There are many things to watch at this World Athletics Championships. On the one hand, this is the first track and field competition in the Paris Olympic cycle. The event lasts for 10 days. The first event is the men's hammer throw competition starting at 9:05 am local time; the last event is the women's 4X400m final. On the other hand, this is the first time that track and field powerhouse the United States has hosted the event, and Eugene is the smallest city to host the event so far.
The smallest city to hold the competition: A small town is not simple.
Eugene has a population of only tens of thousands, but it is known as the "City of Track and Field" in the United States and is the home of University of Oregon . The University of Oregon has 18 sports teams, exceeding the minimum requirement of 14 sports teams for American universities to participate in the first-level league . Among them, track and field, basketball and football are the school's strengths, and the latter two are often the most profitable sports for universities. This laid a solid foundation for the school to develop a variety of sports projects. The University of Oregon men's basketball team is a regular in the top 64 in the country. It has reached the top 16 five times in the past seven years, including the "Final Four" in 2017.
Eugene hosts many track and field events. Internationally speaking, Eugene is the venue for the World Athletics Diamond League, and in many cases the only one in the United States and even North America. In the United States, Eugene often hosts the US Collegiate Track and Field Championships, the US Track and Field Championships and the Olympic Trials. For example, since 2008, the four U.S. Olympic track and field trials have been held in Eugene. In 2014, Eugene hosted the World Youth Track and Field Championships.
These track and field events are held at the University of Oregon's Hayward Track and Field Stadium. The track and field was built in 1919 and bears witness to the history of American track and field. The stadium was renovated in 2018 in preparation for this World Championship.
The story of Eugene and track and field is also that the university has a well-known track and field coach Bowman. He produced several Olympians and national record setters. Among them, Prefontaine set multiple American middle-distance running records in his short 24-year life. Before Eugene hosted the Diamond League, there was a track and field event named after Prefontaine.
The United States, playing at home, naturally hopes to achieve better results, but the big star of this world championship is Norway's 00m hurdles expert Waholm. He has confirmed his participation in this world championship. Waholm started practicing track and field at the age of 7. Initially, he mainly practiced the 1100-meter hurdles, high jump, long jump, and triple jump. In 2014, he competed in the all-around event at the Eugene Youth Track and Field Championships, finishing 10th. After that, he focused on the 400-meter hurdles and never stopped, winning consecutive championships in this event at the 2017 London and 2019 Doha World Championships. In 2021, he broke the 29-year-old 400-meter hurdles world record twice within one month. Among them, he broke the record and won the championship at the Tokyo Olympics. This year Valholm only competed in the Rabat Diamond League race, but did not finish. He felt unwell while crossing the first hurdle and withdrew from the competition, and did not participate in other competitions thereafter.
Chinese athletes have wonderful memories in Eugene. Liu Xiang broke 12.90 seconds here; Su Bingtian broke 10 seconds here for the first time, setting a national record; Zhang Guowei jumped out of 2.38 meters, a personal best.
Latest cycle preparations: China has goals
Due to the epidemic, the Eugene World Track and Field Championships have been postponed to this year, only 2 years before the Paris Olympics. For the Chinese delegation, the World Championships in Eugene and the World Championships in Budapest next August are rare opportunities to debut and learn.
The Chinese team has 53 athletes participating in 23 events, accounting for about half of the events in this World Athletics Championships. Among them, 23 male athletes participated in 10 events; 30 female athletes participated in 13 events.
If we are talking about gold points, the women's throwing and walking events are the most promising, because the four Olympic champions in the Chinese delegation all came from throwing and walking.Women's throwing is the dominant event of the Chinese team. They won two gold medals at the 1991 World Championships in Tokyo, namely Huang Zhihong in the shot put and Xu Demei in the javelin. They are both from Zhejiang. women’s shot put There are three participants from China, with a reasonable mix of old, middle and young people. Gong Lijiao , who is already a "Grand Slam", has participated in the World Championships for the 8th time and has richer experience. Liu Shiying If she wins the championship, she will become the first Chinese women's javelin thrower in the "Grand Slam".
In terms of race walking, mother athlete Liu Hong continues to compete in the women's 20 kilometers. She is already an Olympic champion and world championship champion, and her mentality will be better. And Qieyang Shijie, who won the London Olympics race walking gold medal 10 years later, is my country's first Tibetan athlete to win an Olympic championship; she is also the first Olympic champion in Qinghai. She will compete in the new 35-kilometer walking race at this World Championships.
There are also many projects that the Chinese delegation may "stand on". Three Chinese people participated in the men's triple jump, giving them a group advantage. Tokyo Olympics Zhu Yaming won the runner-up in this project. In the men's 4X100m event, the Chinese team won the bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics. This time, the six people led by Su Bingtian will continue to attack the medal. With the Asian record of 9.83 seconds set at the Tokyo Olympics, Su Bingtian is the only Chinese athlete to participate in the men's 100m individual event.
As for the more popular marathon, following the full participation of 6 people in the Tokyo Olympics, 5 of them participated this time, namely male runners Dong Guojian , Peng Jianhua , Yang Shaohui ; female runners Zhang Deshun and Li Zhixuan .
Benefited from complete training and logistical support, in addition to the large troops departing from China, some of the Chinese delegation trained in the United States, such as Xie Zhenye; some set out from Europe, such as the men's triple jump and some men's long jump, Women's pole vault athletes.
The oldest sport: Shanghai has a heritage.
Track and field is known as the "Mother of Sports". It is one of the oldest sports and was included in the first Olympic Games. It is a major gold medalist in the Olympic Games. The World Athletics Championships have been held since 1983, initially every four years, and then every two years since 1991.
Shanghai athletes have a close relationship with the World Athletics Championships. In 1983, Shanghai's Zhu Jianhua won the bronze medal in the men's high jump, becoming the first Chinese athlete to win a World Championships medal. Liu Xiang is the "Grand Slam" of men's 110-meter hurdles . Among them, he created "nine miracles" at the 2007 World Championships and won his first World Championship gold medal in 12.95 seconds. Liu Xiang ran a "PB" of 12.87 seconds in Eugene in 2012, but the wind was 2.4 meters/second, so the result was not considered a record.
There are many Shanghai athletes participating in this World Athletics Championships. Song Jiayuan is one of the three-person Chinese women's shot put team. She has thrown 20 meters away twice this year. The 110-meter hurdles is a traditional track and field event in Shanghai. It has maintained its "eight consecutive championships" in the National Games. This time, Xie Wenjun was the only player to meet the standard. Female high jumper Lu Jiawen was born in 2002. She won the gold medal at the Shaanxi National Games last year and continues to rise. Women's marathon runner Li Zhixuan and coach Li Guoqiang went to the United States in advance for training.
At the 2019 Doha World Championships, the Chinese team won 3 golds, 3 silvers and 3 bronzes, the best in all previous World Championships since 1993 when they won 4 golds. The Chinese delegation to this World Championships sent many young players, including 11 "post-00s" players, accounting for 21% of the delegation; the average age is 26 years old. Obviously, the Chinese delegation is both based on the present and focused on the future.
About the author:
Chen Guoqiang, male, associate professor at Shanghai Institute of Sport , master's tutor, Ph.D. in journalism and communication. Member of the Press Committee of the Chinese Athletics Association
Column editor: Chen Hua Text editor: Chen Hua Source of title and picture: IAAF official website
In-text illustrations: Xinhua News Agency etc. Source: Author: Chen Guoqiang
