Preview: World elite race walkers lead China's athletics team

With the retirement of the country's national hero hurlder Liu Xiang, reigning Olympic champion Chen Ding and world champion and world recorder holder Liu Hong turn out to be the star attraction in China's 56-athlete athletics team at the Rio Olympic Games.

Chinese race walkers harvested one gold, two silver and two bronze medals at the 2012 London Olympic Games, with the Olympic debutant Chen coming from nowhere to take the men's 20km walk gold and set a new Olympic record.

It is the first Olympic gold won by a Chinese male walker and also the second Olympic gold won by a Chinese male track and field athlete following Liu Xiang's victory in 2004. And for Chen it was his first senior title and also the first victory in major international competitions.

After the London Games, Chen has gone through some ups and downs, notching a silver at the 2013 World Championships but only finished 15th at the 2014 World Race Walking Cup and 9th at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing.

"I have experienced a lot since 2012. And I remember every step deep in my heart. In these four years I worked very hard. It was never easy for me, or for my coach," said Chen when he finished second to book a ticket for the Rio Games in March.

Chen arrived in Brazil on July 22. Although he was still bothered by a minor muscle injury in his right leg, Chen said he is ready to give it all out in Rio.

Chen is not the only medal hope in men's 20km event as the 24-year-old Wang Zhen is also a serious contender.

Wang has been a very consistent walker since he finished third in London four years ago, collecting a silver at the Beijing worlds last August while taking a convincing victory at the World Race Walking Team Championships in May.

In the women's 20km race walk, China's Liu Hong is widely considered as the top favorite. She is the reigning world champion and the 29-year-old trimmed more than one minute off her previous personal best to win the 2015 IAAF Race Walking Challenge in La Coruna, Spain in 1:24:38, beating the world record of 1:25:02 set by Russia's Yelena Lashmanova when she won the Olympic gold medal in London.

Before coming to Rio, Liu has served out a one-month ban for unintentionally using massage lotion that contains Higenamine. But Liu believes the hiccup will not affect her build up for the Games and she is ready to complete her "Grand Slam" in Rio.

Liu's teammate Lu Xiuzhi could be the biggest threat. The duo led China to a one-two finish at the Beijing worlds. Both of the Chinese race walkers shared the same time of 1:27:12 on the result sheet but it seemed to many observers that Lu mentally conceded the contest in the last 300 meters.

After the competition Lu admitted that she chose a conservative move as she had already recieved a card and did not want to be disqualified by speeding up recklessly.

"To be frank, I feel some regret afterwards for not giving my best to pursue the world title. After all, it was the World Championships and I was so close to the gold medal," she said.

Apart from the walkers, the female shot putter Gong Lijiao is also a gold hope for China. The 27-year-old has won two bronze and one silver medals in the World Championships and one bronze medal in London Olympics, but has never managed to won a gold in major international competitions. This time Gong has a good chance to make a difference.

She improved her personal best by eight centimeters to win at 20.43 meters in Halle in May, which has made her sitting on top of the world list. No other athlete, including the defending Olympic champion Valerie Adams of New Zealand and the German world champion Christina Schwanitz, has ever managed to throw over 20.20m so far in 2016.

The Chinese Athletics Association has sent a total of 56 athletes to compete in 23 events at the Rio Games. In events like men's long jump, high jump triple jump, 4x100m relay 50km race walk as well as women's javelin and hammer throw, Chinese athletes are also ready to fight for a medal. Enditem