Chinese shot putter Gong throws world leading 20.31m
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E-mail Xinhua, June 14, 2021
World champion Gong Lijiao won the women's shot put with a world-leading mark of 20.31 meters at the combined 2021 Chinese National Athletics Championships and Tokyo Olympic trials on Sunday.
The 31-year-old established her leading position in the first round with a 19.43m, and improved that to 19.90m with her fifth attempt. In the last round, Gong hurled 20.31m to take an easy victory.
"Earlier I said my goal was to throw over 20 meters at this competition, now I have made it. I am expecting to be better in Tokyo, the gold medal is within my reach," said the two-time world champion.
23-year-old Song Jiayuan ranked second with 18.95 meters, securing another Tokyo Olympic berth for China.
At night, heavy rain hampered the athletes' performance. World champion Wang Yu gave up challenging 2.24 meters in the men's high jump, ranking third after Wu Guobiao and Wang Zhen both cleared a 2.20m.
Asian record holder Xie Zhenye ran 20.57 seconds to win the men's 200 meters. "I am not afraid of running in the rain during the Tokyo Olympics, what I am going to is to run faster than the others," said Xie.
The women's 200m final saw several runners pull out because of the downpour, leaving Huang Guifen to win in 23.53 seconds.
25-year-old Xu Shuangshuang suffered a setback in the women's 3,000m steeplechase, and failed to earn herself an Olympic slot, just 0.39 seconds away from the entry standard.
Huang Changzhou leaped to 8.19 meters to secure victory in the men's long jump, Huang Bokai won the men's pole vault with 5.50 meters, veteran Dong Guojian took the men's 10,000 meters in 29 minutes and 49.77 seconds.
The men's and women's 400m hurdles were won by Xie Zhiyu and Zou Yifan respectively, Fujian won the men's 4x100m and 4x200m relay, and Zhejiang finished first in the women's 4x100m relay.
Elsewhere, Zheng Xiaoqian claimed victory in the women's 1,500m, Tian Zizhong won the men's shot put, the women's discus was won by Chen Yang with 64.21 meters, and Sichuan took golds in both the women's and men's 4x400m relay.
