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World record holder Liu wins race walking national trial for Rio

Xinhua, March 6, 2016 Adjust font size:

Reigning world champion and world record holder Liu Hong won the 20km race walking national trial for the Rio Olympics here on Sunday with a world leading time of 1 hour 25 minutes and 56 seconds.

Lu Xiuzhi, the world championships runner-up, finished second in 1:28:07 to almost secure a berth in the Chinese team for Rio 2016. Yang Jiayu came from nowhere to take the third place in 1:28:12 by overtaking Olympic bronze medalist Qieyang Shijie in the final one-kilometer lap, and thus stands a big chance of booking the other spot for the Olympics.

The race started at 2:30 PM with the temperature up to 24 degrees centigrade to simulate the conditions for the upcoming Rio Games.

Liu took an early lead from the five-kilometer mark to win the race with her third best time in career.

"I am in a particularly good shape today, which I think was a result of a successful winter training session," said the 28-year-old.

Liu, who finished fourth both at the 2008 and 2012 Olympics, is now looking forward to standing on the podium for the first time this August.

"I hope I could make a breakthrough in Rio, winning a medal, to be specific," she said.

Qieyang, the first Tibetan athlete that China had ever fielded in the Olympics, walked head-to-head almost all the way with Lu before she was beaten to fourth by Yang by four seconds.

The 25-year-old burst into tears after the race as she would probably lose the chance to compete in Rio after getting through all the ups and downs in the past four years.

Yang, who just turned 20 last month, trimmed eight minutes and 38 seconds off her previous personal best in her first 20km race in senior level.

"I have no tactics. I just followed my feelings, but I do have ambition to vie for a spot for Rio," said the 20-year-old.

Nie Jingjing, who finished 17th in the Beijing Worlds 2015, came home as a remote fifth finisher in 1:31:26.

According to the qualifying rules set by the Chinese Athletics Association, the top five finishers in Huangshan will be included in a primary selection list. Both the qualifying results and previous performance in international level meets will be taken into consideration in selecting the final Olympic team.

In the men's 50km event earlier on Sunday, Wang Zhendong took the first place with a personal best of 3:41:02, followed by 37-year-old Han Yucheng and Yu Wei. Zhang Hang and Liu Jian finished fourth and fifth.

Three out of four competitors managed to finish the women's 50km race, which was first introduced to China's domestic meets. Endit