Recently, the Zhaoqing branch of the 2024 National Track and Field Championships was grandly opened. In this eye-catching women's 100-meter hurdles qualifiers, the controversial athlete Xia Sining won the first place with an outstanding performance and successfully advanced. This time, she not only broke her personal record, but also equaled the best time of the year in Asia, showing her unrivalled competitive form. Although Xia Sining's outfit – a pair of triangle shorts – has aroused widespread public discussion, she still insists on herself and bravely faces all kinds of public pressure.
In the preparation stage of the competition, Xia Sining showed great professionalism and perseverance, without any external interference. She warmed up carefully and made sure she was at her best by stretching and slapping her thighs. And that focus and hard work paid off in the qualifiers. Xia Sining made a strong effort in the second half of the race, crossing the line first with a time of 13.19 seconds, and her performance not only made her the first place in the qualifiers, but also achieved the same Asian best time of the year as the Asian Games third runner-up Yumi Tanaka.
In the face of the upcoming finals, the public has extremely high expectations for Xia Sining, hoping that she can continue to surpass herself and even break her personal best. However, on the stage of the finals, Xia Sining seemed to have lost the brilliance of the preliminaries, and the rhythm was chaotic at the start, and the overall performance did not meet expectations. In the end, she finished last of the eight runners with a time of 14.15 seconds. The champion was Chen Jiamin, who became the champion with a time of 13.39 seconds, and Chen Yinfeng and Liu Jingyang won the second and third places respectively.
Xia Sining's transformation from the leader of the qualifiers to the laggard of the finals has caused extensive discussion and analysis. There is a view that Xia Sining may have chosen to protect herself and avoid injury without any hope of winning the championship out of consideration for her physical condition. But this explanation has not quelled public skepticism, with many arguing that as an athlete, you should give your best in competition and show the true meaning of sportsmanship – constantly pushing yourself to the limit. Xia Sining's choice in the final became a broad discussion about the athletes' work ethic and competition spirit.