Wang Zhen (; born 24 August 1991) is a Chinese

race walker Racewalking, or race walking, is a long-distance discipline within the sport of athletics. Although a foot race, it is different from running in that one foot must appear to be in contact with the ground at all times. Referee, Race judges careful ...

who specialises in the 10 kilometres and

20 kilometres race walk The 20 kilometre race walk is an Olympic Games, Olympic athletics (sport), athletics event that is competed by both men and women. The racewalking event is competed as a road race. Athletes must always keep in contact with the ground and the supp ...

. He holds the senior Asian record for the 20 km with his time of 1:17:36 hours and is also the Asian, Chinese and junior world record holder over 10 km. He was the bronze medallist over 20 km at the

2012 London Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

and the gold medallist at the

2016 Rio Olympics ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) , opening = 5 August 2016 , closing = 21 August 2016 , opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer , cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro de ...

Career

Born in

Suihua Suihua () is a prefecture-level city in west-central Heilongjiang province, People's Republic of China, adjacent to Yichun to the east, Harbin, the provincial capital, to the south, Daqing to the west and Heihe to the north. It has 3,756,167 inha ...

, Wang began competing at the top level of the sport in 2008 and won the junior 30 km walk at the Chinese national race walking championships, finishing in 2:08:46. He competed in his first

50 kilometres race walk The 50 kilometre race walk was an Olympic athletics event that first appeared in 1932 and made its final Olympic appearance in 2021. The racewalking event is competed as a road race. Athletes must always keep in contact with the ground and the ...

the year after at the 2009 Chinese National Games. The sixteen-year-old Wang managed sixth place in 3:53:00. He took to the major international circuit the next year – the

2010 IAAF World Race Walking Challenge The 2010 IAAF Race Walking Challenge was the eighth edition of the annual international racewalking series organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). Ten meetings are scheduled for the competition: the 2010 IAAF Wor ...

. At the Gran Premio Città di Lugano Memorial Albisetti he finished in sixth place, and then he walked to a personal best of 1:20:42 in the 20 km race at the Grande Premio Internacional en Marcha Atletica in

Rio Maior Rio Maior () is a municipality in the Santarém District in Portugal. The population in 2011 was 21,192, in an area of 272.76 km². The present mayor is Isaura Morais of the Social Democratic Party (PSD), the first woman to be elected mayor ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

– a time worth third place at the meeting. He was seventh at the

Coppa Città di Sesto San Giovanni The Coppa Città di Sesto San Giovanni is an annual racewalking competition that takes place on 1 May in Sesto San Giovanni in Italy. It is an elite level event which features a men's and a women's race in the 20 kilometres race walk. Organised b ...

in May, and managed 21st place over 20 km at the

2010 IAAF World Race Walking Cup The 2010 IAAF World Race Walking Cup was held on 15 and 16 May 2010 in the streets of Chihuahua, Mexico.2010 IAAF Race Walking Challenge Final 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1 ...

and the race proved to be one of the quickest of all-time, with four men walking 38 minutes and under. Wang Hao was the home favourite for the race in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, but it was Wang Zhen who topped the podium. He finished the race in 37:44 minutes (the joint second fastest mark of all-time with

Erik Tysse Erik Tysse (born 4 December 1980 in Bergen) is a Norwegian race walker. He has competed at four editions of the World Championships in Athletics and represented Norway at the 2008 Summer Olympics and at the 2012 Summer Olympics. He began his inte ...

) which was a new Asian record, as well as being the world junior record for the distance. He began his 2011 with a win at the Memorial Mario Albisetti in March and then in

Taicang Taicang is a county-level city under the jurisdiction of Suzhou, Jiangsu province, China. The city located in the south of the Yangtze River estuary opposite Nantong, being bordered by Shanghai proper to the south, while the river also delineates ...

in April, twice improving his personal best to end with a 20 km record of 1:18:30 hours. He won 20 km walks in Dublin and London before going on to take fourth place that was retroactively upgraded to silver due to doping by the original gold and silver medallists in the event at the

2011 World Championships in Athletics The 13th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () was an international athletics competition that was held in Daegu, South Korea. It started on 27 August 2011 and finished on 4 September 2011. The United States topped the medal standings in th ...

. He ended the year with a runner-up finish behind

Valeriy Borchin Valeriy Viktorovich Borchin (russian: Вале́рий Ви́кторович Бо́рчин; born 11 September 1986) is a race walker from Russia who won the 2008 Olympic gold medal and was World champion over the 20 km distance. His Worl ...

at the

2011 IAAF World Race Walking Challenge The 2011 IAAF Race Walking Challenge was the 9th edition of the annual international race walking competition organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). Ten meetings were scheduled for the competition: the race wal ...

Final. His first race of 2012 was in Taicang and he broke the Asian record with a time of 1:17:36 hours – almost a minute improvement on his best. He was chosen for the Chinese Olympic team and went on to secure the bronze medal in the 20 km walk. Finishing behind

Chen Ding Chen Ding (; born August 5, 1992, in Baoshan, Yunnan, China) is a Chinese racewalker who won a gold medal in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom. He finished the race in 1:18:46, a new Olympic record. He also won a gold medal in ...

, he shared the honour of winning China's first ever Olympic medals in the event. He broke the Asian 10,000 m track walk record at the Chinese University Games later that year, knocking over half a minute of the former record with a time of 38:30.38 minutes. His 2013 began with a win at the Memorial Albisetti.Chinese walkers stroll off with two victories in Lugano
. IAAF (2013-03-17). Retrieved on 2013-03-24. He won the gold medal in 20 km race walk at the

on 12 Aug. 2016.

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wang, Zhen 1991 births Living people Chinese male racewalkers People from Suihua Olympic athletes of China Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics 2016 Olympic gold medalists for China Olympic bronze medalists for China Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Asian Games gold medalists for China Asian Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 2014 Asian Games Athletes from Heilongjiang World Athletics Championships athletes for China World Athletics Championships medalists Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) Olympic male racewalkers Medalists at the 2014 Asian Games World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships winners

Career

See also

References

External links