Chinese athletics making great leaps forward

Wang Jianan's history-making leap at the world championships has confirmed China's emergence as an elite long-jump nation, with a sustainable talent program masterminded by one of the sport's leading experts reaping golden rewards.

The 25-year-old Wang won China's first gold medal in any horizontal jumping event at the senior worlds on Saturday to deliver another boost to the country's track and field community following sprinter Su Bingtian's 100m final dash at last year's Tokyo Olympics.

With an effort of 8.36 meters in the sixth and final round, Wang overtook reigning Olympic champion Miltiadis Tentoglou of Greece and Switzerland's Simon Ehammer to spring a major surprise at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.

As winner of the 2014 under-20 worlds at the same venue, Wang was over the moon to make history for his country.

"I've dreamed of this moment at least three times that I can remember. I still cannot believe what I have just achieved," said Wang, who won bronze at the 2015 worlds at the Bird's Nest in Beijing.

"I came to Eugene with the aim of making the podium. That is why I was a little disappointed after five rounds, having a best result of 8.03m.

"Seeing my final result on the screen, I couldn't believe that it was possible. Then I recognized that my gold in Eugene is the greatest achievement ever for a Chinese long jumper at the world championships.

"These thoughts made me really very proud. It looks like Eugene isn't only a lucky town for me, but something like a second home."

Guided by American Randy Huntington, a proud graduate of the University of Oregon, Wang's victory on the UO campus was a perfect birthday gift for his renowned mentor, who turns 68 on July 29.

More significantly, it provided a ringing endorsement of the high-performance program designed and overseen by Huntington over the past eight years.

Huntington, who coached men's long jump world-record holder Mike Powell (8.95m), took over China's national long jump program after being hired by the Chinese Athletics Association in 2013, and was also in charge of Su's sprint training during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic cycle.

Under the American's guidance, Su tweaked his starting technique to become the first Chinese man to run in an Olympic 100m final after clocking an Asian-record 9.83 in the semifinals in Tokyo.

Now with Wang building on that momentum, Huntington has hailed the dawning of a new era for Chinese athletics.

"The horizontal jumps in China are in pretty good shape," Huntington said of China's recent successes, which also include Zhu Yaming's silver-winning leap in the men's triple jump at Tokyo 2020.

"Now underneath them, the young kids are coming up that may be capable of rising to the same level that Jianan is in four or five years. It won't be Paris (Olympics), but probably after Paris, medal potential will be 2025 and beyond."

With full support from the CAA and the General Administration of Sport of China, Huntington's tailored programs are facilitated by the latest motion-capture technology and analysis methods to help jumpers and runners refine each and every detail of their movements.

Deconstructing Wang's successful leap in Eugene, Huntington's assistant coach Wang Guojie explained how an improvement in the connection of his run-up and takeoff has helped Wang Jianan conserve as much power as possible from his final three strides as he approaches the launch board to aid a longer glide through the air.

"Even though the effect wasn't as stable as expected, the technical adjustment of his final steps approaching the takeoff played a big role in helping him complete a successful jump," said Wang Guojie, who also serves as fitness trainer, analyst and translator on Huntington's team.

"Speed is crucial in long jump. With no speed, there is no distance," added Wang Guojie, a PhD holder in sports training from Nanjing Sports Institute. "We've had him improve that connection through separated drills during the winter training camp. We just need him to get comfortable with that and use it more in real competitions."

Huntington concurred, stressing that he expects Wang Jianan to continue to improve.

"He's definitely capable of longer jumps. Will that happen? It's going to take further refining of his technical abilities in the last six or the last three steps," said Huntington, whose star pupils also include retired jumper Li Jinzhe, a silver medalist at the 2014 world indoor championships.

"He's fast enough, speed is not his issue anymore. His power to take off maybe… It's just a work in progress.

"It's the same technical elements for the last seven years. You work on the same things over and over until you get them right. That's why I like long jumpers to take somewhere between 14 to 20 competitive efforts during year."

Wang Jianan will soon celebrate another milestone－he is due to welcome his first child into the world next month.

"I want him to really enjoy being a dad this year," said Huntington. "I'm hoping next year we can get him to Europe and get a lot more competitions in and let him feel that."