The second day of the Grand Prix of Huangshan (CHN) opens with 20km of men, to which follows the 20 km of women.
20km men
There are in 121 at the starting line. With numbers like this, which is the result of a race, it is always a success.
But this morning in Huangshan we also saw China's response to Japan.
Three weeks ago in Kobe six Japanese athletes had stopped the stopwatch at times less than or equal to 1:19:00.
Today, six Chinese athletes stop him at a time below 1:20:00 with the winner Wang Kaihua who scores 1:19:01.
How to say: "Hi, we are here too".
Wang Kaihua (CHN) won with an excellent performance, but as far as Kobe and Sochi are concerned, it is only the eighth world season performance.
The 25 year old Chinese has a love gutted with Huangshan where he obtained the third consecutive victory after 2016 he had reached the 4th place.
These are his times in this race:
- 2016 - 4th place in 1:19:51
- 2017 - 1st place in 1:17:54 which still represents the athlete's personal best today
- 2018 - 1st place in 1:19:45
- 2019 - 1st place in 1:19:01
Second place for the stainless Cai Zelin (CHN) who last year finished third in 1:20:38.
This year the vice Olympic champion of Rio de Janeiro stopped the clock in 1:19:36 exactly 10" more than the time he had earned silver in Rio de Janeiro.
Third place for Lu Xiaotong (CHN) not yet 22 years old (he will turn out on July 24, 2019) that he had already put in evidence last year obtaining at his first 20km here in Huangshan the time of 1:24.09 (14th), but winning at Xi'An on Sep. 7, 2018 the 20km Autumn Championships in 1:22:50 with an improvement of 1:19.
Today Lu Xiaotong stopped the stopwatch in 1:19:52 and improved by another 2:58.
Short report of the race
Up to 12km are in the lead in three: Wang Kaihua, Cai Zelin and Lu Xiaotong
The three covered the first six laps of the 2km course in 8:15 - 7:59 - 8:03 - 7:58 - 8:00 - 7:52.
Immediately after Wang Kaihua force the pace and raced four laps in 7:43 each
The first to break away is the young Lu Xiaotong.
Then follows Cai Zelin who reced the next four 2km laps in 8:04 - 7:51 - 750 - 7:37 (the latter will then represent the fastest lap of the entire race by the three medal athletes)
Times every 5km (unofficials):
Wag Kaihua
Km. 5 = 20:15
km. 10 = 40:15 (20:00
km. 15 = 59:42 (19:26)
km. 20 = 1:19:01 (19:20) (two half race in: 40:15 + 38:46)
Cai Zelin
Km. 5 = 20:15
km. 10 = 40:15 (20:00
km. 15 = 1:00:10 (19:55)
km. 20 = 1:19:36 (19:26) (two half race in: 40:15 + 39:21)
20km women
There are 69 athletes at the start.
It is certainly true that the selection for the World Championships in Doha will be held in Taicang during the IAAF Race Walk Challenge, but it is also true that Qieyang Shenije (CHN) has scored today a performance that can not be ignored.
With this victory, undisputed and facilitated by the abandon of Lu Xiuzhi, Nie Jingjing and Yang Jiayu, the Tibetan got the time of 1:25:37 which is her second ever performance after the one obtained in London (1:25:16) on Aug. 12, 2012, which at the time was also the Asian record and which had earned the Olympic silver medal.
In particular, the two abandon of Yang Jiayu and Lu Xiuzhi caused an uproar.
The 2017 London World Champion walked for around 12km at an average of 4:15/km and then immediately stopped.
The situation was somewhat more complex for Lu Xiuzhi, who was leading the race along with Qieyang Shenjie up to 12km. She had to stop for a stretch to the biceps femoris that forced her to investigate at the hospital in her city: the diagnosis is a small edema resulting from a muscle strain.
Times every 5km (unofficials):
Qieyang Shenjie
Km. 5 = 21:33
km. 10 = 43:06 (21:33)
km. 15 = 1:04:22 (21:18)
km. 20 = 1:25:37 (21:15) (two half race in: 43:06 + 42:31)
This is the progression of Quieyang Shenjie in 20km over the years.
| | PERFORMANCE | PLACE | DATE |
| | | | |
| 2019 | 1:25:37 | HUANGSHAN (CHN) | 10 MAR 2010 |
| 2018 | 1:26:28 | La Coruna (ESP) | 02 JUN 2018 |
| 2017 | 1:28:33 | Tianjin (CHN) | 03 SEP 2017 |
| 2016 | 1:26:49 | Roma (ITA) | 07 MAY 2016 |
| 2015 | 1:27:44 | La Coruna (ESP) | 06 JUN 2015 |
| 2013 | 1:28:05 | Shenyang (CHN) | 11 MAY 2013 |
| 2012 | 1:25:16 | London (GBR) | 11 AUG 2012 |
| 2011 | 1:28:04 | Taicang (CHN) | 22 APR 2011 |
| 2010 | 1:30:33 | Beijing (CHN) | 19 SEP 2010 |
| 2009 | 1:35:54 | Baoji (CHN) | 20 MAR 2009 |
Second place to Yang Liujing (CHN) in 1:27:15 which represents the new personal best of the not yet 21 year old (born 22.8.1998). The previous personal best was awarded at Xi'An on Sep. 7, 2018 the 20km Autumn Championships in 1:29:31
Third place for Wu Quanming (CHN) born in 1999 that stops the clock at her first 20km in 1:27:24.
As we can well see new names in the women's race walk in China that immediately get performances of interest.
To these we must add Ma Zhenxia (CHN), the U20 World Champion of Bydgoszcz 2016 that has not competed today as selected to represent China at the 20km Asian Championships that will be held in Nomi (JPN).
Full results of two events of 20km of the second day in the section Results or directly download from this link: click here