On the last day of 2025, the Chinese Athletics Association issued a notice regarding the awarding of the titles of International Master of Sport, Master of Sport, and First-Class Athlete.
Details are as follows:
According to the "Measures for the Administration of Athletes' Technical Levels" (Order No. 32 of the General Administration of Sport of China) and the "Athlete Technical Level Standards" (TiJing Zi [2024] No. 121), the following titles are hereby conferred: the title of International-level Sports Master to Feng Peiyou and five others (6 recipients in total), the title of Sports Master to Li Dalin and 17 others (18 recipients in total), and the title of First-Level Athlete to Lan Tao and five others (6 recipients in total).
A total of six athletes earned the International Athlete title: Shanghai Marathon's domestic champion and runner-up, Feng Peiyou and Yang Kegu, and the women's top four domestic finishers at the Shanghai Marathon, led by Zhang Deshun.
All 18 athletes are also from the marathon discipline, and independent runners like Li Dalin and Tiedan (Li Jian) make up a large proportion of the list.
First-level athletes are mostly students, so there are no long-distance track and field events.
A total of 30 people were awarded athlete technical grade titles. From the personnel information, the list of 6 international-class athletes and 18 national-class athletes largely matches the Shanghai Marathon's entry roster. Considering that this year's Shanghai Marathon specifically set up a pre-grade category, this list is therefore unsurprising.
Compared with the Shanghai Marathon's results announcement, the published proposed list of athletes to be granted the grade does not include Wang Lianzheng and Zhou Youfa, so the two of them probably did not register for the pre-grade category. In fact, Wang Lianzheng already reached the grade at this year's Xiamen Marathon and does not need to do so again.
Previously, marathon runners who wanted to achieve grading could only compete at the National Marathon Championships or at major events like the National Games and the World Championships, so opportunities were scarce each year. Under the new Chinese Athletics technical grading requirements：participation in Platinum Label races can earn the titles of International Elite and National Elite Athlete. This change also gives recreational runners a pathway to reach grading by taking part in Platinum Label events. The value of Platinum Label races has risen again.
In 2026 there is only one National Marathon Championships and only one National Half Marathon Championships, but there are four Platinum Label races: Xiamen Marathon, Meishan Renshou Half Marathon, Yangzhou Half Marathon and Shanghai Marathon. Runners aiming to achieve grading should plan their race schedules carefully — there will be an opportunity as early as next weekend.
