Zhang Yingying (left), runner-up at the 2007 Beijing Marathon Chen Rong (C) was the winner, Bai Xue of China (R) was third. (© Getty Images)
The fifth and last day of athletics competition at the 6th City Games in Wuhan, Hubei province in Central China, was the warmest, but still described as "cold" by the competitors. Temperatures got up to 20C on Friday afternoon (2), but when the last evening session started at 7pm it was again down to 15C.
This year’s edition of the City Games, the most important junior competition in China, has special importance because it should indicate Chinese prospects ahead of IAAF World Junior Championships in Athletics, Bydgoszcz, Poland (8-13 July 2008), even though some of the athletes on show in Wuhan will not be eligible given that those born 1987 to 1991 can compete here, whereas the qualification age for the global meet in 2008 covers the years 1989 to 1992.**
Zhang Yingying leads four under Beijing standard in best junior 10,000m race ever run
As expected, women's distance running was the best there was to offer on the final day of the 2007 City Games (2). The 10,000m race turned out to be easily the best junior race ever just like the 5000m final was on Wednesday (31 Oct).
After the fast 5000m race it was clear that the pace would be good for the 10,000m simply because there were so many runners who could run fast. Xue Fei, the 5000m winner had been originally entered to the race, but did not start so it was a race mainly between the three runners who dipped under 15:10 in the 5000m final.
5000m silver medallist Xie Fang, bronze medallist Zhang Yingying and 5th Bai Xue were among the seven runners who broke away from the others early in the race. This time the medals had been decided before the last lap and 17-year-old Zhang Yingying, who set a 2:27:20 marathon personal best less than two weeks ago, showed exceptional speed in the final sprint to finish in a personal best 31:17.30 bettering her earlier PB from this year by a minute and 13 seconds.
17-year-old Xie Fang was not far behind and added another second place finish in a personal best time of 31:21.25, 1 minute and 40 seconds faster than before. 19-year-old Chen Huirong was able to rise from the 6th place in the 5000m to third finishing right behind Xie in 31:23.07 PB and Bai Xue was again left outside of the medals in a season's best 31:32.49. The best non-junior in the race was 20-year-old Song Xiaoxue, who finished fifth in 31:39.84 PB.
In this best ever junior race 20 out of 22 participants set personal bests and only five out of the 22 were born in 1987 and therefore not juniors. The first four athletes, all juniors, dipped under Wang Junxia's City Games competition record 31:38.07 from 1995. Wang however was 22-years-old at the time and not a junior.
The first five athletes also qualified for the 2008 Beijing Olympics and former stars including the reigning Olympic champion Huina Xing in the 10,000m and Sun Yingjie who can compete after her two year drug ban, have a lot to do if they want to get to the team ahead of these youngsters.
Zhang Yingying is now the fourth fastest on the 10,000m world list this season and takes 9th place on the world junior all-time list with Xie Fang 10th and Chen Huirong 11th.
Asian record in the 3000m steeplechase – 9:26.25
19-year-old Jin Yuan, who competed at the Osaka World Champs and had set a national record and Asian junior record 9:48.33 (NR since broken by Li Zhenzhu) in Eagle Rock, USA in June, was the only favourite in the women’s 3000,m Steeplechase competition. But although Jin Yuan's performance 9:53.45 was good and only missed her best by five seconds, she was only at the last water barrier when the winner of yesterday’s race 19-year-old Liu Nian was crossing the finish line.
Liu Nian, competing for Shenyang city, Liaoning province, demolished the hopes of her competitors finishing with an Asian record and junior record 9:26.25 only missing Kenyan Ruth Bosibori's World junior record by a mere two seconds.
Liu Nian had come to the competition only with a personal best of 10:18.19, but already her personal best performance 15:41.31 in the 5000m heats had suggested she is capable of a better run in the steeple as well. Liu Nian was taken by surprise by her own running and said that she never thought she could brake the Asian record or even win the race. She also said that she didn't expect much because of the cold weather.
World leading junior beaten in the Pole Vault
Zhang Yingying, 17-years-old, came to the competition with high hopes. Zhang, who set the World youth best 4.45m last year and had jumped 4.46m indoors and had produced a world junior leading 4.40m this season, was totally out of form. Her last good performance came at the World Championships in Osaka where she cleared 4.35m in the qualification. Even in an international meet in Daegu in October she cleared 4.15m, but here she ended up with 3.80m, her worst result ever in national level competition and the only time she has been left with a result lower than 4 metres during her young career.
But usually when a favourite fails, there is someone to take their place and that was the case here as well. A 19-year-old Sichuan athlete called Zhou Yang set a personal best 4.40m which is also a joint world junior leader with Zhang Yingying and Australian Vicky Parnov and gives her equal sixth place on the World junior all-time list.
