Yang Jiayu wins 20km race walking championship

Yang Jiayu, a 21-year-old walker from Inner Mongolia, won the women’s 20km race walking championship in a time of 1hr 28min 29sec at the National Games in Tianjin on Sept 3.

Earlier in August, Yang took 1:26:18 to win gold at women’s 20km of the 2017 IAAF World Championships in London, edging out Rio Games silver medalist Maria Guadalupe Gonzalez from Mexico who settled for the silver at a time of 1:26:19.

In London, Yang stunned everyone to lift the title in a personal best time while her well-known teammate Lyu Xiuzhi, the Rio Olympic bronze medalist and Beijing worlds runner-up, was disqualified meters from the finish line.

Yang Jiayu (middle) in action during women’s 20km race walking at 13th National Games in Tianjin on Sept 3, 2017. [Photo/nmgnews.com.cn]