(From R to L) Champion team China's Liang Rui, Yin Hang, Li Maocuo and Ma Faying pose on the podium during the awarding ceremony for the women's 50km competition at the IAAF World Race Walking Team Championships Taicang 2018 in Taicang, east China's Jiangsu Province, May 5, 2018.(Xinhua/Ji Chunpeng)
TAICANG, China, May 5 (Xinhua) -- Hosts China dominated the first competition day at the 2018 IAAF World Race Walking Team Championships here on Saturday as they won three team and two individual gold medals with Liang Rui breaking the women's 50-kilometer world record.
The 23-year-old Liang improved the previous world record of 4:05:56, set by Ines Henriques of Portugal at last year's World Championships in London, by one minute and 20 seconds to take the individual gold. It was only the first 50km race for Liang from Henan Province, as she never raced beyond 35km before.
"This is my first 50km race. I did not expect that I can achieve such a good result. I am satisfied with my performance today. During the race I chose to follow the others first to save energy and then wait for the right moment to break away," Liang said.
"It was after I passed 40km that I realized I could break the world record. At that time I felt I still had energy in reserve and could speed up further."
Liang's teammate Yin Hang finished second in 4:09:09, the second silver medal achieved by the 21-year-old in major international competitions following her runner-up finish at the London worlds last August.
Australia's Claire Tallent, wife of the men's 50km world champion Jared Tallent, took the third place with a continental record of 4:09:33.
Thanks to the oustanding performances from Liang, Yin as well as the fifth finisher Ma Faying, China won the team gold too, with Ecuador and Ukraine taking the silver and bronze medals, respectively.
In the under-20 men's 10km race, China once again showed their dominance in front of the cheerful home supporters. World U18 champion Zhang Yao led a one-two finish individually to clinch a team title for the hosts.
Zhang's winning time is 40:07, five seconds ahead of teammate Wang Zhaozhao. Jose Eduardo Ortiz of Guatemala finished third in 40:17.
In the team standings, Japan and Australia finished second and third respectively.
The men's 50km race was dominated by Japan, who complete a podium finish with pre-match favorite Hirooki Arai leading all the way from the start to nail the 3:44:31 victory. His compatriot Hayato Katsuki and Satoshi Maruo took the silver and bronze medals.
It is the first time for the Japanese team to win a gold medal at the biyearly tournament, and they also notched the team title, followed by Ukraine and Poland in the seond and third place.
The women's 20km is the last event of the day. Defending champion Maria Guadalupe Gonzalez of Mexico staged a spotless performance to claim her second consecutive title in 1:26:38.
China's Qieyang Shijie notched the silver in 1:27:06, while her teammate Yang Jiayu, who was the 2017 world champion, settled for the third place in 1:27:22.
Although missing the individual gold, the hosts still managed to take the team gold. And the silver went to the Italian team, who narrowly edged out Spain.
The second and last comeptition day will witness men's 20km and U20 women's 10km events on Sunday.
