As is customary and tradition, many Chinese athletes after the National Games of China announce their retirement from the activity. After the news of September 28 on Lu Xiuzhi this time it is Cai Zelin, Olympic vice-champion in Rio de Janeiro to give the news of his retirement:

Here is his post 

12年的职业生涯今天结束了，感谢云南省体育局，呈贡体育训练基地，的各位领导的关心和支持让我在这十多年中无忧无虑的训练比赛。非常感谢  。感谢基地所以工作人员是你们的无私帮助才让我走到今天。谢谢我的教练们你们辛苦啦！没有你们对我关心照顾也没有我的现在。谢谢所以支持我的家人朋友一直以来的关心和支持谢谢大家，我永远都不会忘记你们谢谢

The 12-year professional career ended today.

I would like to thank the leaders of the Yunnan Provincial Sports Bureau and Chenggong Sports Training Base for their care and support for allowing me to carry out training and competitions peacefully for more than a decade. A lot of thanks.

Thanks to the staff for their selfless help that allowed me to get to where I am today.

Thanks to my coaches for their hard work! Without their patience and care towards me I would not have achieved good results. Thank you for the support of my family and friends for their continued love and support.

Thank you all. I will never forget you. Thanks.

Cai Zelin has had a full of ups and downs career interspersing great results with several not brilliant races and, unfortunately, with disqualifications.

Since his youth competitions he has shown himself to be a great talent, obtaining two silver medals in 2010 at the U20 World Championships and at the Team World Championship. In 2012 at the London Olympics he got a brilliant fourth place. In 2014 in Taicang in the Team World Championship he gave up to the Ukrainian Dmytrenko alone.

Then in 2016 at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics he reached the peak of his career with a brilliant silver medal behind training partner Wang Zhen (also retired after the 2017 Chinese National Games). In the same year he also obtained the second place in the Team World Championship in Rome. After a year of stop of activity (2017) he returned to racing but has no longer achieved great results.

He boasts a personal best of 1:17:39 set this year in the selections for the Olympics in Huangshan on March 20. His average over the top 10 results is 1:19:12, one of the best averages of all world-class walkers.

During eight seasons he trained in Saluzzo under the guidance of Sandro Damilano.

He got married last year to a girl he met at school. He was born on 11 April 1991 in Dalì and lives in the Junnan province in a town at an altitude of 2.100 meters.

Marcia dal Mondo congratulates you on your career and wishes you good luck for the years to come.