Hot weather and the altitude conditioned the events of the 4th stage of the Grand Prix of China that took place in Qujing in Yunnan.
Obviously the athletes' performances were also affected.
As usual, jury integrated by international judges of level 2 and 3 to guarantee the technical result obtained: this time the China Athletic Association has invited José Dias (POR), Dolores Rojas (ESP) and Mara Baleani (ITA).
We take this opportunity to congratulate José Dias, highly regarded international judge of Portugal and friend of Marcia dal Mondo, who, with today's race, reaches the interesting milestone of having judged 100 competitions outside Portugal as an international race walking judge.
This year he will be part of the jury at the World Championships in Doha and nest year at the Olympic Games in Tokyo.
20km men
A fairly compact group until the middle of the race, when six athletes forces the pace: Niu Wenchao (Yunnan), Cui Lihong (Yunnan), Wang Kaihua (Guangdong), Li Kewen (Guizhou), Peng Shiyi (Yunnan) and Niu Wenbin (Yunnan).
The presence of the four local athletes of Yunnan conditions the race as everyone is looking for victory at home.
In the final lap, three athletes force again and fight for the victory: Niu Wenchao (Yunnan), Cui Lihong (Yunnan), Wang Kaihua (Guangdong).
Split times of the three leaders of the race are the following:
- at 5km: 22:03
- at 10km: 43:29 (second 5km in 21:26
- at 15km: 1:05:03 (third 5km in 21.34)
After a last fast lap in which everyone wants to prevail and nobody seems to give out, they fall on the finish together.
Last 5km are covered in 21:26.
Only 163/1000 of a second separate the first two.
Victory to Niu Wenchao (CHN) in 1:26:29 (1:26:28.837)
Second place in Cui Lihong (CHN) in 1:26:29 (1:26:29.000)
Third place to Wang Kaihua (CHN) in 1:26:30
Fourth place to Li Kewen (CHN) in 1:26:54
Fifth place to Peng Shiyi (CHN) in 1:27:47
Sixth place to Liu Wenbin (CHN) in 1:28:20 (1:28:19.916) which precedes by only 84/1000 of a second for the seventh place for Lu Xiaotong (CHN) (1:28:20.000)
Of the 45 athletes at the start 35 completed the race, 5 DNF and 5 DQ (Zhang Jialin, Dai Jiangxing, Li Yuan, Xin Sichao and Jin Xiangqian who was one of the candidates for the victory)
Niu Wenchao is a fairly new name in the international and China eace walking. Born 20.4.1998 it has been among the top 20 national athletes of the 20km road walk in two past seasons.
In 2018 he was in fifth place in the list with the result of 1:21:00 obtained with the fifth place in Huangshan on 3.3.2018.
In this season he is in 15th place in the list, with a mark of 1:20:30 obtained with the 14th place in Huangshan on 9.3.2019 which also represents his personal best.
Also in 2019 he aobtained the following results including today's one which represents his first success in China in a senior race.
20km women
The women's race was more or less a photocopy of the men's race.
A fairly compact group until the middle of the race when a dozen athletes stretch out.
Among them are Yang Jiayu (Jie Fanjun), Wang Yingliu (Yunnan), Yang Liujing (Shanxi), Li Maocuo (Qinghai), Zhao Wenli (Yunnan) and Wang Na (Heilongjiang).
The leading pack remains fairly compact for a few kilometers and Yang Jiayu, Wang Yingliu and Yang Liujing alternate to the lead. The heat together with the altitude are two bad companions and the athletes know it well and try not to force too much.
After 10km Yang Jiayu increases the pace and detaches the others by a few meters.
These are the split times up to 15km:
- 5Km: 24:23 (Wang Yingliu)
- 10km: 48:51 (Yang Jiayu) (second 5km in 24:06)
- 15km: 1:12:32 (Yang Jiayu) (third 5km in 23:41) Wang Yingliu passes in 1:12:57 together with Li Maocuo (1:12:57)
Victory to Yang Jiayu (CHN) in 1:35:41 (last 5km ccovered in 23:09, the fastest of the four 5km split).
Second place to Wang Yingliu (CHN) in 1:35:53
Third place to Yang Liujing (CHN) in 1:36:07 (1:36:06.863)
Fourth place to Li Maocuo (CHN) in 1:36:07 (1:36:06.951) which for only 88/1000 of a second had to give up bronze
Fifth place to Zhao Wanli (CHN) in 1:36:17
Sixth place to Wang Na (CHN) in 1:36:33 (1:36:32.943) preceding just 29/1000 of a second for the seventh place for Liang Rui (CHN) 1:36:33 (1:36:32.972)
30km U20 men
Victory to Da Qiong (CHN) in 2:23:01 born on 6.3.2000
Second place to Zhu Xiaoqiang (CHN) in 2:24:01
Third place to Liu Zhi (CHN) in 2:24:07
This young athlete of just 19 years old has already competed this season 3 times on the 10km U20.
| DATE | COMPETITION | CNT. | PL. | RESULT |
| 09 MAR 2019 | China National Race Walking Grand Prix 1, Huangshan |  CHN | 26. | 41:59 |
| 18 JUN 2019 | Natinonal Race Walking GP, Chifeng | CHN | 8. | 44:34 |
| 20 JUL 2019 | National Race Walking Tournament, Changbaishan | CHN | | DNF |
and for as many 5 times on the 30km U20m with a single peculiarity: in three of his 30km he competed the day after that in which he had competed on the 10km.
We believe that at a European level this timing in U20 competitions is completely impossible.
| DATE | COMPETITION | CNT. | PL. | RESULT |
| 10 MAR 2019 | China National Race Walking Grand Prix 1, Huangshan | CHN | 4. | 2:18:40 |
| 16 MAY 2019 | National Race Walking Grand Prix, Xintai | CHN | 2. | 2:42:07 |
| 17 JUN 2019 | Natinonal Race Walking GP, Chifeng | CHN | 5. | 2:30:22 |
| 21 JUL 2019 | National Race Walking Tournament, Changbaishan | CHN | | DNF |
| 14 AUG 2019 | Natinonal Race Walking GP, Quijin | CHN | 1. | 2:23:01 |
Events of the afternoon session
5km U18 girs
Victory to Wang Jinyu (CHN) in 23:06
Second place to Peng Li (CHN) in 23:29
Third place to Luo Jian (CHN) in 23:59
10km U20 women
Victory to Tan Yanfen (CHN) in 50:58
Second place to Huang Liwei (CHN) in 51:21
Third place to Qian Jing (CHN) in 52:43
10km U18 boys
Victory to Zhang Jiaxu (CHN) in 42:08
Second place to Ying Jun (CHN) in 43:09
Third place to Luo Guoqing (CHN) in 44:03
10km U20 men
Victory to Li Junran (CHN) in 42:36
Second place to Li Xingfu (CHN) in 43:09
Third place to Danzhi Cairang (CHN) in 43:45
(we thanks for photos: Sun Chao, Yang Feng, Wang Yinhang and Liu Xue - CHN)
Full results in the section Results or directly download from this link: click here