Chinese women make clean sweep of 20km walk medals
For the first time in the IAAF World Championships one nation swept all the medals in a women's race walking event.
China’s Liu Hong, Shenjie Qieyang and Liujing Yang celebrate their podium finish in the 20km race walk at the IAAF World Championships in Doha on Sunday. Photo: Getty Images for IAAFChinese women created history by sweeping all the medals at stake in the 20km race walk at the IAAF World Championships in Doha on Sunday night.
The 32-year-old Liu Hong, who is back in competition after a two-year maternity break, claimed her third World Championship title, with a dominant display at the Doha Corniche.
China’s Liu Hong crosses the finish line in the 20km race walk at the IAAF World Championships in Doha on Sunday. Photo: Getty Images for IAAFLiu clocked 1hr 32 min 54sec while her compatriots Shenjie Qieyang (1:33:10) and Liujing Yang (1:33:17) ran her close to make it a historic 1-2-3 for China.
It was the first time that one country swept all the medals in a women’s race walking event at the World Championships.
Liu had earlier won the gold medals in the same event at the 2011 and 2015 World Championships.
Despite the 31 degree Celsius heat and 75 per cent humidity, 38 of the 46 walkers completed the race.
