The Chinese player’s dominance in the Women’s walks was once again perfectly reflected in the Doha World Championships on the 30th. Liu Hong, the world record holder, World Championships and Olympic champions, won the Women's 20km walking race championship with the strong acceleration of the final stage. For the first time, Chinese players took the top three at the World Championships.
"This is my third time take part in the World Championships. I am very happy that this time our Chinese team can sweep the top three. Tomorrow is the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. This kind of achievement is also a gift we give to the motherland." Liu Hong said.
As Chinese player Yang Jiayu received an additional quota for the defending champion of the project, the Chinese team sent 4 people to participate in the World Championships. In the day of the competition, 4 Chinese players were always in the lead group. After halfway through the race, the leader left only six players, including Brazil's De Senna and Colombia's Arenas.
After taking the group for 15 kilometers, Arenas gradually fell behind. After another two kilometers, the world's number one Qieyang Shijie is the first to accelerate, only Liu Hong successfully followed her speed. After 18 kilometers, Rio Olympic champion Liu Hong began to accelerate, leaving Qieyang Shijie behind. Liu Hong, who was getting faster and faster, finally hit the line with 1 hour, 32 minutes and 53 seconds. Qieyang Shijie is behind 17 seconds to harvest the silver medal. Yang Liujing, who participated in the World Championships for the first time, ranked third in 1 hour, 33 minutes and 17 seconds.
"Before training, I was more concerned about the weather, the high temperature and high humidity environment. I was observing my opponent and paying attention to the pace of the match during the game today and felt that the weather not hot any more." Liu Hong said. " Now, the mentality of the game is better than before. I am more to enjoy the game, not so much psychological burden, so i can be played better."
After the Rio Olympics, Liu Hong was away from the stadium and “upgraded” to be a mother. She returned to the 32-year-old this season. In March of this year, she created the Women's 50-kilometer world record, and won the world record of 20 km and 50 km.
The Chinese team had the opportunity to win the top four in the competition, but the defending champion Yang Jiayu was eager in the final stage, resulting in a distortion of the technical movements, and successively ate the red card, and was eventually sent off and failed to finish.
Since the 2015 Beijing Athletics World Championships, Chinese players have won Women's 20km for three consecutive years. Liu Hong personally climbed to the top in 2011, 2015 and 2019. (Reporter Wu Junkuan, Liu Ning, Ma Xiangfei)
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