The races of the second day of the "Ironman Cup" took place this Sunday morning in Taicang (Jiangsu province, population of 500,000 inhabitants), a new idea of China not to miss the races that were initially part of the World Challenge of Race Walking but that following the pandemic problems and the impossibility for foreign athletes to reach China.
In addition to the sufficiently bombastic name, these national competitions were valid for selection at the Chinese National Games scheduled for September in Xi'an in Shaanxi Province.
The day included a 50km and a 30km.
50km men
Departure at 7:00 am with a temperature of 19° Celsius, but with a humidity of 80%.
37 athletes on the 2km course show up at the start, but it is already known that some of them will not finish the test and will stop at 30km more or less.
- at 10km
After an hour of competition, the temperature rose to 22° Celsius, but the humidity reached 91%.
However, the temperature is still expected to rise.
The group is quite large. Among them are He Xianghong (CHN), Meng Zhongkai (CHN), Hu Yunjiang (CHN) and the three most important (Biang Tongda, Wang Qin, who however seems to stop between 20km and 25km, and Liu Wenbin), but some which you already know the decision to finish at 30km.
Wang Qin (CHN) takes the lead in 44:01
Niu Wenbin (CHN) follows him in 47:48, while the group with the others follows in 49:27
- at 20km
The temperature has still risen to 26° Celsius, but luckily the humidity has dropped to 71%
Wang Qin (CHN) takes the lead in 1:28:10 (10km seconds in 44:09)
Niu Wenbin (CHN) follows him in 1:35:58 (second 10km in 48:10), while the group with the others follows in 1:39:03
- at 30km
After the 22km (last 2km in 8:59) Wang Qin decides to stop.
Niu Wenbin continues with his pace (third 10km in 48:04) 2:24:02, while the group with the others follows in 2:08:00
In the meantime Brian Tongda (CHN) stops at the passage of the 30km.
Two more laps and at 34km will stop Niu Wenbin (CHN) who will have covered his last 4km in 19:23
- from 30km to 50km
The race has no more history.
He Xianghong (CHN), Meng Zhongkai (CHN), Hu Yunjiang (CHN) continue their pace.
Towards 45km Meng Zhongkai tries an extension that detaches He Xianghong by about 15 seconds, but is trimmed and detached in the next lap.
They will then arrive in order.
Victory to He Xianghong (CHN) in 4:04:24
Second place to Meng Zhongkai (CHN) in 4:04:31
Third place in Hu Yunjiang (CHN) in 4:06:15
30km U20 men
Victory to Xiang Haoyu (CHN) of Inner Mongolia in 2:33:04
Second place to Suonan Tsering (CHN) of Tibet in 2:39:39
Third place to Lu Shaoxing (CHN) of Yunnan in 2:46:40