The Chinese delegation held a mobilization meeting on July 31 in London before the IAAF World Championships. (Xinhua/Han Yan)
LONDON, Aug. 2 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese athletics team have the potential to win three titles at the London World Championships, and they also hope to make an impression in the blue ribbon 100m as well as the relay event.
Gong Lijiao won the title in the IAAF Diamond League Paris last month, the 28-years-old has shown good form this season. (Xinhua/Chen Yichen)
Shotput has been a very small sport back in China but here in London it may well bring glory for the country. The big question is, after six major silver or bronze medals since the 2008 Olympic Games, can Gong Lijiao finally win her first major title in London?
One has to wait until Aug. 9 to know the answer, but Gong clearly stands a good chance. With archrivals reigning champion Christina Schwanitz and four-time champion Valerie Adams both skipping the world championships, the 28-year-old becomes the hot favorite.
The men's and women's 20km race walk may also turn out to be exciting events for the Chinese although well accomplished Chinese champions are absent from the championships.
Wang Kaihua was the gold medalist of 20km event in 2016 Chinese National Walk Race Championships. (Xinhua/Lian Zhen)
Rio Olympics gold medallist Wang Zhen and silver medal winner Cai Zelin will not show up in the men's 20km as young star Wang Kaihua, who was in the subsititute roster for the 2016 Rio Olympics, will try his luck in London.
With a world lead and personal best time of 1:17:54 set in March, the 23-year-old is regarded as a title hopeful but without much major competition experience.
For the first time since 2007, Liu Hong will be missing from the women's 20km walk at the world championships. With Rio Olympics title and 2015 Beijing worlds gold in hand, the 30-year-old Liu will gave way to younger talents.
Lyu Xiuzhi (right) won the bronze medal at the Rio Olympics last year. With the Rio champion Liuhong (right) missing from the world championships this year, Lyu now has the chance to capture the gold. (Xinhua/Ren Zhenglai)
Rio's bronze medalist Lyu Xiuzhi now has the opportunity to change her Beijing worlds silver to gold in London while Wang Na and Yang Jiayu give more depth to the Chinese race walking team.
The men's 100m will be another star event for the Chinese to watch, not just because the fastest man on earth Usain Bolt promised to be "unbeatable" at his London swan song but also because the country of 1.3 billion are eager to know whether their top sprinter Su Bingtian will once again make it to the final as he did two years ago in Beijing, a groundbreaking act in Chinese men's sprint history.
After the 100m, Su will team up with Xie Zhenye, Zhang Peimeng and another runner who is yet to be decided to run the 4x100m relay in a hope to replicate their success in Beijing, where the Chinese relay team pulled off a silver medal to write history. However, it will be a daunting task for them this time as Jamaica, the United States and South Africa all pose as extremely strong opponents in the field.
