This morning in Taicang were held the races of the first day of the "Ironman Cup" selection competition also for the next Chinese Games.
20km men
Departure at 8:00 with a temperature of 20° Celsius and a rate of humidity of 73%.
The temperature at 9:00 had risen to 21° Celsius, while the humidity rate had risen to 77%.
Shortly before the start of the race the news (as then in the women's race) that the two main contenders, Wang Kaihua (CHN) and the young Zhang Jun (CHN) will only race a 10km test.
Hot start with Wang Kaihua and the young opponent are shoulder to shoulder for 1km (3:48-3:49). But from the second lap the more experienced Wang Kaihua forces the pace (3:51. 3:52, 3:55) while Zhang Jun does no better than (4:01, 4:08, 4:01).
At 5km:
Wang Kaihua: 19:20
Zhang Jun: 20:02
The others who compete for the 20km pass in 20:06 led by Yin Jiaxing together with Li Keweng.
At 10km:
Wang Kaihua finish his 10km as expected in 38:58 (5km seconds in: 3.55, 3:57, 3:58, 3:56 and 3:51) and Zhang Jun: 40:23 (5km seconds in: 4:04, 4 : 05, 4:04, 4:05 and 4:03)
Green light for the victory in 20km to Yin Jiaxing (CHN) in 1:21:23
Second place to Li Keweng (CHN) in 1:22:09
Third place to Zeng Qingcun (CHN) in 1:22:26
In the team 20km race victory for Cui Lihong (Yunnan) in 1:20:30
Second place to Niu Wenchao (Yunnan) in 1:21:11
Third place to Xu Hao (Inner Mongolla) in 1:21:49
20km women
Departure at 10:00 with a temperature of 24° Celsius and a humidity of 70%.
The temperature is expected to slightly increase while the humidity rate is constant.
The usual large participation has been a corollary to this expected 20km.
The 81 athletes competing gave a nice glance of the traditional course in front of the Taicang Museum.
The standings then, as usually happens in competitions in China, will be divided between the athletes who have participated individually and those who have also participated at the club level.
Shortly before the start the most important news: Yang Jiayu will only race on 10km.
Very fast start of Yang Jiayu (CHN) covering the first 2 km of the race in 8:16.
Liu Hong (CHN) follows her in 8:46 (4:22 - 4:22)
A few seconds late Ma Zhenxia (CHN), and Qieyang Shenjie (CHN) together with Yang Liujing (CHN) and Qiji Zhuoma (CHN).
The 5km passage of Yang Jiayu is 20:58. Liu Hong follows her in 10:10 and the others are more detached.
At 10km Yang Jiayu passes in 42:07, while Liu Hong passes in 44:25.
After Yang Jiayu's stop, Liu hong continues with his pace and passes at 15km in 1:06:41.
The other four athletes are still all together.
It is clear that the two training partners (Ma Zhenxia and Qieyang Shenjie) have decided to take a sabbatical day with an almost training instead of a real race. The two chatted for over 15km exchanging smiles.
Liu Hong (CHN) continues on this pace of good training with the only exception of the last kilometer which is covered in 4:11 and is for her the fastest of the entire race. Her victory marks the performance of 1:28:49.
Second place to Ma Zhenxia (CHN) in 1:29:54 who takes the satisfaction of 1” off the highly decorated training partner Qieyang Shenije (1:29:55).
But that's not enough. The icing on the cake is placed by Qieyang Shenije who, smiling and playing around, forgets that she is the reigning world vice-champion, and she is also overtaken by Yang Liujing and Qiji Zhuoma.
In the team race the standing sees Yang Liujing (1:29:54) and Qiji Zhuoma (1:29:54) in the first two places. The two are separated in the order of arrival by only 73/1000 of a second).
Risultati ufficiali - Official results