By Sportswriters Wang Zijiang and Xiao Chunfei

    DOHA, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- With Olympic champion Xing Huina absent for injuries and Sun Yingjie, double gold medalist in the Busan Asian Games, serving a two-year suspension for doping, few had expected Chinese women to run fast in the long-distance events in Doha.

    But little-known Xue Fei surprised all in winning China a precious gold medal in the women's 5,000 meters Monday night.

    The 17-year-old, who was making her first Asian Games appearance, clocked 15 minutes 14.12 seconds, beating Japan's KayoSugihara (15:40.87) and Indian Jaisha Orchatteri (15:41.91).

    The trio ran down like a troika into the final lap, but Xue hurtled up in the last few steps to shake loose from Sugihara and Orchatteri.

    "With about 50 meters left to run, I realized I could win the race," said Xue, the 5,000m winner at the world youth championships last August.

    Xue's only previous international experience was in the youth championships held in Beijing last summer, where she shocked the field to win the 5,000m title in a personal best time of 15:31.46.

    "I rated my performance as 90 points out of 100," Xue said after winning the race at the Khalifa Stadium. "I have suffered a slight injury, so I failed to run my best time."

    The Asian Games was usually the first step for Chinese athletes to find global fame. It was the case for Liu Xiang and Sun Yingjie, and maybe this time for Xue.

    Liu Xiang began to get known to the world in the Busan Asiad, winning the men's 110m hurdles in 13.27. He went on to claim a bronze in the 2003 world championships in Paris and then the Olympic champion in Athens.

    Sun completed a gold double in Busan and then got a bronze in the Paris world championships. Her best performance in the international arena was a gold medal win in the world half marathon championships in 2004.

    Unfortunately, Sun, 10 years senior to Xue, failed a drug test late last year and was banned from competition for two years.

    Sun used to be China's hope to bring the nation back to a dominant position in the women's long-distance events. Led by controversial coach Ma Junren, Chinese women smashed all the world records from 3000m to 10,000m, taking four gold medals in the 1993world championships in Stuttgart, Germany.

    But Ma's family army broke up following a row over prize money, and only Wang Junxia survived and grabbed the women's 5000m gold in the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games.

    Wang is still Xue's idol, although she was only seven when Wang was jogging a victory lap in Atlanta's stadium with a national flag.

    "I love this sport," Xue said. "I hope to emulate Wang's achievement in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. After the wins at the world youth championships and Asian Games, I am getting more and more confident."

    Xue will celebrate her 19th birthday on August 8, 2008, when the Olympic Games will open in Beijing.

    Although it is still too early to say whether she can win the gold in Beijing's Olympic Stadium, but she has brought the country some hope of finding back their once glittering past.

    "She is very bright," Feng Shuyong, head coach of Chinese national track and field team. "Hopefully she might give us a surprise in the Beijing Olympics."