MONTE CARLO, Monaco, Nov. 24 (Xinhua) -- With the World Championships title and IAAF Diamonmd League trophy added to her honor collection, Chinese shot putter Gong Lijiao chose to only give 90 points out of 100 to her unbeaten season of 2017.
"The results are satisfactory but the winning marks are not as good as I expected. That's why the remaining 10 points are missing," the 28-year-old explained when attending the IAAF Athletics Awards 2017 ceremony here on Friday.
It is a season of breakthroughs for Gong, who claimed the first world title in the sixth edition of World Championships she competed in. She also become the first Chinese to win a Diamond League trophy in August with victories in Shanghai, Rome, Paris and Zurich. In the following month, Gong wrapped up her unbeaten season with the third consecutive gold medal at the National Games.
Her season best mark is 20.11 meters set in July, 32-centimeter shy of her career best of 20.43m achieved in last season.
"The 2018 Asian Games will the the most important competition for me next year. And I am also looking forward to the 2019 World Championships as well as the Olympic Games in 2020. Hopefully, I can be able to maintain my good form in 2017," Gong said.
The awarding ceremony on Friday saw Qatar's Mutaz Essa Barshim and Belgium's Nafissatou Thiam named as Male and Female Athlete of the Year respectively, while retired sprinting legend Usain Bolt of Jamaica received the IAAF President's Award to honor his legendary career.
