November 16 day, the seventh competition day after the opening of the 15th National Games, multiple events intensified, and this evening seven gold medals across five events were decided.
The women's 100m heats were held in four groups, with 16 athletes advancing to the semifinals.
Wei Yongli of Guangxi, Xu Jialu of Hubei, Chen Yuxie of Zhejiang and Ge Manqi of Fujian claimed first in their respective heats. In the final heat, Ge Manqi posted 11.36 seconds to place first overall, the "Kid Sister" Chen Yuxie clocked 11.39 seconds close behind, and Kong Lingyao of Jilin ran 11.39 seconds to record a PB.
Liang Xiaojing of Guangdong suffered a shoulder dislocation in yesterday’s mixed relay and was ultimately ruled out of the heats.
The women’s semifinals will begin at 19:00 on November 17.
The men's 100m heats were divided into four groups, with 16 athletes advancing to the semifinals.
Wang Shengjie of Shandong, who ran in the first heat, clocked 10.14 seconds, the second-best time in China this year for the men's 100m. In the second heat, Hubei's Li Zeyang and Fujian's He Jinchong were even stronger, reshaping the season's top marks. Li Zeyang took first in the heat with a PB of 10.08 seconds,He Jinchong finished second in the heat with a season-best 10.13 seconds.
Liu Yang of Hubei and Deng Xinrui of Guangxi won heats three and four respectively, and Zhejiang's Xie Zhenye finished in 10.31 seconds, advancing to the semifinals by a margin of 0.02 seconds.
The men's semifinals will start at 19:14 on November 17.
Eight athletes advanced to the final from the women's 400m hurdles heats. Mo Jiadie of Guangdong showed her strength, leading the field with 57.21 seconds. Ou Ying of Fujian, racing in the third heat, set a PB of 57.53 to win her heat, and Kong Yingying ran 57.88 to take the win in heat two.
The women's 400m hurdles final will start at 19:35 on November 17.
The men's 400m hurdles heats were divided into three groups, with 8 qualifying spots up for grabs. Henan's Xie Zhiyu, Zhejiang's Ye An'an and Xu Xinfeng were the top three overall. Xie Zhiyu was the only athlete to go under 49.60 — he ran 49.52 to place first.
The men's 400m hurdles final will start on November 17 at 19:50.
In the women's 200m heats, many strong contenders advanced. The first heat was very fast, Anhui Li Yuting 23.55s and Jiangsu Cai Yanting 23.59s, and in the third heat Sichuan Liu Yinglan 23.60s ranked as the top three overall.
Zhu Junying of Hubei won the second heat in 23.61s, favorite Chen Yuxie of Zhejiang ran in the fourth heat and looked very relaxed,23.97s and Shandong's He Liujing (23.91s) both easily crossed the line to advance.
The women's 200m semifinals will be held on November 18 at 10:00 in the morning, and the gold medal will be decided on the evening of November 19 at 20:30.
As the favorite, Yunnan's Wu Hongjiao lived up to expectations, holding off her rivals' attacks over the final 200 meters and accelerating further on the home straight,clocking2:05.23 to win her first National Games gold medal.
Jilin's Li Chunhui 2:05.75 took silver, Zhejiang's Rao Xinyu 2:06.75 took bronze. In a post-race interview, Wu Hongjiao admitted that the training throughout the cycle was very solid, but the race still felt particularly tense.
In the men's 800m final, the headline battle saw national record holder from Guangxi, Liu Dezhu, charge for a new national record from the gun and hold the lead for a long time. But in the final 50 meters the race dramatically shifted — Zhejiang's Xi Xiaoheng (the "Bandit"), who typically lurks at the back before unleashing a final kick, brought an even stronger sprint this time, moving up from the rear, passing runners one after another and, in the closing stages, seeming to teleport past Ma Zhongqiang and Liu Dezhu to cross the line first.
1:45.48! This high-quality duel produced a brand-new national record, and it’s the first national record to fall in the middle- and long-distance events at these National Games.Liu Dezhu 1:45.84 and Henan's Ma Zhongqiang 1:47.28 took second and third.
In a post-race interview, Liu Dezhu graciously congratulated his national team teammate, rival and friend Xi Xiaoheng on breaking the record and taking the win. He said this race was also aimed at the national record — although he couldn’t win in the end, he hopes that their head-to-head battles and mutual improvement will help push Chinese middle- and long-distance running forward. Several athletes will also take part in the upcoming 1500m competition.
In the men's 3000m steeplechase final, half-marathon national record holder and 19-year-old (just turned in October) Liaoning team youngster Yu Shuiqing put on a vivid display of youthful spirit for everyone to see.
During the race he stayed with the lead group and proactively launched attacks to break the stalemate. In the final two laps, Guizhou's Chen Yongchao and Yunnan's Chen Wenjie battled with him, and with 200 meters to go after the last water jump Yu Shuiqing accelerated away from Chen Yongchao, taking long, confident strides to claim his first National Games gold medal. Chen Yongchao 8:42.06, Chen Wenjie 8:43.01 took silver and bronze.
Women's 3000m steeplechase final, with Gansu's Zhang Xinyan and Shanghai's Xu Shuangshuang, two of the country's top 3000m steeplechase specialists, Luo Xia of Yunnan emerged as the one to break through. From the start she steadily increased the pace; after the race passed the halfway mark only she and Xu Shuangshuang remained in the lead. In the final kilometer, Luo then broke away from Xu Shuangshuang to lead solo, steadily extending her advantage, and eventually finished in 9 minutes 26 seconds 44 to improve her personal best by 3 seconds, adding another gold for Yunnan.
Xu Shuangshuang 9:36.31, Zhang Shanshan 9:51.30 took second and third, respectively; defending champion Zhang Xinyan 10:00.69 placed sixth.
In the men's high jump final, the top three all cleared 2.24 m. From Heilongjiang, Li Jialun was the first to clear it and won with a personal best; Wang Zhen of Jiangsu took silver, and Zhang Hao of Tianjin was third (also recording a PB).
In the women's triple jump final, Zhou Hui of Jiangsu won with a personal best of 14.06 m; Li Yi of Hunan was second with 13.92 m, and Zeng Rui of Guangdong took third with 13.91 m (a season-best for her).
In the women's shot put final,China's track and field legend and Hebei teamGong Lijiaowon with a throw of 19.68 m. She also became the first athlete at the National Games to win five consecutive titles in a single athletics event — congratulationsJiao-jie, salute to the legend!
Her teammateZhang Linru threw 19.47 m, a personal best, to win silver, another teammateMa Yue threw 19.33 m, also a personal best, to take bronze, the Hebei team completed a sweep of the women's shot put podium.
Which event did you watch today? Which moment impressed you the most?
