China's marathon runs on a fast track of development

In recent years, China has witnessed a steady growth in the number of professional marathon runners and a rising frequency in favorable results and titles won at various competitions.

The number of registered middle-and long-distance runners in China in 2021 added up to 5,160, an increase of 1,031 from 4,129 in 2020, according to recent statistics. Statistics also indicate that a total of roughly 1,900 individual running races, with each race having more than 800 participants, were hosted across China in 2019, with a total of 7.2 million runners in all.

At the recently-concluded 2021 Xuzhou Marathon held on April 11 in east China's Jiangsu province, a race which also served as the country's qualifying event for the Tokyo Olympics Games, six athletes won the tickets to the Tokyo Olympic Games this summer.

The mass start of men's race in Xuzhou Marathon on April 11, 2021. (Xinhua/Li Bo)

The expected performance of Chinese marathon runners at the Tokyo Games is worth one’s anticipation, as 20 of the runners fielded by the country have met the notoriously strict entry standards required by the Games’ organizers, with 12 of them having already made their mark at the Xuzhou Marathon.

As Chinese runners who finished a marathon race in less than 2 hours and 10 minutes during the 2020 marathon season, Peng Jianhua, Yang Shaohui, Duo Bujie and Chen Tianyu were awarded a bonus of 100,000 yuan (about $15,370) each in a campaign jointly launched by the Chinese Athletics Association and a domestic sportswear brand, Xtep, in December 2019, which aims to enhance the competitiveness of Chinese marathon runners and train more talented teenage runners.

"Over the past five years, the number of male marathon runners completing the race within 2 hours and 20 minutes, and female marathon runners completing the race within 2 hours and 40 minutes, has steadily increased in China, with the biggest increase seen in 2020," said Ding Shuibo, special vice-president of the Chinese Athletics Association and also the CEO of Xtep.

Thanks to the campaign, China has made significant strides in its long-term basic work within the domain of marathon races and similar events over the past years, noted Tian Xiaojun, vice chairman of the Chinese Athletics Association.

"Athletes who have achieved good results have been encouraged accordingly," explained Tian, noting that Chinese athletes have been gradually cultivated with an international vision, while their willpower has been continually strengthened.