Chinese long jumper Wang Jianan (© AFP / Getty Images)
World silver medallist Liu Shiying and 2015 world bronze medallist Wang Jianan produced the highlights of the Chinese Championships, which drew to a close on Friday (18) after four days of action in Shaoxing.
Wang emerged victorious in a competitive long jump contest, pushed all the way by 2016 world indoor bronze medallist Huang Changzhou. Huang kicked off the opening round with a world-leading PB of 8.33m (0.5m/s) while Wang opened with 8.21m. Huang backed up his leading mark in the second round with an 8.29m effort, but Wang improved to 8.36m (0.3m/s) to take the lead.
Huang tried to respond and followed up with consistent leaps of 8.24m, 8.23m, 8.23m and 8.12m, but Wang held on to pole position. After fouls in rounds three and four, and a pass in round five, Wang ended his series with an 8.29m leap.
His winning mark is the best by a Chinese athlete since Wang equalled the national record of 8.47m in 2018.
The women’s javelin was similarly competitive. Liu Shiying opened proceedings with a 65.08m effort while Lu Huihui, the Asian record-holder and three-time world medallist, needed a few throws to find her rhythm. After opening with 61.06m and improving to 62.71m in round two, Lu closed in on Liu’s lead with a third-round effort of 64.98m.
Lu improved again in the penultimate round, taking the lead with 65.70m. But Liu saved her best for last, unleashing a lifetime best of 67.29m with the final throw of the competition to regain the lead and take the title.
Asian champion Xie Wenjun was a class apart in the men’s 110m hurdles. The World Championships fifth-place finisher clocked a season’s best of 13.24 to win by 0.30.
In the women’s shot put, Gao Yang came through in the final two rounds to take the title from Jiang Yue. Jiang set a PB of 17.63m with her opening throw, which stood as the leading mark for the first four rounds. Gao bettered it by one centimetre with her fifth throw and then improved to 17.98m in the last round to take the title.
Elsewhere in the field events, world finalist Wu Ruiting took the men’s triple jump title with a season’s best of 16.90m, while World University Games silver medallist Ma Qun won the men’s javelin with 81.13m, also a season’s best.
World University Games bronze medallist Li Ying added 20 centimetres to her PB to win the triple jump with 14.02 (1.3m/s). Asian Games bronze medallist Xu Xiaoling was just one centimetre shy of her outdoor PB in the long jump, winning the title with 6.63m (-0.7m/s).
Xie Zhenye, the Asian record-holder for 200m, won the men’s sprint double. He took the 100m title in 10.31 (-0.2m/s) and two days later added the 200m crown to his collection, stopping the clock at 20.72 (-0.4m/s). 17-year-old Yan Haibin was second in a PB of 20.86, moving him to eighth on the Asian U18 all-time list.
Ge Manqi, the national indoor record-holder over 60m, won the women’s 100m in 11.35 (-0.2m/s).
Jon Mulkeen for World Athletics
