Photo: Courtesy of organizers

Runners dominated the headlines at the ­national athletics championships on Wednesday as three became two-time gold medalists at the event.

Female distance runner Hu Zhiying bagged her second gold medal at the nationals in the women's 800 meters with a time of 2 minutes, 4.95 seconds, a day after clinching gold in the 1,500 meters. 

Xie Zhiyu of Henan won the men's 400 meters hurdles in 50.01 seconds to bag his second gold after Tuesday's win in the 400 meters sprint. 

"After the awards ceremony I am no champion but a common athlete," Xie said. "I need to work harder and hope I can defend my title next year."

Xie's Henan teammate and female runner Zhang Man won the 200 meters in 23.13 seconds, taking her gold medal haul to two after a 100-meter gold on the opening day of the nationals.

Eighteen-year-old Sui Gaofei of Jiangsu was the star of the men's 200 meters, as he clocked in 20.87 seconds to win the title.

High jumper Li Ling of Zhejiang's 4.7-meter finish on Wednesday was 2 centimeters short of her personal best. Li's coach suggested she stop competing to avoid injury as the rain fell in Shenyang.

Wang Zheng claimed gold in the women's hammer throw with 76.26 meters, a result enough to surpass Gwen Berry's 76.23 meters and make it into the top three results of all female throwers this year. 

The veteran, who won silver at the 2017 world championships, said she hopes to have a podium finish at the Doha worlds later this year.