On August 6, Yang Jiayu walked the finish line in the finishing arch of the women's 20 km race walk in Sapporo Odori Park.
Her hair was slightly scattered, and she did not come forward in front of the backs of a group of opponents and teammates. Instead, he stepped out of the track fence and covered his face with tears.
In this game, she was penalized for two minutes for a technical detail error in the case of a good innings, thus losing the opportunity to compete for the medal. As the best athlete in this cycle and the highest stage of the first comprehensive competition, she could have been better. This year, Yang Jiayu is 25 years old.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="89" > match review</h1>
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="90" > Italy rivals won gold Liu Hong's bronze medal</h1>
A total of 58 athletes participated in the competition, Italy's Palmisano won the gold medal in 1 hour, 29 minutes and 12 seconds, China's Liu Hong ended with a bronze medal, and Qieyang Shijie and Yang Jiayu finished in seventh and twelfth place respectively.
The competition opened at 3:30 p.m. Beijing time, and the local temperature was 31°C and the air humidity was 67% when the gun was fired, which was a challenge for all the players. The track is set up in a circular course in the Sapporo Odori Park area, starting and ending in the middle of the straight. Each lap is one kilometer, and the runners need to make 20 laps, a total of 40 turns to complete the race.
At the beginning of the competition, Brazil's Disena and Cheyang Shijie led in front of the big group, while Yang Jiayu and Liu Hong maintained a steady forward position in the back of the front. At the six-kilometer timer, Yang Jiayu crossed the line first, taking 27 minutes and 37 seconds, followed by Qieyang Shijie, and the first group consisted of 17 athletes.
Halfway through the race, Italy's Palmisano led the group across the line, with 45 minutes and 57 seconds, she and India's Priyanka became the strongest opponents of the three Chinese athletes in this game, at this time the first group still has 16 athletes to solve the problem.
Fifteen kilometers later, the First Group had only six people left, and the competitive landscape gradually became clear. The leading players also began to gradually accelerate, and Yang Jiayu and Liu Hong were still in the lineup. At the last moment, Parmisano and Yang Jiayu began to compete, and the two began to gradually throw back the players in the rear, but Yang Jiayu ate four red cards, was punished for two minutes, and lost the opportunity to compete for the medal.
Before the finish line, Liu Hong was in fourth place, and the opponent was also sent off for four red cards, and finally won a valuable bronze medal for China in 1 hour, 29 minutes and 57 seconds. Italy's Palmisano was absolutely strong, 25 seconds ahead of second place.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="87" > project card</h1>
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="88" > China still has absolute strength despite setbacks</h1>
The women's 20 km race walk is the traditional advantage of the Chinese team, before this competition, Liu Hong, Yang Jiayu and Qieyang Shijie were ranked in the top three in the world rankings, and they were far ahead in terms of points. Although the "three insurances" that were eventually considered to have failed to win the championship, China still has strong strength from the perspective of this season's best results and world rankings.
In the past historical achievements, China and Russia are the absolute rulers of the project, and 49 of the top 50 in history have been created by these two countries. The rise of Italy in this competition has filled the arena with uncertainties and added excitement.
In Sydney in 2000, after the 20-kilometer race walk became an official event, Chinese athlete Wang Liping won the first gold medal. In the next three competitions, the gold medals were all dropped. Finally, in Rio 2016, Liu Hong successfully won the gold medal. In this competition, the meritorious veteran Liu Hong is already the elder of the Four Dynasties, Sister Qi yangshi also has three participation experiences, and Yang Jiayu is a "new soldier".
Before the expedition to Sapporo, 25-year-old Yang Jiayu held the world record and was firmly in the top three in the world rankings for a long time. It can be said that after Liu Hong and other athletes of the older generation face the choice of retirement, the young Yang Jiayu needs to carry the banner of women's race walking. She is not only a leading figure in China, but also needs to firmly occupy the world's leading position on behalf of China.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="84" > growing all the way</h1>
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="85" > world champion + world record</h1>
This campaign was the first time that Yang Jiayu stepped onto the world's highest level stage as an official player, and although she ended with tears, she still gained experience. Five years ago in Rio, she followed the team to Brazil as a substitute and watched the game on the sidelines, when she was only 20 years old. This time in Sapporo, she stepped onto the track.
After five years of tempering and growth, Yang Jiayu's ability has been continuously improved, and the meritorious service of his career has been constantly engraved with new honors. At the 2017 World Championships in London, she won the gold in 1 hour, 26 minutes and 18 seconds, becoming the world champion; the 2017 Tianjin National Games won the championship with a 4-second advantage; the 2019 Military Games; and in the 2021 National Championships in Huangshan, Anhui Province, she broke the world record with a time of 1 hour 23 minutes and 49 seconds.
From 1 hour 40 minutes and 27 seconds in 2013 to 1 hour 23 minutes and 49 seconds in 2021, Yang Jiayu has improved almost every year and is the first athlete in the project to enter the 1 hour 24 minute mark in the official competition.
It can be said that in the past five years, Yang Jiayu has not only gained the opportunity to climb the highest stage of the World Comprehensive Competition by hard work, but also achieved a very full career in the past five years. Although she encountered minor setbacks at key nodes, her five-year ability reserve allowed her to face every success and failure calmly.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="52" > into the future</h1>
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="53" > the power of youth "is by no means so"</h1>
Born in Wuhai City, Inner Mongolia, Yang Jiayu has gone through nearly 11 years of competitive walking since he was discovered by the coach at the age of 15.
From debuting on the international stage in 2015 to win the second place in the team for the country, to now at the age of 25, she is already a world champion, Asian Games champion and world record holder.
Race walking is a sport that combines endurance and technology, in addition to sweating year after year, it is necessary to constantly polish your technical details and use your brain to control your body to win the game. We have reason to believe that the debut is just the beginning of Yang Jiayu, her energy is "definitely not so", and as a Mesozoic athlete, the power of youth is "definitely not so".
Throughout his career, Yang Jiayu has not been an undefeated king along the way, but all setbacks have eventually turned into the strength of growth. In addition to being able to calmly face success, excellent athletes also need to be frank in the face of failure. What's more, she will also be on the starting point for the next race.
Three years later in Paris, seven years later in Los Angeles, we can still put in unlimited imagination. This girl with a sweet smile is walking towards the future with her feet. I hope that next time, we can still see Yang Jiayu crying after walking through the finish line, but that time it was tears of joy.