JUMPING for JOY

It has been over a decade in the making, forged by sweat and pain, but Wu Ruiting can now proudly call himself an Asian record-holder.

Representing his native Guangdong province, veteran triple jumper Wu drew international attention to the Chinese National Championships on Monday after, on his fourth attempt in the final, he sailed 17.68 meters to win his third national title and break the 16-year-old men's Asian record by nine centimeters.

After building an early lead with a strong 17.41m effort in the second round before fouling in the third, Wu executed a near-flawless jump on his next try to secure his win, while rewriting the former continental mark of 17.59m set by his retired compatriot Li Yanxi at the 2009 Chinese National Games.

Wu's leap on Monday, had it been achieved a year earlier, would've placed him third on the Olympic podium in Paris.

His new Asian record distance now ranks third on this season's world list, trailing only Italian jumper Andy Diaz Hernandez's two indoor results in March — a 17.80m leap to claim the World Indoor Championships title in Nanjing, and 17.71m to win the European indoor title in the Netherlands.

Tokyo 2020 Olympic silver medalist Zhu Yaming of Liaoning province secured second place with a season-best 17.37m, while Ma Yinglong of Shandong province finished third at 16.77m.

Both Wu and Zhu have met the 17.22m qualification benchmark for the 2025 World Athletics Championships, which will be held in September in Tokyo.

Reflecting on his surprising feat, achieved after enduring a long injury break, the 29-year-old couldn't hold back his emotions.

"I have been aiming for the Asian record for more than 10 years. Today, I finally achieved it," said an emotional Wu, with tears in his eyes, during his post-final interview at the championships in Quzhou, Zhejiang province.

"If you truly understand the triple jump, you'll know how hard it is — from suffering injuries and changing my technique, to seeing my performance plunge and then fighting my way back.

"I was almost ready to give up. The encouragement from my training partners with the provincial team, and the support of my coach and team officials, helped carry me to where I stand today."

Gifted with athleticism from birth, Wu began junior training in 2007 at the municipal sports school in his home town of Dongguan, and soon made his presence felt on the national stage by winning the 2015 indoor national title at 19 years old.

Leaning on his early sprint training, Wu broke onto the world stage in 2017 by winning his first international title with a 17.18m effort at the World Challenge tour in Kawasaki, Japan. He achieved his previous personal best of 17.47m at the national trials in Shenyang, Liaoning province, for the 2019 worlds, where he made it into the final and eventually finished 9th.

His smooth progression, however, hit setbacks after suffering a disappointing Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020, where he failed to reach the final, followed by injuries that sidelined him from the next two worlds in 2022 and 2023.

Now, after breaking his PB, achieved on exactly the same day (Aug 4) in 2019, Wu believes the Quzhou meet bodes well for his redemption trip to the Japanese capital next month, where he expects to prove he belongs among the world's elite at the Olympic stadium.

"After a solid winter training camp, I gradually built my confidence with improvements into the outdoor season. My performances became better and I am almost back at full capability," said Wu, whose win on Monday marked his first 17m-plus jump since 2021.

"It was my first complete meet of the outdoor season, and I gave all I have. I didn't expect such a great result, though. I am looking forward to the worlds for sure," Wu told Xinmin Evening News, a Shanghai-based newspaper.

With his sights now firmly set on the upcoming Tokyo meet, Wu will once again join forces with veteran Zhu to contend for international honors.

Zhu, a consistent elite performer with a PB of 17.57m set at the 2020 Tokyo Games, where he took silver, also won bronze at the 2022 Worlds in Eugene, Oregon, and gold at the Hangzhou 2023 Asian Games.

Earlier at the Quzhou meet, China's 17-year-old Yan Ziyi eclipsed her own U20 world record in the women's javelin by more than a meter, throwing an impressive 65.89m to clinch the national title.

Yan's victory followed another new U20 world mark set by young talent Zhang Jiale, who recorded a 77.24m toss in the women's hammer throw on Saturday to win her first national title.

"I feel I've always been explosive when I go hard in a competition, and I even blew myself away today. This progress was surprisingly good," said the 19-year-old Zhang, whose new youth mark was just 0.44 meters shy of the Asian record held by veteran Wang Zheng.

Jiang Xinyu contributed to the story.