Yearender: Chinese Running Coaches Vow to Step out of Ma's Shadow

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, December 26, 2002

Yearender: Chinese Running Coaches Vow to Step out of Ma's Shadow

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In a year without Olympic Games or World Championships, the paramount priority for the Chinese Athletics Association (CAA) was not to win titles, but to find a national coach that can guide Chinese athletes to win gold medals in Athens Olympics and beyond.

But that's more difficult than producing a world champion because Chinese coaches from track and field, especially long-distance running, is still living in the shadow of legendary coach Ma Junren.

His once all-conquering Ma's Family Army might have become history, but the aura over Ma's head remains and still imposes great pressure on Chinese track and field.

Fortunately, nine years after Ma's protegees shocked the world by winning three gold medals in the Stuttgart World Championships in 1993, several young coaches have had the courage and confidence to stand out, vowing to lift the world's most populous country to a new level in the coming Olympic Games.

Last November, Chinese middle and long distance running coaches gathered here to run for the head coach of the Chinese national team in CAA's first-ever open contest. Every coach is allowed to apply for the post as long as he or she fills a form and recommended by his or her working department.

Four coaches contested for the post in front of a total of 12 officials and experts, and each of them delivered a one-hour speech to define their objectives, approaches and qualifications.

Wang Dexian, who guided Sun Yingjie to titles of women's 5,000mand 10,000m at Busan Asian Games in October, and Hu Rong, a coach for 20 years in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, were voted joint head coaches of the national team.

Wang and Hu will work separately, with Wang's training camp setup in Qinghuangdao, about 200 kilometers away from Beijing, and Hu's in Beijing.

"My goal is to win at least one bronze medal in 2004 Athens Olympic Games," Wang said. "And in the 2008 Games, I hope we can have several athletes like Sun Yingjie."

Wang said he will focus his attention on selecting women's running talents nationwide but dismissed any links between him and Ma Junren.

He said: "My training methods are very different from Ma's. I don't believe turtle blood. I think only hard working and Chinese traditional medicine can help you win gold medals."

However, Wang has a long way to go before convincing the doubters that his way can work better than Ma's turtle blood and one marathon-a-day training method.

But possibility is there. His student Sun Yingjie has proved she is the best women's long distance runner after Ma's Family Army broke up. Besides two gold medals in the Asian Games, she also finished fourth in the prestigious Boston Marathon last April. Her winning time of 30 minutes 28.26 seconds in the 10,000 meters in Busan was the world's second best this year.

Sun said in Busan she will try to win three gold medals in Athens Olympics in 5,000m, 10,000m and marathon. His coach Wang is even more optimistic about her. "I expect her to break a world record before 2004."

Sun is not the only medal hope for China in Athens. A few other young stars also emerged in the year's IAAF Grand Prix meets.

Liu Xiang, 19, finished fourth in the men's 110m hurdles in Lausanne, Switzerland and broke world youth record with 13.12 seconds. Huang Qiuyan stunned the field of eight by winning the women's long jump event in the Rome Golden League.

Women's hammer thrower Gu Yuan claimed the title for Asian and China in the World Cup at Madrid with 71.10 meters.

In the Asian Games, China won a total of 15 gold medals from track and field, consolidating their status as Asia's number one track and field power. But how far are they away from once dominating Ma's era, maybe Wang and his newly-built national team know that. Or maybe not.

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