Zhang Wenxiu continues impressively – Throws highlight in Chongqing - 2nd Chinese GP

In the second leg of the 2005 Chinese outdoor meetings series, the current women's Hammer Throw world leader, 19-year-old Zhang Wenxiu continued her impressive start to the season. In the two-day competition held in the city of Chongqing, China, Zhang Wenxiu completed her 16th career competition over 70m with her winning mark of 70.88m.

This result follows Zhang Wenxiu’s 72.34m in the Osaka Grand Prix meeting a week earlier. This was also sixth consecutive win for Zhang Weniu over countrywoman Gu Yuan, another Chinese hammer star who was 4th in the Paris World Championships 2003 and 10th in the Olympics 2004. Two of Zhang Wenxiu’s throws flew over the 70m where Gu Yuan got her best, 69.69m toss, with her last try.

Gu Yuan who is currently tenth for the event in the IAAF World Rankings still holds a career lead of 16-13 in head-to-head competition over Zhang Wenxiu, who ranks ninth.

Asian Discus record draws closer

While many other stars, including Olympic champions Liu Xiang and Xing Huina, who is yet to start her track season, were not competing, there were still several prominent results achieved by young athletes in Chongqing.

The competition also featured a young Australian team visiting China. This meeting was another one with almost no notable distance running at all, in total contrast to the strong pre-season meets.

As well as the women's Hammer Throw it was no surprise that there were good marks in other throwing events. In the men's Discus Throw, 21-year-old Wu Tao moved closer to the Asian record of 65.16m held by Li Shaojie since 1996. Wu Tao’s second throw landed at 64.28m surpassing his earlier personal best of 63.68m from 2003. Wu Tao who threw 63.62m last season, won the World Junior Championships in 2002 with then a World Junior record of 64.51m (with 1.75kg discus). The 2003 World University Games winner will be looking for the first senior major championships final in Helsinki, he also competed in the Athens Olympics 2004, but could not reach the final.

Of course Wu Tao, who finished third as a 17-year-old in the 2001 National Games, will be looking for success in the 10th edition of those Games in October.

Co-incidentally, the same trio who took the medals in the 2001 Games finished in the top three here in Chongqing as well. Li Shaojie, who won the competition in 2001, is finally coming closer to the 60m limit again, he finished third with 59.36m, just behind Tulake Nuermaimaiti, who after a difficult start to the season was able to come much closer to Wu Tao here with a 59.73m throw. The Xinjiang athlete took the second place in the 2001 Games with Asian junior record of 62.36m (with 2kg Discus).

Song Amin - national number one

In the women's Discus Throw, Song Aimin strengthened her position as the number one thrower with a 63.45m winning mark from round six. Song, who was 7th in the 2003 World Championships, was followed by a new name, 22-year-old Sun Taifeng, who recorded her first career 60m throw. The Tianjin-athlete came to the competition with a personal best of 58.09m from 2004 and was able to better this mark with all of her six throws.

Favourite Li Meiju took the women's Shot Put competition with 18.30m before Li Fengfeng who threw 17.92m for the second place. Li Meiju was ninth in the Olympic Games, and will be looking to better that finish in Helsinki World Championships, she is also the defending National Games winner from 2001.

National Pole Vault mark alludes both men and women

Both Pole Vault competitions saw the bar raised to national record heights, but this time it was too much for both the men and women.

In the men's competition 30-year-old national record holder Zhang Hongwei made three tries at 5.65m after winning the competition at 5.50m. This was a very important moment for Zhang Hongwei, who has not been at his best since a motorcycle accident in Beijing in February of 2001. Zhang Hongwei's national record stands at 5.63m from May 2000 and he will have good competition during this season from the 20-year-old Liu Feiliang, who has jumped 5.45m this season (5.50 indoors) and holds the indoor national record at 5.60m from 2004.

Asian women’s record holder Gao Shuying raised the bar to 4.53m in her event, but made three unsuccessful attempts at this height. Gao Shuying won the competition with a first-time clearance at 4.45m, Yang Jing and Australian Katrina Miroshnichenko recorded personal bests of 4.30m and 4.15m for second and third places respectively.

Triple Jump specialist Gu Junjie, who holds the Asian junior record at 17.23m from last season and already broke the Chinese indoor record with his 16.96m in March, was competing in his second event, the Long Jump here. Gu Junjie won the competition with a personal best of 7.99m before Long Jump specialists Zhou Can (7.97m) and Wang Cheng (7.80m). In the women's Long Jump, the best jumper Guan Yingnan, was not jumping and competition was won by Wang Lina with a 6.63m jump.

