| Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, November 19, 2001 |
Ma's Army Snatches Two Athletic Golds |
 Lin Na, 21, clocked 4 minutes and 7.06 seconds in women's 1,500meters to reign, and the 22-year-old Gong Ke beat 17 opponents to win men's 10,000 meters at 28:59.21, they won the titles of women's 1,500-meter and men's 10,000-meter events, respectively at China's Ninth National Games Sunday in Guangzhou.
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Gong Ke wins men's 10,000 meters
Lin Na and Gong Ke Won Golds at Track Events
Lin Na, 21, clocked 4 minutes and 7.06 seconds in women's 1,500meters to reign, and the 22-year-old Gong Ke beat 17 opponents to win men's 10,000 meters at 28:59.21, they won the titles of women's 1,500-meter and men's 10,000-meter events, respectively at China's Ninth National Games Sunday in Guangzhou.
By grabbing the two golds on the track at the games, the famed coach Ma Junren and his prot��g��s proved their strength to the public in the middle- and long-distance running.
Lin Na and Gong Ke are the two athletes from Northeast China's Liaoning squad, known as "Ma's Army,".
Ma's Army Has Won Four Gold Medals
By now Ma's Army has snatched four gold medals in the Games, as Gong Ke and Liu Min won men's and women's marathon titles respectively in earlier competitions in Beijing.
Another member of Ma's Army, gold favorite Dong Yanmei, finished third in women's 1,500 meters at 4:07.72, and Liu Xiaoping of the Chinese Army was second at 4:07.31. All the top three placers failed to run in three minutes, as Ma's proteges dashed to their glory at national and world championships years ago.
Zhao Haijun from Northwest China's Gansu Province was runner-up at 29:05.65 in men's 10,000 meters event, while Liu Huyuan of Northwest China's Shaanxi Province turned up third at 29:11.19.
Another Nine Golds Contented Sunday Afternoon
Another nine golds were also decided on Sunday afternoon, without any record upsets. Sprinters from Southwest China's Sichuan Province dominated women's 100 meters final. Li Xuemei, Asian Games champion and the10.79-second Asian record holder, defended her National Games title at 11.14 seconds. She was followed by her teammate Liu Xiaomei at 11.22, and Chen Yueqin of South China's Hainan Provincewas third at 11.42.
Yang Weize from Northwest China's Gansu smashed Ma Junren's ambition to claim nine golds in middle- and long-distance running by clocking 3:41.27 to win men's 1,500 meters. Shandong's Dou Zhaobo took the silver at 3:44.01, edging Xing Shuai from Ma's Army to the third place at 3:44.08. Shen Shengfei from East China's Zhejiang Province and Asian Games winner in 1998, took the gold in women's heptathlon with 6,265 points.
In the field events, Asian record holder Lao Jianfeng of Guangdong only finished third at 7.86 meters, 0.54 meter short of the 8.40m record he set. His teammate Li Dalong jumped 7.95 meters to reign men's long jump title.
Women's discus throw saw Song Aimin from North China's Hebei Province win the gold at 62.34 meters. Shandong's Ma Shuli was second at 62.21, while her teammate Luan Zhili, champion at the 1998 Asian Games, was third at 62.20 meters.
M E M O R I E S
1993 Led by Wang Junxia, athletes coached by Ma Junren win the 1500m and 3,000m and complete a 10,000m clean sweep in the world championships in Stuttgart. A month later 'Ma's Family Army' set world records for the 1500m, 3,000m and 10,000m in the Chinese national games in Beijing. He attributes it to turtle's blood and caterpillar fungus.
1995 Wang Junxia leads a walk-out of the 'Army' in a dispute over Junren's training methods and retention of prize money. She claims he beat her physically.
1996 Wang, trained by a different coach, wins the Olympic 5,000m title in Atlanta. No athlete coached by Ma reaches the Games. Wang then disappears and now lives anonymously in Beijing.
1997 The Ma runner Jiang Bo sets a world record in China's national games. But Ma is damned by the Chinese journalist Zhao Yu's book, Revealing the Secrets of Ma's Army.
1998 Ma is treated in hospital for mental problems.
1999 Dong Yanmei sets a world record for 5,000m as Ma's latest recruits make the world sit up and take notice.
2000 Ma's runners make their debut on the European grand prix circuit and win in Athens. But six athletes he coaches are dropped from China's Olympic team after failing blood tests.
2001 Ma is named China's deputy head coach for the world championships.
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