In a spectacular season opener at the Diamond League in Xiamen, Fujian Province in the southeast Chinese mainland, long jumper Zhang Mingkun lit up the arena with an 8.18-meter leap. "It was my first time in Xiamen and competing in such a high-level event. I didn't jump well initially, but luckily I found my rhythm on the fifth attempt," Zhang said.
The competition delivered thrilling moments across multiple events. In the men's triple jump, Olympic silver medalist Zhu Yaming settled for silver with a 17.03-meter jump, as Jamaica's Jordan Scott soared ahead with a personal-best of 17.27 meters.
Home favorites continued to impress in field events. In the women's javelin, Su Lingdan earned bronze with a 61.62-meter throw, while Greek athlete Elina Tzengko set an event record at 64.75 meters to claim gold. Similarly, veteran shot putter Gong Lijiao recorded a season-best toss of 19.62 meters to win bronze, with Dutch competitor Jessica Schilder taking the top honor at 20.47 meters.
The track action was just as riveting. Chinese hurdler Liu Junxi clocked a personal best of 13.24 seconds in the men's 110m hurdles, even though USA's Tinch Cordell edged him out with a time of 13.06 seconds. In the women's 200m, 16-year-old Chen Yujie made a dazzling debut, setting a new Asian youth record with a time of 22.99 seconds 💥.
South African sprinter Akani Simbine powered to victory in the men's 100m with a blazing 9.99 seconds, while home favorite Xie Zhenye recorded a season-best 10.23 seconds. The excitement carried on into the men's 300m hurdles, where Norway's Karsten Warholm delivered a world best time of 33.05 seconds, followed by strong performances from Brazil's Matheus Lima and Japan's Ken Toyoda 🏃♂️💨.
In the pole vault, Sweden's world record holder Armand Duplantis defended his title with a height of 5.92 meters despite challenging wind conditions. Fellow vaulters Greece's Emmanouil Karalis and the Netherlands' Menno Vloon also made it to the podium with heights of 5.82 meters.
In the women's high jump, Ukraine's Yaroslava Mahuchikh claimed the title by clearing 1.97 meters, even after failing at 2.03 meters, with Australia's Eleanor Patterson and Nicola Olyslagers closely following at 1.94 meters.
Rounding off the day, three-time Olympic champion Faith Kipyegon of Kenya powered through the women's 1,000m in 2:29.32, just 0.23 seconds shy of the world record. A week filled with record-breaking performances and personal bests left fans buzzing and set an inspiring tone for the season.
Reference(s):
China's Zhang Mingkun wins men's long jump at Diamond League in Xiamen
cgtn.com
