Liu Hong (racewalker)

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Liu Hong
Personal information
NationalityChinese
Born (1987-05-12) 12 May 1987 (age 36)
Anfu County, China
Height1.60 m (5 ft 3 in)
Weight50 kg (110 lb)
Sport
CountryChina
SportAthletics
Event20km race walk
Medal record
Women's athletics
Representing  China
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place
2016 Rio de Janeiro
20 km walk
Silver medal – second place
2012 London
20 km walk
Bronze medal – third place
2020 Tokyo
20 km walk
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2011 Daegu 20 km walk
Gold medal – first place 2013 Moscow 20 km walk
Gold medal – first place 2015 Beijing 20 km walk
Gold medal – first place 2019 Doha 20 km walk
Silver medal – second place 2009 Berlin 20 km walk
Asian Games
Gold medal – first place 2006 Doha 20 km walk
Gold medal – first place 2010 Guangzhou 20 km walk

Liu Hong (simplified Chinese: 刘虹; traditional Chinese: 劉虹; pinyin: líu hóng; born 12 May 1987) is a Chinese race walker. She is the world record holder over the Olympic 20 km distance with a time of 1:24:38 hours, set in 2015.

Liu has won multiple medals in the

World Junior Champion
in 2006.

Career

She first came to prominence by winning the

2008 Beijing Olympics. However, since Russia's Olga Kaniskina was disqualified in March 2016 for doping, Liu is expected to be awarded the bronze medal. She secured her first major medal at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics, taking the bronze medal. Later that year she took the national title at the 11th Chinese National Games.[1]

Liu retained her title at the

2011 racewalking circuit at the Memorial Mario Albisetti.[3] She followed this with a win in Taicang, equalling her personal best in the process.[4] A third circuit win came in Dublin that year. She won the gold medal at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics. Liu broke the Asian record for the 20 km walk in Taicang in 2012, defeating Wang Yan's decade-old record with a time of 1:25:46 hours.[5]

She placing third behind

Qieyang Shenjie who also broke her Asian record, at the 2012 London Olympics. Liu won at the 2012 IAAF World Race Walking Challenge Final, however, and defeated Qieyang en route to breaking Jin Bingjie's 22-year-old Asian record for the 5000 m walk at the Chinese University Games.[6] She set an event record in her first race of 2013, winning the Memorial Albisetti in a time of 1:27:06 hours.[7]

She broke the world record for the 20 km walk at the Gran Premio Cantones de La Coruña. Taking advantage of warm conditions, she completed the distance in 1:24:38 hours, walking the second 10 km faster than the first, to improve the world record by 24 seconds. This was the fastest time ever, also beating Olimpiada Ivanova and Olga Kaniskina's times that were not ratified as records due to a lack of international judges.[8]

After testing positive for higenamine in May 2016, she was banned from 13 June to 13 July 2016.[9][10]

She won the gold medal with 1:28:35 in women's 20 km walk at

Rio Olympic Games
on 19 August 2016.

After a year off competition to have a baby, in 2019 she became the first woman ever to finish the 50 kilometer walk in less than four hours, finishing in 3 hours, 59 minutes and 15 seconds at the Chinese Race Walk Grand Prix.[11]

Later that year, she won her third gold medal in the 20 km walk at the

2019 World Championships in Athletics in Doha, Qatar.[12]

International competitions

Year Competition Venue Position Event Notes
Representing  China
2006 World Junior Championships Beijing, China 1st 10,000 m 45:12.84
World Race Walking Cup A Coruña, Spain 6th 20 km 1:28:59
Asian Games Doha, Qatar 1st 20 km
1:32.19
2007 World Championships Osaka, Japan 19th 20 km
1:36:40
2008 Olympic Games Beijing, China 4th 20 km 1:27:17
2009 World Championships Berlin, Germany 2nd 20 km 1:29:10
2010 World Race Walking Cup
Chihuahua
, Mexico
13th 20 km 1:36:34
Asian Games Guangzhou, China 1st 20 km 1:30:06
2011 World Championships Daegu, South Korea 1st 20 km 1:30:00
2012 Olympic Games London, United Kingdom 2nd 20 km 1:26:00
2013 World Championships Moscow, Russia 1st 20 km 1:28:10
2014 World Race Walking Cup Taicang, China 2nd 20 km 1:26:58
2015 World Championships Beijing, China 1st 20 km 1:27:45
2016 Olympic Games Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 1st 20 km 1:28:35
2019
World Championships
Doha, Qatar 1st 20 km
1:32:53
2021 Olympic Games Tokyo, Japan 3rd 20 km 1:29:57

References

  1. IAAF
    . Retrieved on 23 March 2011.
  2. IAAF
    (22 November 2010). Retrieved on 23 March 2011.
  3. IAAF
    . Retrieved on 23 March 2011.
  4. Xinhua
    . Retrieved on 24 April 2011.
  5. ^ Jalava, Mirko (30 March 2012). Asian records fall in Taicang Race Walking Challenge. IAAF. Retrieved on 3 April 2012.
  6. ^ Jalava, Mirko (18 September 2012). Walking records galore at China’s National University Games. IAAF. Retrieved on 27 January 2013.
  7. ^ Chinese walkers stroll off with two victories in Lugano. IAAF (17 March 2013). Retrieved on 24 March 2013.
  8. ^ Liu breaks 20km race walk world record in La Coruna. IAAF (6 June 2015). Retrieved on 6 June 2015.
  9. ^ Liu banned for one month in 2016. TrackArena.com(27 July 2016). Retrieved on 1 August 2016.
  10. ^ Liu banned for one month in 2016 II. Athletics Weekly. Retrieved on 1 August 2016.
  11. ^ "Liu Hong of China sets WR in women's 50K race walk". Associated Press. 9 March 2019.
  12. ^ China sweeps podium in women's 20 km race walk Euronews

External links