2005 World Youth Champion, Sha Li (© Getty Images)
The top Chinese junior athletes have recently been competing in the qualification meetings for the 6th City Games, with the Women’s events being held in Chengdu (2 - 5 June) and the men’s programme carried out in Zhengzhou (24 - 29 May).
Junxia, Xiang, Huina…a show case of future champions
While the fields in these meetings were very big, they will be small at the City Games themselves. The City Games is the second most important Chinese meeting after the National Games, but it’s a junior meeting for athletes 20 years old and younger (born 1987-1991).
The name of the meeting also clearly registers the difference between the National Games and City Games. In the former the total scoring is done between provinces, while in the latter the biggest cities of China compete.
The qualification meetings is also the closest it gets to the National Junior Championships as these are not held in the usual format in the year’s in which the City Games are staged.
The previous versions of the City Games have brought several great international athletes to the spotlight. World and Olympic champion Wang Junxia competed in 1995, and in 1999 in Xi, a certain 16-year-old Shanghai hurdler by the name of Liu Xiang made his first appearance in a nationwide competition in the 110m Hurdles. Liu Xiang didn’t make it to the final reaching 14.29 time and being the fastest loser, but came back four years later to win the title with a competition record 13.31 in Changsha. Also in 2003, the future Olympic 10,000m champion Xing Huina was a double winner (She won 5000m and 10,000m races) following her World Junior record in the World 10,000m in Paris.
2008 Olympic team candidates
This year many of the Chinese medallists from the Beijing World Junior Championships last year competed, and the women, as usual, had the better standard with results. It is likely some of these athletes which might even be on the Chinese Olympic team in 2008.
WOMEN
Fourth on world all-time list
Best result of the meeting came in the women’s javelin throw. 19-year-old Chang Chunfeng (b. 4.5.88) set a big personal best of 61.61m, just 1.32m from the World Junior record set by then 17-year-old Xue Juan in the 2003 edition of the City Games. Chang threw 58.72m last season, but did not compete at the World Junior champs. 61.61m gives her the fourth place on the world junior all-time list with China now occupying four of the top five placings on the list. Li Lingwei, who was 8th at the World Junior Champs least year, was a distant second with a season’s best of 56.39m.
2006 World Junior bronze medallist in the hammer, Hao Shuai, won the Hammer Throw with a good mark of 68.12m – she has thrown a personal best of 68.77m earlier this season. Hao was born in 1987 and is no longer a junior.
In the Shot Put the best junior in the world, just 16-year-old Gong Lijiao, who has thrown 18.77m this season, was not competing. 18-year-old Liu Xiangrong, from Inner Mongolia, took the win with a 17.63m toss. Her personal best 17.92m from April gives her the second spot on the world junior list behind Gong.
Sha Li near to Triple Jump PB
In the Triple Jump, the silver medallist of the 2006 World Junior Champs and also 2005 World Youth Champion Sha Li, 18, came close to her personal best 14.01m which she jumped in the Beijing final last year. Sha won with a 13.95m season’s best before 18-year-old Yao Jiajia setting a personal best 13.68m for the second place. Sha is second on the 2007 world junior list behind 15-year-old Cuban Dailenis Alcántara who has jumped 14.21m in March.
The weird atmosphere around this qualification competition was shown on several occasions. Some athletes just made sure they made it into the final in their event and then did not try their best in the final. This is possible because a place in the final guarantees a place at the City Games in October.
Triple jump winner Sha Li was one of those athletes not doing their best. She won the Long Jump qualification with a personal best of 6.31m, but then placed 11th in the final making only one jump of 3.80m. And this was not because of an injury – same thing was repeated across different disciplines several times during these two meetings.
World Junior Pole Vault record threatened
The women’s Pole vault was won by 19-year-old Zhang Yingzhu with a good 4.30m result. Zhang has cleared 4.40m outdoors this season and 4.46m Asian indoor record in the winter. She is surely looking to break the 4.48m World Junior record set by Silke Spiegelburg (GER) in 2005.
