It has also created the legendary Asian 100 meter race! But this year's Asian Games... Chinese athletics has dominated the gold medal in Asian short span for nearly 50 years | Asian Games | 100m

As of the previous Jakarta Asian Games, the Chinese athletics team has won the first place in the gold medal table for eight consecutive Asian Games athletics events. At the upcoming Hangzhou Asian Games, China's dominant position in athletics in Asia will face significant challenges. What's even more concerning is the variables we have in two key projects.

"Gold grabbing tycoons" remain strong

The 2023 National Athletics Championships and also the selection competition for the Hangzhou Asian Games of the Chinese Athletics Team ended yesterday in Shenyang. This competition is seen as the "grand parade" of Chinese athletics before the Asian Games, and from the results of various competitions, it is generally favorable for the upcoming Hangzhou Asian Games - more than 90 people have broken their personal best, and more than 105 people have broken their season best.

The best aspect is undoubtedly reflected in traditional advantageous projects. Among them, the field event is the most typical - well-known women's event champions have all broken season records, such as World Champion Feng Bin winning the women's discus event championship ahead of schedule with a score of 66.81 meters, which also created her best result of the season; In the women's shot put final, Gong Lijiao, who won both the Olympic and World Championships, broke her personal best of the season twice with a height of 19.88 meters and 20.06 meters respectively; In the women's javelin, both Lv Huihui and Liu Shiying threw their best results of the season, both breaking the 60 meter mark. Among them, Lv Huihui's 62.35 meter championship was not only the best of the season, but also her return to the 60 meter category after a year. Liu Shiying, on the other hand, created her best result of the season, which was 61.63 meters. In addition, the top athletes in women's hammer throw and women's pole vault have also performed well, with a significant lead.

The absolute dominance on the field and race walking tracks is precisely the foundation for China's athletics to stand out in Asia over the years. In this regard, this year's Asian Games is no different.

"Brother One" absent, can 100m defend its peak glory

But in the track and field events of the Asian Games, the success or failure of these two events reflects their influence, public attention, and even symbolic significance, which are no less significant than leading the gold medal table - the men's 100m and men's 110m hurdles. In this selection competition, Chinese track and field athletes will face the greatest pressure and threat in these two events.

Let's first talk about the men's 100 meters. It goes without saying what this event means for the athletics field. In the past 25 years, China's track and field industry has risen from the bottom, with the main storyline being the process of men's 100m from 10.20 seconds to 9.83 seconds, from second rate in Asia to world-class.

In this story, the Chinese men's 100 meter race never won the Asian championship. In the past three Asian Games, they won 2 gold medals and 1 silver medal in the men's 100 meter final. The only time they missed the gold medal was when they lost to Qatar's "African mercenary" Augustus; From achieving an unprecedented breakthrough of breaking 10, to becoming the first "Asian Glory" Su Bingtian to stand at the starting line of the Olympic finals.

But at this Asian Games, "Big Brother" Su Bingtian left the sprinting track temporarily due to injury, and 29 year old Xie Zhenye had to shoulder the banner of Chinese sprinting alone. In the recent selection competition, Xie Zhenye had to try again to compete in both the 100 meter and 200 meter events, in order to fill the gap in the Asian Games 100 meter race after Su Bingtian's temporary departure.

Illustrated: Su Bingtian is not here, and the outside world's attention is all on Xie Zhenye.

The fact also proves that there is currently no young person who can share the burden for the two big brothers, and Xie Zhenye has won championships in both projects. However, whether it is a time of 10.09 seconds for 100 meters or 20.49 seconds for 200 meters, Xie Zhenye's achievements in Asia do not have an absolute advantage. On the 100 meter race track, Xie Zhenye is surrounded by "flying people" from Japan, Qatar, and Malaysia, with Japanese athlete Yoshihide Toyotomi even achieving a time of 10.03 seconds; In terms of 200 meters, three Japanese athletes have already run in 20.50 seconds this season, and Yang Junhan, a 100 meter sprinter from Taipei, China, has also run in 20.46 seconds.

The saying goes that high places are invincible to cold. Can we still accept a defeat in the 100 meter race at the Asian Games when China's sprint has already represented "Asian speed" on the world's top stage? The answer is self-evident, and the pressure is self-evident.

Winning the championship has become a habit, but this time it may be different

The more stressful event is our men's 110 meter hurdles.

Unlike men's 100m, in this event, we seem to have had no competition in Asia for too long. The Asian Games have been held for a total of 18 times, and China has won 11 gold medals in the men's 110 meter hurdles event.

In the 1974 Tehran Asian Games, China participated in the Asian Games for the first time. Famous athlete Cui Lin won China's first gold medal in the 110 meter hurdles with a time of 14.26 seconds. Four years later at the Bangkok Asian Games, Chinese athlete Wang Xunhua won the championship of the event again with a time of 14.28 seconds, surpassing Japanese athlete Ryoji Fujimori.

