Saturday and Sunday morning in Taicang (Jiangsu province, population of 500,000 inhabitants) the races that were initially part of the World Walking Challenge but which following the pandemic problems and the impossibility for foreign athletes to reach China have become national competitions valid for selection at the Chinese National Games scheduled for September in Xi'an.
Qualified by right the selected and the reserves for the Tokyo Olympic Games will be a tough battle for the others. For each province, 4 athletes will be selected for the coveted participation in the National Games, the most popular event in China after the Olympicsn (and maybe something more).
Taicang is a recurring stage on the world calendar and has already hosted 2 race walking World Team Championships in 2014 and 2018.
All the best Chinese athletes will fight on the same course.
The races will be the 20km male starting on Saturday morning at 8:00 (109 athletes entered);
The 20 km. female (entered 81 athletes) with departure Saturday morning at 9:50.
On Saturday afternoon there will be competitions dedicated to young athletes (more than a hundred entered), while on Sunday, starting at 6:30, the 50km will be held. (49 subscribers)
The weather conditions in Taicang (24° - 28° forecasts) are certainly not ideal as those recorded in Huangshan, so times that are quite longer than those of the Olympic selection competition are expected.
The usual Wang Kaihua is the favorite in the men's 20. To contend for the victory: Cau Zelin, Zhang Jun; Chen Ding and the surprise of the selection competitions, Zhu Xioqiang.
In the 20km female the usual duel between world record holder Yang Jiayu; the Olympic and world champion Liu Hong and the vice-Olympic and world champion Qieyang Shenjie. To follow the tests of Yang Liujing, Ma Zhenxia and Wang Na. An important defection due to injuries: Lu Xiuzhi.
During the 50km a 35km test-race is planned for the 3 athletes selected for Tokyo (Luo Yadong; Wang Qin and Bian Tongda). Difficult to predict for others.