At the
8th National Games of the People's Republic of China
8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9.
In mathematics
8 is:
* a composite number, its proper divisors being , , and . It is twice 4 or four times 2.
* a power of two, being 2 (two cubed), and is the first number of t ...
, the
athletics
Athletics may refer to:
Sports
* Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking
** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport
* Athletics (physical culture), competi ...
events were held in
Shanghai
Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...
in October 1997.
These games were marred by numerous doping affairs.
Guangxi runners
Chen Xuehui (the 800m silver medalist),
Jiang Limei (the 400m hurdles champion) and
Peng Yinghua (the 400m hurdles silver medalist) were later disqualified for doping. Sichuan long jumper
Xiong Qiying, the long jump event winner, was also tested positive.
Medal summary
Men's events
Women's events
Results
Women
100 m
Held on October 17–18.
After having clocking 10.90 seconds in the heats (setting a new area record in the process), Sichuan's
Li Xuemei
Li Xuemei (; born February 1, 1977, in Guanghan, Sichuan) is a retired Chinese sprinter. She is the fastest Asian woman in history with a personal best time of 10.79 in the 100m and a 22.01 in the 200m, both ran during the National Games of Ch ...
easily won her semi-final before smashing her record in a high-level final with a time of 10.79 seconds.
Her teammate
Liu Xiaomei, who had won the event four years before, took the silver medal in a personal best time of 10.89 seconds.
Guangxi twice Olympian veteran
Tian Yumei finished third with a time of 11.06 seconds; equaling her personal best she had set in the semi-finals.
Nineteen-year-old
Xiao Lin from Sichuan broke the Asian junior record three times. She came to Shanghai with a personal best of 11.29 seconds set in
Chengdu
Chengdu (, ; simplified Chinese: 成都; pinyin: ''Chéngdū''; Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ), alternatively romanized as Chengtu, is a sub-provincial city which serves as the capital of the Chinese pro ...
that year and improved it to 11.22 in the heats, then to 11.20 in the semi-finals and finally to 11.17 in the final.
;Semi-finals
First 4 of each heat (Q) qualified for the final.
;Final
200 m
Held on October 21–22.
Chen Yuxiang from Shandong set a new Asian junior record of 22.83 seconds in the heats and advanced to the semi-finals.
;Semi-finals
First 4 of each heat (Q) qualified for the final.
;Final
400 m
Held on October 17–18.
The final was won by
Liaoning 17-year-old
Li Jing in an astonishing time of 50.01 seconds. She beat
Grit Breuer
Grit Breuer (later Springstein, born 16 February 1972 in Röbel, Bezirk Neubrandenburg) is a German former athlete, who competed in the women's 200 metres, 400 metres, 4×100 m relay, and 4×400 m relay events.
She has received injuries a ...
's
world youth record of 50.48 seconds set in 1989 in the process.
Guangdong
Du Xiujie and Shandong
Chen Yuxiang finished respectively second and third.
Zhang Hengyun, from Jiangsu, who had finished second in the event four years before; crossed the line in fourth place, recording despite all a new personal best.
;Heats
;Final
800 m
Held between October 21–22.
;Heats
First 2 of each heat (Q) and the next 2 fastest (q) qualified for the final.
;Final
1500 m
Held on October 17–18. It primarily consisted of
Liaoning runners.
Qu Yunxia was expected to break the 3:50 bar according to her coach,
Ma Junren
Ma Junren (; born October 28, 1944) is a famous and controversial Chinese track coach. He trained several world-class middle and long distance female runners including Wang Junxia and Qu Yunxia, who hold several world records. He and his pupils a ...
. However, she fell during the final and only finished eighth. Her 20-year-old teammate
Jiang Bo eventually won the race, clocking 3:50.98, the second fastest time ever. It remains one of three times under 3:51. Less than a half second behind her, barely 18 year old
Lang Yinglai set the still standing
World Junior Record, breaking the previous record by
Lan Lixin set in the qualifying round. In fifth place, 16 year old
Zhang Ling set the still standing
World Youth Best. At the conclusion of this race, the top six all were in the top 12 in history (plus Qu in eight place still the world record holder). Since this race, only
Genzebe Dibaba
Genzebe Dibaba Keneni ( Oromo: ''Ganzabee Dibaabaa Qananii''; Amharic: ገንዘቤ ዲባባ ቀነኒ; born 8 February 1991) is an Ethiopian middle- and long-distance runner. A 1500 metres 2016 Rio Olympics silver medalist, she won a gold med ...
has run faster than any of them.
;Heats
First 5 of each heat (Q) and the next 4 fastest (q) qualified for the final.
;Final
10,000 m
Held on October 19.
;Final
100 m hurdles
Held on October 17–18.
;Heats
;Final
400 m hurdles
Held on October 21–22.
Jiang Limei and
Peng Yinghua, both from
Guangxi had respectively won the gold and the silver medals but were later disqualified after failing a doping test.
;Heats
First 2 of each heat (Q) and the next 2 fastest (q) qualified for the final.
4 × 400 m relay
Held on October 23.
;Final
* The
Guangxi team was later disqualified after the hurdlers
Peng Yinghua,
Jiang Limei and the 800 m runner
Chen Xuehui failed a doping test.
Jiangsu
Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its ca ...
was awarded the gold medal and
Sichuan
Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...
, which originally finished fourth took the bronze medal.
Heptathlon
Held on October 17–18, after a three years break, Zhejiang Chinese record holder
Ma Miaolan won her second consecutive National Games title, winning the event with a total of 6236 points. Her 16-year-old teammate
Shen Shengfei set a new World youth record to finish second, beating Sichuan's
Liu Xin by only one point.
References
;General
1997 Athletics World Rankings Lists. Tilastopaja. Retrieved on 2013-03-29.
8th National Games medallists. jx918. Retrieved on 2013-03-29.
External links
Athlestats2010.izihost.com
{{China National Games Athletics
1997
File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...
Chinese Games
Chinese culture () is one of the world's oldest cultures, originating thousands of years ago. The culture prevails across a large geographical region in East Asia and is extremely diverse and varying, with customs and traditions varying grea ...
Athletics
Athletics may refer to:
Sports
* Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking
** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport
* Athletics (physical culture), competi ...