On December 13, 2016 we posted the news that Liu Hong, Olympic Champion in Rio de Janeiro could not defend the title of World Champion won in Beijing in 2015: in the course of 2017 she would be devoted to the completion of studies at the Beijing University of Sports.

(To the news: click here)

But today they are more news that make known, after the extraordinary results obtained at the last Olympics by the group coached by Sandro Damilano, sensitive changes that have been this season.

The silver medal in Rio de Janeiro in the 20km men, Cai Zelin will have as main goal in 2017 the Chinese National Games and will prepare, with the other athletes of the province of Yunnan, this event in China.

He will not attend training in Saluzzo in 2017.

The National Games are very important in China, for individual-level athletes but especially for the provinces.

Then the sacrifice of a top athlete to participate at the World Championships is rewarded by the Provinces with a range of support (also economichal) to us unimaginable.

The other athlete of particular importance for Sandro Damilano, Qieyang Shenije (fifth in Rio de Janeiro), who married recently last December, found to be pregnant, and she returned to China, from the stage of Saluzzo, where she had already arrived for preparing for the world season.

Two heavy defections for the Italian coach, but with the guarantee that all three athletes in the group will return next season, always in Saluzzo.

Those who come into the group this week, after six months of awards, television appearances and, of late, a nasty bronchitis is instead the Olympic Champion Wang Zhen: one might say "recreation is finished"

The group's program includes a selection race for 50 km. London to Zhang Hang (Personal Best = 3:43:31). The competition will take place Sunday, March 5 to Huangshan, where there will be no Yu Wei as already selected right after Rio de Janeiro.

The other athletes in the group and a group of a dozen juniors will participate at 30 km. in Scarnafigi (next March 12, 2017) and then the race of Lugano on March 19, 2017.

Then the whole group, Wang Zhen excluded, which will remain in Italy to continue the training, will travel to China for the race of the IAAF Challenge in Taicang.

One last news.