TAICANG, China, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Olympic silver medalist Qieyang Shijie and Asian Games champion Wang Kaihua claimed a Chinese sweep at the IAAF Race Walking Challenge here on Saturday.
Qieyang, China's first Tibetan Olympic medalist, dominated the women's 20km race in one hour and 28 minutes, beating her Chinese compatriot Yang Jiayu by 16 seconds. World record holder Liu Hong took the third place in 1:28:22.
"Today's race was really tough. I knew they were well trained. And this put great pressure on me, so I dared not slow down," Qieyang said. "I trained very hard and the winner should definitely be me."
Wang Kaihua dipped under 1:20:00 in the men's 20km, crossing the finish line in 1:19:48 ahead of his compatriot and Olympic silver medalist Cai Zelin (1:20:13).
Caio Oliveira de Sena Bonfim of Brazil, who scored a 1:22:16 victory in 2017 in Taicang, finished third in 1:20:37, while China's Yin Jiaxing and Gao Wenkui both lagged 4 seconds further behind to finish fourth and fifth.
Chen Ding, who won the men's 20km gold medal at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, also returned to Taicang leg and finished the 26th.
