Second stage of the “Around Taihu” this morning in Wuzhong. The races were held over the distance of 10 km. over a lap of 1 km. Departure for men at 9:00 am (local time) and for women at 9:45 am. Temperature around 10• / 12° ideal for good performance. At the men's start there were 46. Sixteen participants in the women's one.
10 km. Men.
Three athletes dominated the competition: London 2012 Olympic champion: Chen Ding; the second in the 2018 World Cup: Wang Kaihua and the young (1998 yon) Zhang Jun, winner of Sunday's race. Together with these athletes remained in the leading pack: Li Kewen, up to the 5th km. and Wen Yongjie up to the 4th km.
Departure at the pace of 3:50 per km. and passage to 5 km. in 19:18. The trio remains compact until the last km. when Chen Ding forced the pace and gain about ten meters. Wang Kaihua gradually comes off while Zhang Jun returns to compete in a tight final sprint. Only the photo finish will decide the success of the former Olympic champion. The official time (rounded to 38:18) was 38:17.224 for Chen Ding and 38:17.310 for Zhang Jun. Only 86 thousandths the difference between the two. Last km. covered in 3:39; seconds 5 km. in 19:00. In third place Wang Kaihu in 38:23. It should be noted that the latter (defeated both Sunday and today) had not lost a national match for more than 3 years.
Fourth place for Li Kewen in 38:50; fifth place went to Wen Yongjie in 39:31; in sixth place was Wang Qin in 39:31. It should be noted that the latter is a 50 km specialist. (3:38:07 his P.B) and that on Sunday he continued after 15 km. ending the 30 km. in 2:10:08 (first 15 km. in 1:06:19; second part in 1:03:49).
10 km. Women
Another undisputed domination of the former London 2017 world champion: Yang Jiayu.
After the great mark on the 15 km on Sunday: 1:02:43. Yang repeated herself at a great level, winning and dominating from start to finish. Final time of 41:25. Quick start immediately with the 1st km covered in 4:06. Split time to 5 km in 20:46; second part covered in 20:39.
In second place the Tibetan Qieyang Shijie who closed in a good mark of 42:41 (21:18 + 21:23).
Third place to Lu Xiuzhi in 43:08 (21:42 + 21:26). The girl from Huangshang, in Anhui province, after the convincing race on Sunday that finished in 2nd place with a mark of 1:04:55, repeated today. Showing in this way that, after two seasons characterized by many injuries, the athlete who was able to win the bronze medal in Rio 2016 Olympics has returned back to be competitive. Fourth place for the young (1998) Ma Zhenxia in 43:37 (21:18 + 22:19, time penalized by the 30" stop for the penalty).
Speaking of penalties, it must be remembered that the regulations of the 2 races provided for: 30” stop after 2 reds; 1:30" after 3 reds: 3:00 after 4 reds and the Dq at the 5th red.
The Chinese race walking will have a new appointment on Sunday in Suqian, in Jiangsu province, where a 15 km competition will take place.