Chinese teenager Zhang renews her own world U20 hammer record

QUZHOU -- China's Zhang Jiale threw 77.24-meter to win the women's hammer throw gold at the 2025 Chinese Athletics Championships here on Saturday, improving her own world U20 hammer record by more than two meters.

The 18-year-old, who won the world U20 title in Lima last year and set a world U20 hammer record of 75.14m two months ago in Germany, entered the competition with a solid first round effort of 72.82m. She went on to improve her mark to 73.98m in the next round and achieved her winning mark of 77.24m with the third throw, before bowing out with 76.15m in her final attempt.

"I felt I was in a very good form during the warm-up," Zhang said. "In fact, I said to my coach last night that I felt I might improve the world junior record. And tonight I actually did it."

Zhang's winning mark also made her the third-best female hammer thrower in Asia of all time behind compatriots Wang Zheng and Zhang Wenxiu, as her new personal best is only 44cm shy of Wang's Asian record of 77.68m.

The seasoned Wang also competed in Quzhou and finished eighth at 64.89m.

Zhang and Wang, together with China's Olympic bronze medalist Zhao Jie, currently trained under the guidance of coach Ye Kuigang. Zhang revealed she had learned a lot from her senior teammates.

"Even during today's competition, Wang gave me quite a lot of advices to help me fine-tune to my best form," Zhang said.

Looking forward to the forthcoming World Athletics Championships in Tokyo next month, Zhang chose to stay low and pragmatic, setting a top-eight finish as her goal.