Nation's top prospects
Aside from Liu, in 2006 China's track and field athletes showed signs of improvement. Here are some other frontrunners:
Hammer throw (W)
Zhang Wenxiu rewrote her own Asian record at the season-ending Doha Asian Games with a distance of 74.15 meters. She is now ranked sixth in the world.
Marathon (W)
At the Seoul International Marathon last March, Zhou Chunxiu won in a time of 2:19:51, making her the seventh woman in history to have broken the sub 2:20 barrier. She was the second fastest women's marathon runner last year.
Race walking (M)
Seventeen-year-old Li Gaobo clocked one hour 18 minutes 17 seconds at Yangzhou IAAF Race Walking Challenge last April, the best time of 2006 in men's 20km race. Zhao Jianguo, 18, finished in three hours 41 minutes and 10 seconds at the men's 50km race at the Wajima Asian Race Walking Championships, the third best time of the year in that category.
High jump (M)
Huang Haiqiang and Zhang Shufeng both reached 2.30 meters last year, a height rarely achieved by Chinese high jumpers. Huang also claimed the gold medal at the 2006 IAAF World Junior Championships with a height of 2.32m.
3,000m Steeplechase (W)
Li Zhenzhu broke the national record with a time of nine minutes 48.63 seconds at the National Grand Prix in Changsha, Hunan province.
Shot put (W)
Li Ling and Li Fengfeng both threw over 19 meters last year. Li Ling placed fifth at Athens IAAF World Cup last August with 19.05 meters, while Li Fengfeng reached 19.13m at the National Grand Prix Final last October.
(China Daily 01/16/2007 page22)
