Italy has always been painted in Far-East and Oceanic collective imagination as the land (among others) of Christopher Columbus, Enrico Caruso and Luciano Pavarotti.
But for two of the most important athletes of the China national walking team there is probably something more: Italy, and in particular the "Provincia Granda" will forever be the land of love.
In fact, in the long trainig stages in Saluzzo under the guidance of Sandro Damilano both Liu Hong and Lu Xiuzhi found their life partner.
Liu Hong was married to Liu Xue (now her coach, but at the time assistant to Sandro Damilano) in early 2016 when she was not yet Olympic Champion, but only World Champion ahead of Lu Xiuzhi.
On November 6, however, the wedding between Lu Xiuzhi and Wang Rui took place. Wang Rui is a strong competitor in the 50km with a personal best of 3:42:08 obtained in Huangshan (the city of the girl-friend) on 9.3.2019.
Lu Xiuzhi and Wang Rui met in Saluzzo in early 2018 where Lu arived after the 2017 London disqualification with the aim of technically improving his technical walk, while Wang Rui had already arrived in Saluzzo in the previous season.
The rivalry between Lu Xiuzhi and Liu Hong was perhaps the “leit-motif” of China's women's 20km race walk of the last ten years.
The two met 15 times and Liu Hong prevailed 13 times.
But memorable, and we can confirm it for having witnessed them in person, were the two victories of Lu Xhiuzi at the Chinese Games of 11.5.2013 in Shenyang, when a few hundredths of a second separated the two. Meanwhile at the selection for the World Championships in Beijing 2015 Lu Xiuzhi won by a greater margin (1:25:12 vs 1:27:39) establishing that the national record of China which resisted however until Liu Hong in La Coruna on 6.6.2015 established the world record in 1:24:38.
This season has not been very favorable for Lu Xiuzhi.
In the last year, she had sadly had heart problems. Occasionally, her heart flutters, arrhythmias, and shortness of breath. In the second half of the year, she had had a hospital checkup almost once a week. The hospital had become her second home.
It was certainly not such a serious thing, but it was enough, however, to dedicate oneself to the daily trainings intermittently.
Hence the choice to quit.
And as a logical consequence, why not crown the dream of love that blossomed in Italy with Wang Rui?
From Marcia dal Mondo (and personal ones of Sandro Damilano and Nicola Maggio) best wishes for happiness.
And thank you for giving the opportunity with your photo shoot to share your joy with all our readers.