Zheng Xingjuan, a Bydgoszcz bet
The very experienced Zheng Xingjuan, 18, was the expected winner in the women’s High Jump. The cold weather was too much for the jumpers and there were no new personal bests for any of the jumpers in the competition. Zheng Xingjuan won with a 1.84m clearance and is still a junior next year for the 2008 World Junior Championships in Bydgoszcz. Zheng Xingjuan has jumped 1.92m in both 2005 and 2006 and cleared the same height indoors this year as well. She was second at the 2006 World Junior Championships and an equal second at the 2006 Asian Games.
60m thrower beaten in Javelin
Many favourites have been beaten in these City Games and this also happened in the women's Javelin Throw competition. 19-year-old Chang Chunfeng, the world leading junior in 2007 with a personal best 61.61m in June (and also beating 60m mark at the Chinese World Champs Trials), could only manage 53.27m and fifth place.
17-year-old Song Dan, from Sichuan province, was on hand to score a win when the favourite failed. Song, who of course is a junior next year as well, set a personal best 59.89m and will surely be looking for a place on the Bydgoszcz team next summer. Another junior next year, 1989 born Li Lingwei, was second with a 55.47m throw and 20-year-old Zhu Ying set a personal best 55.17m for the third place.
World junior best in walk
Easily the brightest star of the Chinese men’s race walking at the moment, is wonder child 18-year-old Li Gaobo, who set a World junior best in the 20000m track walk winning in a fast 1:20:11.72.
The earlier junior best was Wang Yinhang's 1:20:40.3 from the 1995 City Games and Li Gaobo also broke the competition record 1:20:24.6 set by Li Zewen in the same 1995 meet.
Li Gaobo, who has reached the world top at a young age, incredibly won the 2005 National Games 20km race at the age of 16. He competed at the Osaka World Championships reaching 13th place there and will surely look for an Olympic medal in Beijing next season.
Another 18-year-old, Wang Hao, was second in 1:21:20.69 and 19-year-old World University Games winner earlier this season, Chu Yafei, took third place in 1:22:11.67. A disappointment in the competition was the 2006 Asian 50km champion Zhao Jianguo who could only finish in 9th place. Zhao also holds the World junior best in the 50km walk with a 3:41:10 result in that 2006 Asian Championships race in Wajima, Japan.
Lin Xiangqian secures double win with Steeplechase victory
One of the easiest winners of the Games was Lin Xiangqian in the 3000m Steeplechase. 20-year-old Lin, who had already sprinted to the 5000m win earlier, grabbed another in the 3000m Steeplechase winning easily in 8:46.12. 19-year-old Xu Shengming was second in a personal best 8:49.23, his first sub 9-minute performance of career.
20-year-old Lin Qingquan took the Decathlon win with a personal best total score of 7464 points adding 164 points to his earlier best. Lin, competing for Xiamen city, was fighting for the win with another favourite, 19-year-old Guo Weizhao, but was finally able to score the important points in the Javelin Throw, the ninth event. Guo could only manage a lowly 48.82m performance with Lin setting a personal best 65.57m instead. Guo finished in second well behind Lin scoring 7232 points in the end.
In the men's 4x100m relay the competition was fierce with Nanjing team scoring a surprise win over the favourites Guangzhou. Li Xianglong, who was second in the 200m, anchored Nanjing team to a win in 39.69 seconds over Guangzhou's 39.73s. Guangzhou, however set a national junior record with their team Zhao Haohuan, Su Bingtian, Li Haolun and Liang Jiahong for the first ever sub-40 result for juniors in China. Shanghai won the men's 4x400m race in 3:09.43. In the women's relays Nanjing's all junior team Jiang Lan, Liu Tingting, Dai Cheng and Chen Jue won in 45.18 seconds ahead of Guangzhou's 45.52s. In the 4x400m Guangzhou and Nanjing swapped places with Guangzhou grabbing the win with a 3:36.82 result over Nanjing's 3:38.74.
The competition concluded in very positive mood. Although the cold weather made the sprints and jumps hard, the much followed women's distance running showed very good progress with many new names rising to fight for the places on the Olympic team. Several A-standards for the Olympics and best ever junior races in the women's 5000m and 10,000m was more than expected from this competition. The Olympics in Beijing will naturally be the next big meet for the Chinese with their own prestigious National Games held in Jinan in October 2009 for the 11th time.
Mirko Jalava for the IAAF
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**NOTE: Any athlete under the age of 20 years but of at least 16 years of age on 31 December 2008 (that covers the year's 1989-1992) may compete in IAAF World Junior Championships in Athletics Bydgoszcz, Poland (8-13 July 2008).
