34-year-old Gong is looking to get revenge for her loss to Chase Ealey of the US at the previous world championships. She will have a tall order clashing against US shot putter Maggie Ewen, who registered a season’s best of 20.45 meters, and Canada’s Sarah Mitton. Gong’s best performance so far this season is 20.06 meters.
Surprise champion Feng faces a tough battle to defend her title with a season’s best of 66.81 meters, ranking world’s No.5. Olympic champion Allman had a season’s best of 70.25 meters.
Reigning long jump champion Wang has to work wonders again should he long for a podium finish. His season’s best of 8.26 meters only allows him to rank at world 11th among elite long jumpers this year.
Unfortunately, we will not see Chinese sprinters in the coming showpiece.
China qualified for the women’s 4×100m relay race but the sprint team shifted its focus to the Hangzhou Asian Games and opted not to go for the world championships. Sprint stars Su Bingtian and Xie Zhenye also pulled out of the world championships due to injury. It’s the first time since 2009 for the Chinese sprint team to miss the world championships.
(Global Times)