World Junior Champs silver medallist Zheng Xingyuan won the High Jump with 1.84m. She has jumped 1.92m for three years in a row now, 2005, 2006 and indoors 2007.
The women’s 5000m was won by 18-year-old Bai Xue, who just missed a medal with her fourth place finish in Beijing World Junior Champs last year. Bai sprinted to a fast 15:34.06 time just edging 17-year-old Zhang Yingying who finished second with a big personal best of 15:34.11. Zhang has already run a 2:36:52 marathon this season.
The 800m was won by 17-year-old Zong Lili in 2:07.99, but the fastest athlete in the semi-finals, Cao Kun, clearly did not try her best in the final. Cao had run 2:03.96, the fastest in the semis, but eased up to finish fifth in 2:10.24 in the final.
In the 400m, 17-year-old Chen Jingwen, who is one of the big prospects of this season in China, took an easy win with a season’s best of 53.37. Chen, who only started her first national competition in 2007, burst to a 52.18 win at the Guangdong Sports Games in November 2006 as a 16-year-old.
MEN
20-year-old Wen Yongyi, who set a fast 6.59 national record over 60m indoors, set a season’s best of 10.37 in the 100m semifinal, but then jogged to a 13.27 finish in the final. One reason to this energy saving might be the fact that the National Trials for the Osaka World Championships will be held 8 -10 June and some of athletes competing in these qualification meets will be looking for a place in the World Champs senior team as well.
The 400m was won by a promising 19-year-old, Liu Xiaosheng, in a 46.81 personal best. The Guangdong athlete missed most of the 2006 season because of an injury having run 46.91s as 17-year-old in 2005.
In the 3000m Steeplechase, the 20-year-old Lin Xiangqian easy took the win in a season’s best time 8:48.94. Lin, who finished sixth in the Steeplechase at the World Junior Champs last year, finished last in the 5000m final in 17:11.33 after having won his heat in 14:18.04, a season’s best.
19-year-old Yu Zipei won the 400m Hurdles in 51.06. Yu, who was seventh in Beijing last year, set a personal best 50.60 earlier this season and is second on the 2007 world junior list with that result.
Just 17-year-old Wang Chen won the High Jump with a personal best of 2.20m, he had jumped only 2.10m before. In the pole vault World Junior Champs silver medallist Yang Yansheng just made sure that he’s won the competition and then stopped at 5.15m.
17-year-old Li Jinzhe won the long jump with a personal best of 7.85m, same result for Su Xiongfeng, 20, in second place. World Junior bronze medallist in, Zhang Xiaoyi, easily qualified to the final with a 7.45m jump and then placed 10th in the final with 5.05m. Again no injury and Zhang has jumped 7.79m outdoors and 8.03m indoors (NJR) this season. All he wanted was a place in the final to assure qualification for the City Games.
16.81m Triple Jump
In the Triple Jump, 20-year-old World Junior Champs bronze medallist Zhong Minwei took a big leap towards the world’s top marks. Having jumped a personal best of 16.34m at the national junior champs in 2006, he now started his season with a 16.81m win here. 18-year-old Dong Bin took the second place also setting a personal best 16.25m.
Another World Junior Champs bronze medallist Guo Yanxiang, 20, won the Shot Put with a personal best 18.96m. 19-year-old Xin Jia won the Discus Throw with a personal best 56.72m, and 19-year-old Wang Qingbo, who was fourth at the 2005 World Youth Champs, won the Javelin Throw with a 75.02m season’s best. Wang holds the World Youth Best with the 700g implement with 82.34m result he reached in May 2005. NOTE: In all of the events senior implements were used.
The Chinese season continues with the World Championships Trials in Suzhou 8-10 June.
Mirko Jalava for the IAAF
Click here for RESULTS
