China rules 2010 Race Walking Challenge
China dominated the 2010 International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) Race Walking Challenge Final in Beijing this weekend.
Chinese men finished in the top three spots in total standings, and took two of the top three spots in the race. Giorgio Rubino of Italy finished in third place in the final, but hadn’t competed in the
required three (IAAF) Race Walking Challenge competitions, and wasn’t eligible for the Challenge’s prize money.
Wang Zhen, at just 17 years of age, won the Challenge Final by tying the second fastest all-time mark of 37:44. A few seconds behind him in second place was his countryman, Yafei Zhu, who finished with
a time of 37:57. Rubino took third with a time of 38:00.
In fourth was Wang Hao of China. Hao finished third in the overall standings, powered primarily by his win at the World Cup in Chihuahua, Mexico.
The men’s race was the fastest race at this level ever, in part because of an incredibly quick start, but mostly due to a strong field. For the first 3km most of the pack was still together, and by the
6km mark the top nine were within two seconds of each other.
By the 7km mark only five remained in a position to challenge for the win. Hao dropped back to sixth place at this point, and needed a final push to move into fourth place by the finish line. He finished
just a nose behind Rubino with the same time, 38 minutes flat.
Zhen made his move heading into the final kilometre of the race. With he and Zhu alone in front, Zhen picked up the pace leading to his impressive finish.
Tatyana Sibeleva of Russia won the women’s race, a race that featured only 13 athletes, but she too wasn’t eligible for the Challenge’s prize money. Sibileva pulled away from the pack after the first kilometre
and didn’t look back, winning the race by 37 seconds with a time of 41:53.
The next three athletes were together for the first five kilometres until Liu Hong of China made her move, taking a five second lead on Li Yanfri of China and Melanie Seeger of Germany. Hong finished in
second with a time of 42:30. Seeger took third, five seconds behind Hong, and another five seconds behind was Yanfei in fourth.
The season’s final standings for the women had Liu Hong on top with Melanie Seeger in second and Yanfei in third.
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