Since the 1986 Seoul Asian Games, we have achieved a perfect ninth consecutive championship in this project. The most dazzling among them is undoubtedly Liu Xiang, who was once hailed as the "number one athlete in Chinese athletics". At the 2002 Busan Asian Games, 19-year-old Liu Xiang won his first 110 meter hurdles championship with a time of 13.27 seconds. In the following two Asian Games, he completely dominated this project. At the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games, Liu Xiang set a record of 13.09 seconds, which has yet to be broken.

Since the 2014 Incheon Asian Games, Liu Xiang's junior brother Xie Wenjun has carried the flag of China's short hurdles and won the gold medal in the 110 meter hurdles with a time of 13.36 seconds. He also defeated Japanese athlete Takayama Junno at the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games and defended his title with a time of 13.34 seconds.

The men's 110 meter hurdles event has created many touching and great miracles, undoubtedly the pride of Chinese athletics. But at this year's Hangzhou Asian Games, whether we can still win the championship of this traditional strength will be a big question mark.

In fact, the only track athlete to meet the standards for the Budapest Athletics World Championships in this selection competition is Zhu Shenglong, a male 110m hurdler. He ran a good time of 13.25 seconds in the final, exceeding the standard score for this event at the Budapest World Championships. 13.25 seconds is also the fourth best time in the history of China's 110 meter hurdles, second only to Liu Xiang, Xie Wenjun, and Shi Dongpeng.

This is undoubtedly good news, but on the sidelines, many experienced track and field journalists have mixed feelings. The good news is that young players have a promising future, while the bad news is that the only veteran with rich competition experience, Xie Wenjun, has not even qualified for the Asian Games. In this selection competition, his best time was 13.56 seconds in the preliminary round, and he only finished fourth in the final.

Xie Wenjun told reporters that he has suffered from injuries in the past year and has not received systematic training. He has only recovered to 60-70% of his current state. Although the possibility of re entering the Asian Games is very slim, the 33 year old veteran, who is less than two weeks away, has not given up yet. "If he performs well in the future, he may still be selected. There is another game at the end of July, and I will try again!" said Xie Wenjun.

Hubei young player Zhu Shenglong, born in 2000, can be said to be a dark horse in China's short span this season. He has improved his personal best four times, from 13.62 seconds, 13.55 seconds, and 13.47 seconds to 13.25 seconds. Although he became famous and made a remarkable breakthrough in the first battle, his corresponding experience in the competition was like a blank slate. This undoubtedly worries industry insiders whether Xiao Zhu can perform at his best at the Asian Games.

It should be noted that before winning his first Asian Games championship in 2014, Xie Wenjun had a lot of competition experience as a foundation - he reached the Olympic A-standard before the age of 18. At the 2012 London Olympics, Xie Wenjun, who was only 22 years old, ran his personal best record of 13.34 seconds, almost making it to the men's 110 meter hurdles final at the Olympics.

The greater challenge comes from the opponent. At the beginning of this month, in the men's 110 meter hurdles final of the Japan Championships, Japanese hurdler Junsuke Quantani set a new national record in the men's 110 meter hurdles by setting a time of 13.04 seconds against the wind. As early as the Tokyo Olympic cycle, he had already run a time of 13.06 seconds. However, this season, he has already run a time of 13.25 seconds and 13.07 seconds, so it can be said that he has at least stabilized his time in the 13.20 seconds interval. In addition to Junsuke Izutani, the other two Japanese athletes, Takayama Junno and Murakami Rashid, are currently outstanding in the Asian men's 110 meter hurdles event and both have certain competition experience. Looking at the short span in China, apart from Zhu Shenglong, who emerged from afar, there have been no athletes who have the potential to challenge the world stage.

Since Liu Xiang retired, the situation of Chinese men's high hurdles being a lone child has been well known to the outside world, and the alarm of talent shortage has not stopped. However, due to the presence of Xie Wenjun, many people have not realized the importance of the problem. The Japanese track and field team has been planning for the men's 110 meter hurdles for a long time, accumulating knowledge and waiting for a good opportunity to catch up. Now, the best opportunity is coming.

In fact, when Su Bingtian and Xie Zhenye, two veteran players, retire, China's men's 100m event will inevitably encounter the same problem as the men's 110m hurdles - there will be a lack of young players who have the courage and ability to take over the training of reserve forces.

The two projects are not without talented individuals, but most seem to have fallen silent due to injuries or unstable training after creating one or two "shining moments". In contrast, our biggest competitor in these two projects, Japan, is still in a positive trend with constantly new recruits and good results.

In response to such a severe situation, Professor Li Qing, a 66 year old professor from the Sports Department of Tsinghua University and former head coach of the National Athletics Team's sprint program, recently put forward three suggestions: to create and build an atmosphere of fierce competition in Chinese sprinting; Maintain and improve the theoretical and practical level of Chinese frontline coaches; Change the current situation of China's sprint youth training environment and lagging team construction.

But obviously, both require the courage of sports managers and the accumulation of time.

Perhaps we are fortunate enough to see veteran athletes carrying the flag and winning gold medals at this Asian Games, but what about the next one?