New faces meet new challenges

On April 17, 23-year-old Ma Zhenxia (front) took the lead in the women's 10-kilometer race walking competition at the "Charm hangzhou" race walking event World Championships and Asian Games Selection. Lu Lin (Image China)

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On April 13, the Chinese Athletics Association issued the "Selection Measures for Athletics Projects to Participate in the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games", and the race walking project selection competition was launched first. At the World Championships and Asian Games Trials in race walking on 17 April, young players performed well. Entering the Paris Olympic cycle, in the face of the new challenges of major changes in the setting of the competition, the new faces of China's race walking can only be bravely forward in order to re-energize the morale of the project and win back the development advantage.

Hangzhou, Zhejiang, on the banks of the Qiantang River. On April 17th, the "Charm of Hangzhou" Race Walking World Championships and Asian Games Selection Competition was held in Binjiang District, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province. This is one of the first athletics project selection competitions after the Chinese Athletics Association issued the "Selection Measures for Athletics Projects to Participate in the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games" on April 13.

Facing the morning light, race walkers sprint along the river. Following last year's Tokyo Olympic Games and the Shaanxi National Games, Chinese race walkers embarked on their own new journey, facing the challenges brought by the new events and new situations in the Paris Olympic cycle, the former "champion division" needs to move forward courageously.

Young athletes performed well in this selection competition

By a second, 23-year-old Ma Zhenxia and 20-year-old Wu Quanming reached the finish line. In the women's 10 km event, which was first carried out on the 17th, the first and second places were won by two young people. The 10 km competition is more speed-oriented. After the starting gun sounded, Yang Jiayu, the women's 20 km race walk champion at the 2017 London Athletics World Championships, was led by many runners. With a strong sprint in the final stage, Ma Zhenxia took the lead in hitting the line with a time of 42 minutes and 52 seconds, and Wu Quanming and Yang Jiayu won the second and third places respectively.

This is not the first competition won by Qingdao girl Ma Zhenxia. On the evening of March 4, local time, at the World Championships of Race Walking Teams held in Muscat, oman, Ma Zhenxia won the women's 20 km race walk with a time of 1 hour, 30 minutes and 22 seconds. The victory of this selection competition is a continuation of her best state this year.

The men's 10 km race that followed was equally competitive, with Wen Yongjie winning the championship with a time of 39 minutes and 10 seconds, and Xu Hao and Zhang Jiaxu winning silver and bronze medals with a gap of 5 seconds and 7 seconds respectively. Equally close to the results are the ages of the top three players, with Wen Yongjie and Xu Hao both born in 1999 and Zhang Jiaxu born in 2000, just turning 22. Entering the Paris Olympic cycle, at the moment when Wang Kaihua, Cai Zelin and other famous players competing in the Tokyo Olympic Games temporarily left the arena, more young players were needed to come forward.

On April 16, the "Charm of Hangzhou" Marathon World Championships and Asian Games Trials were also held on the same track. Compared with the youthful race walking field, there are more famous players in the marathon. Yang Shaohui won the championship with a time of 2 hours, 11 minutes and 52 seconds, and Renqing Dongzhibu and Dong Guojian were second and third respectively. In the women's competition, Zhang Xinyan, Zhang Deshun and Lu Ying won the first, second and third places respectively. Slightly different from the race walking event, this race is the only full marathon event in the selection process of the Eugene Athletics World Championships and the Hangzhou Asian Games. According to the "Selection Measures for Athletics to Participate in the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games", the top 6 athletes in this competition must participate in the 5,000 meters and 10,000 meters of the National Athletics Championships from May 27 to 29, and finally determine the list of participants according to the corresponding points and results.

Actively prepare for the Eugene Athletics World Championships and the Hangzhou Asian Games

In the past Olympic Games and Athletics World Championships, Chinese players have frequently achieved great results in the race walking arena, with famous players such as Chen Ding, Wang Zhen and Liu Hong winning gold medals at the 2012 London Olympic Games and the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, while Yang Jiayu, Liang Rui and other athletes have reached the highest podium at the 2017 London Athletics World Championships and the 2019 World Championships in Athletics Doha. China's race walking has become a bright business card of Chinese athletics and even Chinese sports in the world's top competitions.

However, in the Tokyo Olympic race walking competition in August 2021, the Chinese team failed to regain its glory at the Odori Park Circuit in Sapporo, Hokkaido, and the men's 20 km and 50 km events did not qualify for the podium, and in the women's 20 km race walk event that had been very fruitful in the past, only the previous champion Liu Hong struggled to win a bronze medal.

Entering the Paris Olympic cycle, China's race walk will usher in the test of the Eugene Athletics World Championships and the Hangzhou Asian Games this year. The March Race Walking Team World Championships became the first answer sheet submitted by the Chinese race walking team. In the end, the Chinese team won a total of 6 gold, 4 silver and 3 bronze results (including team and individual rankings), ranking first in the medal table and gold medal list.

Of the six gold medals, two in the men's and women's 10 km youth categories offered more hope. The selection competition in Hangzhou is the first appearance of more domestic players this season, and the two race walking team world championship youth champions Wang Hongren and Jiang Yunyan made their debut in the adult group competition, performing well.

According to the competition schedule of this season, in the two matches played from April 23 to 24 and May 7 to 8, the competition for tickets to the Eugene Athletics World Championships and the Hangzhou Asian Games will continue.

Changes in the world's race walking program

At the Tokyo Olympics in August 2021, Polish team Tomara won the men's 50 km race walk, a historic event that ushered in the closing performance of the Olympic Games. Due to gender equality, audience attraction and other factors, the Olympic athletics program has been adjusted, and in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games released this month, the men's 50 km event has ceased to exist, replaced by a race walking mixed relay event.

At the 2017 World Championships in Athletics in London, the women's 50 km event became a competition event for the first time, and in the last two World Championships, Chinese athletes have taken the podium of the event. In 2019, the famous Liu Hong broke the world record of the project in the domestic competition. However, this dominant event of Chinese race walking will also leave the stage of the World Championships in Athletics this year. At the Eugene World Championships in Athletics, which will be held from July 15 to 24, the men's and women's 50 km race walk will be changed to a distance of 35 km.

The changes in the project have posed more challenges to the Chinese race walking team that is preparing for a new cycle and is undergoing a new and old transition. In the Tokyo Olympic Games, China's competitiveness in race walking has shown a downward trend compared with the past, and changes in the design may bring about a turnaround.

For China's race walking, taking precautions and changing passive to active is the proper meaning of the question. In recent years, the 10 km and 35 km events in the youth group in the domestic competition have become permanent projects. According to the "Selection Measures for Athletics Projects to Participate in the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games", race walkers are required to participate in the competition of 10 km, 20 km and 35 km, and finally decide the candidates for the Hangzhou Asian Games according to the points and relevant selection requirements. China's new journey of race walking has begun, and only struggle can restore the glory of the past.

People's Daily (2022-04-19 15th edition)