The speed of descent is amazing! The Chinese Race Walking World Championships did not score, why the international competition was judged by two people
On August 24, the 2023 Budapest Athletics World Championships held the men's and women's 35km race walk finals. Spain emerged as the biggest winner. Men's 20km race walk champion Martin and women's 20km race walk gold medallist Perez both won gold medals in the men's and women's 35km race walk. So far, Spain has won all four gold medals in race walking at this World Championships. Twelve Chinese runners competed in four race walks, and none of them made the podium. In 2019, Chinese race walking can also win gold, silver and bronze medals at the World Championships in Doha, and now China's race walking performance has accelerated its decline, and the world race walking has entered an era of dominance.
In this year's World Championships race walking event, two Spanish athletes performed amazingly. Martin and Perez took a break to compete in the men's and women's 35km race walk finals after winning gold in the men's and women's 20km race walk. The exhaustion of the previous competition seemed to be washed away by the joy of winning the gold. In the men's 35km final, Martin moved normally, and when his opponents received red cards, he suddenly broke through the competition at the last moment and finally crossed the finish line first to become the men's race walking double. He Xianghong walked out of 2 hours, 37 minutes and 21 seconds to rank 23rd. Wang Qin ranked 28th. Tashi Yang was sent off for a total of four red cards in the game.
In the women's 35km race, Perez is the world record holder for the women's 35km race walk, leading from 10km. China's Sister Cheyang Shi briefly took it away, and later received four red cards and was sent off. Li Maocuo was also fined for foul play. Bai Xueying became the only Chinese player to finish, ranking 11th.
At the World Championships, China Race Walking sent a combination of old and new teams, and all four events were fully participated. The women's 20km race walk includes Olympic champion Liu Hong, 2017 World Championship champion Yang Jiayu and 2022 World Race Walking Team Championship champion Ma Zhenxia; In the women's 35km, the famous Cheyang Shijie, the team World Championship runner-up Li Maocuo, and the young player Bai Xueying who stood out in the trials. The men's 20km sent National Games champion Zhang Jun and the up-and-coming dynasty and Niu Wenchao. The 35km race walk lineup includes He Xianghong, Wang Qin and Tashi Yangben, who have performed well recently.
Helplessly, the Chinese race walking team handed over an embarrassing answer sheet at this World Championships. After missing the podium in the men's and women's 20km race walk, Chinese athletes did not perform well in the men's and women's 35km race walk events. In March this year, He Xianghong, who set an Asian record of 2 hours, 22 minutes and 55 seconds and the world's best time of the season, finished 23rd. His World Championship results are not small enough to fall short of his Asian record.
At this point, Chinese race walking ended with the worst World Championships result since 2001. Race walking has always been a traditional strength of Chinese athletics, and since the first introduction of the women's 20km race walk at the 1999 World Championships, the Chinese team has won six golds, five silvers and three bronzes. At the 2019 World Championships in Doha, China became the first team ever to win gold, silver and bronze medals in the women's 20km race walk. The scene of Liu Hong, Sister Cheyang Shi and Yang Liujing capturing the top three in the heat was once the highlight of China's race walking.
From the 2021 Tokyo Olympics to the 2022 Eugene World Championships, China's race walking performance has declined rapidly. At the Tokyo Olympics, Liu Hong, Yang Jiayu and Sister Cheyang Shi competed hand in hand, and in the end, Yang Jiayu received three red cards and was suspended for 2 minutes, missing the podium, and only the veteran Liu Hong won a bronze medal.
At last year's World Championships in Eugene, Sister Cheyangshi won two precious bronze medals. But China's record of winning gold medals in the women's 20km race walk at the World Championships since 2011 came to an abrupt end. Before this year's World Championships in Budapest, China carefully designed the selection system and determined the candidates for the World Championships through several big tests. Zhang Jun, Liu Hong, Yang Jiayu, He Xianghong and other players have world-class good results in the selection competition.
Reluctantly came to Budapest, the performance of the Chinese players was the same as before. In both the men's and women's 20km race walk, Chinese runners fell behind at 15km. Zhang Jun, who once walked out of the world's best time this season, only walked 1 hour, 23 minutes and 13 seconds, ranking 29th.
After the game, Liu Hong introduced that everyone's game state is generally not good, which is related to the hot weather and the time difference that has not yet adapted to Budapest. In addition, Liu Hong also said frankly that Chinese players have been affected by the epidemic in recent years, and their chances to participate in the World Series have decreased, and the gap has been unconsciously opened. In the past, Chinese race walking, relying on the determination not to be afraid of hardship, and the momentum to change life through sports, broke a way in the world. In the past two World Championships, race walking has shown a trend of dominance. Peru, Ecuador, Japan, Spain and other strong players have emerged, with faster speed, better technology and more physical strength. Chinese race walking needs to observe opponents through this World Championships to narrow the gap with top race walking in time.
Text/Beiqing Sports Chu Peng