Asian record holder returns

There was also a big comeback in the women's 400m Hurdles. Song Yinglan who tied the Asian record of 53.96 while winning the 2001 National Games, had been absent from "real" competition since October 2002. Although she did race was in 2004, her 62.59 time from July 2004 can hardly be described as a competition as the time was almost nine seconds slower than her Asian Record. That slow time was quickly forgotten after her heat result of 57.72 on Saturday, and she finally finished second in the Sunday final clocking 56.71 and is surely looking to defend her National Games title in October.

The race was won by Yao Yuehua in 56.15, but the brighest Chinese star Huang Xiaoxiao was absent from this competition. Huang, who advanced to the semi-finals in the Athens Olympics 2004, has already hurdled to a time of 55.51. In this event too, the National Games will see exactly the same athletes fighting for the top places, as Huang took the second place in 2001 with then a World junior record of 55.15, and Yao was third in that competition.

Liu Xiang but not who you thought

Another national record holder, Tan Chunhua, in the men's 400m Hurdles, is not in the best shape he could hope for. The Shanghai-born athlete, who was coached to his 1998 national record of 49.25s by Olympic champion Liu Xiang's coach Sun Haiping, finished last in his heat in 53.61. The race was won by 24-year-old Meng Yan in 49.87. 188cm tall Meng Yan, from Jilin province, has been the number one in China in this event for the past couple of season's and he kept his position easily here with his winning time being only 0.03 seconds off his 2004 personal best of 49.84.

Although Meng Yan is the best in his event, he not afraid of the other events as well, in Chongqing he also participated in the 200m race, recording a wind assisted mark of 21.29 in the heats. He also has a personal best of 10.76 in the 100m from last season.

In second place finishing in a personal best of 50.78 was an athlete who probably will be confusing a lot of people with his name. Although this time is hardly rocking the athletics world, his name, Liu Xiang, is. This Liu however, was competing in his hometown, Chongqing, and is some two months older than the 110m Hurdles Olympic champion. Their names are not same in Chinese, however, the Xiang's, their first names are different in Chinese, but are written the same way after transliteration.

Double sprint PBs for Chen Lisha

In the women's sprints, 24-year-old Chen Lisha recorded personal bests in both 100m and 200m. After her second place finish of 11.46 in the 100m on Saturday, she went on to win the 200m in her first sub-23 seconds time of 22.94 assisted by a perfect +2.0 m/s wind. Shu Yan won the women's 100m in 11.45. Chen Lisha was also a part of winning Chongqing team in the 4x100m relay. The home team won in 44.14s, but there was a national record in the race as well, as the Hong Kong team finished in 7th place recording 46.48. There was a Hongkong record in the men's sprint relay too, behind real surprise winners, Zhejiang in 39.60, and Heilongjiang (39.74), the Hong Kong team finished in third place in 39.77, the first sub-40 second relay time for them.

The rest of the Chinese season…World Junior record threatened

The first part of the Chinese outdoor season concludes next weekend in Yixing, Jiangsu province, with the third leg of the National Grand Prix Series. This meeting includes the same Australian team which competed in Chongqing and some visiting Asian competitors from Thailand and Vietnam.

The athletes entered for this meeting promise a much higher quality meeting. While Olympic 110m Hurdles champion Liu Xiang will pass this national event, as he is concentrating on the European GP circuit, top line competitors include Xu Zizhou, 400m national record holder (45.25), who will start his season with a 200m race. Li Xuemei, the injury hampered Asian record holder at both 100m (10.79s) and 200m (22.01s) starts her season with a 100m/200m double in Yixing, and Huang Xiaoxiao will race in the 400m Hurdles again.

This meeting will also feature the first duel between the best pole vaulters Gao Shuying and Zhao Yingying. 19-year-old Zhao Yingying, won has only won two of her 15 competitions against Asian record holder Gao Shuying, will be looking to break the World Junior record of 4.47m held by Yelena Isinbayeva (RUS) this summer. Zhao Yingying already jumped 4.45m indoors in Athens in February, and could be ready to break the record already in this first outdoor meeting of the season.

Distance running will stay as a low key element of next week’s meeting, the best runners will not be racing before the National Championships in June.

