China’s young track stars to be tested at Moscow worlds
Print Edition
China is focusing squarely on Beijing 2015 as an emerging group of competitors test themselves at the world championships in Moscow, starting from Saturday.
China’s track and field hopes have long rested on 110m hurdler Liu Xiang, who became China’s first men’s Olympic track and field champion at Athens 2004.
However, injury exits at both Beijing 2008 and London 2012 appear to have all but ended the 30-year-old’s career.
Now, the onus is on China’s young stars as they prepare to welcome the world back to the famous Bird’s Nest Olympic stadium for the next world championships in two years’ time.
“China has a lot of top athletes, especially in the men’s 110m hurdles,” Xie Wenjun, 23, said at the Shanghai Diamond League meet in May, where he finished third behind reigning world champion Jason Richardson.
“Liu Xiang is not here, and we all hope he returns, but he is not the only one... we are also talented and can achieve very good results.”
Xie’s words were borne out in Shanghai, where his performance was not the only reason for Chinese officials to cheer.
In the men’s long jump, Li Jinzhe emerged victorious in a field including Olympic champion Greg Rutherford and Panama’s Irving Saladino, the gold medallist at Beijing 2008.
And sprinter Zhang Peimeng, who has broken two national records in recent months, finished fourth in a strong men’s 200m field behind reformed American dope cheat Justin Gatlin.
China also dominated last month’s Asian championships with 16 gold medals, way ahead of the five garnered by second-placed Bahrain, and Japan and Saudi Arabia, who both claimed four. China’s rise in athletics, helped by increasing input from foreign coaches, is unlikely to match its feats in swimming, where it is now an established power, in short order.
But the new hopefuls are often working under modern programs.
“I see a new generation that is more open, more transparent,” Jos Hermens, who coached the Ethiopian long distance runner Haile Gebrselassie and who now works with the China Athletics Association, said.
“Xie says he is shy, but he speaks English better than Liu Xiang. He is an open person, so the new generation is actually more looking into the world.”
China finished seventh on the medals table at the last world championships in 2011, the top Asian nation.
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