Chinese athletics team wins two gold medals at 2023 Asian Indoor Championships

ASTANA, Feb. 12 (Xinhua) -- Teenager Wu Hongjiao surged a powerful home stretch to win the women's 800-meter race as the Chinese team bagged two gold medals at the 10th Asian Indoor Athletics Championships that concluded here on Sunday.

The women's 800m race saw Ayano Shiomi take an early lead as the Japanese enjoyed the pole position for the first three of the four-lap race. The 19-year-old Wu, who waited patiently in third place for most of the race, launched her charge in the last lap and caught Shiomi after passing the last curve. Wu crossed the finish line with an indoor personal best of two minutes, 6.85 seconds.

Shiomi finished second in 2:07.18, followed by China's Rao Xinyu in 2:08.75.

It was the second gold medal collected by the Chinese team at the three-day competition. Fang Yaoqing, the eighth finisher at the Tokyo Olympics Games, claimed the men's triple jump title at 17.20m in the opening competition day on Friday.

The Chinese Athletics Association has sent a young squad to Astana as more than half of the 25 athletes were competing overseas for the first time.