Mirko Jalava for the IAAF

RESULTS - 14 - 15 May, Chongqing

Men
100 m (14,  +0.8): Pang Guibin 10.38; 2 Yin Hualong 10.40; 3 Liu Dapeng 10.41.
200 m (15): Jin Ke 20.81; 2 Wang Chengliang 20.92; 3 Liu Haitao 21.16.
400 m (15): David Geddes AUS 46.20; 2 Li Peng 47.13; 3 Wu Guanyu 47.14.
800 m (15): Chi Yinan 1:50.71; 2 Zhang Anqiang 1:51.75; 3 Ma Xiaoduo 1:52.05.
1500 m (15): Yang Anyue 3:45.17; 2 Huang Jinhong 3:46.68; 3 Xiao Wen 3:53.23.
5000 m (14): Sun Wenyong 14:25.81; 2 Hou Yanmin 14:29.48; 3 Zhao Jian 14:35.34.
10000 m (15): Hou Yanmin 30:24.02; 2 Wang Xiangfeng 30:25.31.
3000 m steeple (15): Sun Wenli 8:52.06; 2 Sun Wenyong 8:58.26; 3 Shi Linzhong 9:00.47.
110 m hurdles (15,  +1.6): Wang Hui 13.77; 2 Li Dong 14.06; 3 Wang Yin 14.06.
400 m hurdles (15): Meng Yan 49.87; 2 Liu Xiang 50.78; 3 Ou Yongjian 50.91.
High jump (14): Zhang Shufeng 2.24; 2 Li Bing 2.20; 3 Wang Hao 2.20.
Pole vault (15): Zhang Hongwei 5.50; 2 Zhao Yu 5.15; 3 Kong Zhuowen 5.00.
Long jump (15): Gu Junjie 7.99/0.4; 2 Zhou Can 7.97/0.4; 3 Wang Cheng 7.80/0.7.
Triple jump (14): Jiang Wei 16.02/-0.1; 2 Zhang Tao 15.92/0.0; 3 Wu Bo 15.92/0.0.
Shot (15): Zhang Heng 18.67; 2 Tian Yingchun 18.55; 3 Li Wenkui 18.09.
Discus (15): Wu Tao 64.28; 2 Tulake Nuermaimaiti 59.73; 3 Li Shaojie 59.36.
Hammer (14): Ma Liang 70.72; 2 Ye Kuigang 67.98; 3 Wang Zhen 67.35.
Javelin (15): Li Rongxiang 78.44; 2 Chen Qi 71.70; 3 Liu Yanhong 70.82.
Decathlon (14/15): Yu Bin 7431; 2 Wang Jianbo 7263; 3 Cao Wen 7094.
4x100 m (14): Zhejiang 39.60; 2 Heilongjiang 39.74; 3 Hongkong 39.77 NR.
4x400 m (15): Sichuan 3:08.33.

Women
100 m (14,  +1.2): Shu Yan 11.45; 2 Chen Lisha 11.46; 3 Liu Li 11.55.
200 m (15,  +2.0): Chen Lisha 22.94; 2 Zhu Juanhong 23.46; 3 Liu Li 23.50.
400 m (15): Bu Fanfang 52.99; 2 Caitlin Willis AUS 53.19; 3 Zhang Xiaoyuan 53.62.
800 m (15): Wang Yuanping 2:04.52; 2 Yang Xiaocui 2:06.18; 3 Zhao Hui 2:08.64.
1500 m (15): Yang Nanmei 4:25.55; 2 Li Lihua 4:30.56; 3 Jiang Liyun 4:30.97.
5000 m (14): Chen Xiaofang 16:08.13; 2 Cha Caijuan 16:20.86; 3 Yu Haili 16:38.23.
10000 m (15): Chang Jinxue 35:17.46; 2 Yu Haili 35:44.28; 3 Ju Limei 36:17.72.
3000 m steeple (15): Chen Xiaofang 10:47.18; 2 Mu Yingxiu 11:24.29.
100 m hurdles (15,  +1.2): Liu Jing 13.18; 2 Zhang Rong 13.32; 3 Fiona Cullen AUS 13.68.
400 m hurdles (15): Yao Yuehua 56.15; 2 Song Yinglan 56.71; 3 Zhang Rongrong 56.75.
High jump (15): Jiang Haiyan 1.84; 2 Claire Mallett AUS 1.80; 3 Chen Ying 1.80.
Pole vault (14): Gao Shuying 4.45; 2 Yang Jing 4.30; 3 Katrina Miroshnichenko AUS 4.15.
Long jump (15): Wang Lina 6.63/0.6; 2 Zhong Mei 6.57/0.8; 3 Zhang Chunxiao 6.39/0.0.
Triple jump (14): Huang Qiuyan 14.18/-0.5; 2 Wang Ying 13.75/-0.2; 3 Tang Zhimin 13.61/0.2.
Shot (15): Li Meiju 18.30; 2 Li Fengfeng 17.92; 3 Cheng Xiaoyan 17.55.
Discus (14): Song Aimin 63.45; 2 Sun Taifeng 61.08; 3 Ma Shuli 59.04.
Hammer (14): Zhang Wenxiu 70.88; 2 Gu Yuan 69.69; 3 Yang Meiping 63.57.
Javelin (15): Xue Juan 58.19; 2 Ma Ning 57.66; 3 Zhang Li 56.51.
4x100 m (14): Chongqing 44.14; ... 7 Hongkong 46.48 NR.
4x400 m (15): Shandong 3:34.93.