Tracking future stars
A number of young prospects offer hope for Team China
In the men's long jump, 26-year-old Shi Yuhao earned bronze with a season-best 8.33m effort, while race walker Wang Zhaozhao, also 26, rounded out Team China's medal haul by winning silver in the men's 20km race in one hour, 18 minutes and 43 seconds.
Wang's silver matched China's best-ever result in the event over the last five worlds, and ended a 10-year medal drought for Chinese men on the world stage.
Beyond medals, the invaluable experience of young hopefuls making their worlds debuts in some of the traditionally Western-dominated disciplines deserves equal attention.
Teen sprinter Chen Yujie, although failing to advance from her 200m heats, summed up her first worlds at just 16 as a helpful learning curve.
"It opened my eyes to how fast it is at this level, and shed light on the road in front of me," said the Asian U18 record holder in 100m (11.29) and 200m (22.97).
On the men's side, rising 100m sprinter Deng Xinrui's talent was laid bare off the starting blocks, as his explosive launch carried him into the lead over the first 30 meters in the heats, falling behind midway through the race, messing up his own pace by trying to keep up with the strong surge of his more established international opponents.
