Illustration: Liu Xiangya/Global Times

China finished the World Athletics Championships with only two bronzes, the first time in 20 years that Chinese athletes have failed to win a gold or silver at a worlds.

A total of 41 Chinese athletes competed in 17 disciplines at the biannual global athletics showpiece in Budapest, Hungary, from August 19 to 27. However, China didn't realize its goal of winning two or three golds.

With the Paris Olympics less than a year away, the current slump sounded the alarm for Chinese athletes who face an uphill battle to gain ground on their elite competitors. 

In the last world championships in Oregon, the US, China finished with two golds, one silver and three bronzes. Wang Jia'nan made history to become the first man from the Chinese mainland to win the long jump gold in a worlds. Feng Bin was another surprise performer as she upset Olympic champion Valarie Allman and four-time worlds champion Sandra Perkovic to clinch gold in the women's discus throw.

This year, men's and women's race walking, women's throwing and men's jump were the events tipped to yield gold for China. However, both Wang and Feng failed to defend their titles. Feng delivered a second personal best of 68.20 meters to bag a bronze while veteran shot putter Gong Lijiao took the other bronze in her ninth worlds. 

Absence from international competitions in recent years and a talent shortage in promising runners were cited as the reasons for this year's setback.

Although Chinese sprinters pulled out of the worlds to focus on the Hangzhou Asian Games, China was a favorite to go for medals in the men's and women's 35 kilometer race walking and the women's 20 kilometer race walking. 

Sadly, a seventh place in women's 20 kilometer by Ma Zhenxia was the best finish for the Chinese race walkers, who said failing to adapt to the climate and track resulted in their under-the-par performances.

Liu Hong, one of the world's fastest race walkers in history, said after the race that European race walkers have made tremendous progress for maintaining an intensive race schedule.

Chinese race walkers are likely to set personal bests in domestic races, but unable to acclimatize themselves in international competitions. The absence of Chinese athletes from international competitions in the past two years due to COVID-19 widened the gap between Chinese and the world's elite athletes, said Liu. It was the 36-year-old Liu's eighth journey to the worlds.

Gong echoed Liu's view, saying that she felt a bit rusty at this worlds after a year without international competitions. Gong said she planned to sign up for the Diamond League, an annual series of elite track and field athletic competitions comprising 14 of the best invitational athletics meetings, to stay in good form. 

At the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, Chinese sprinters, spearheaded by Su Bingtian, made their mark in the 100m and 4x100m relay race. Two years on, the Chinese sprinting team missed the worlds for the first time since 2009. A shortage of young sprinters has been alarmingly exposed. 

More communications and competitions with the elite athletes in international events would not only allow Chinese athletes to adapt to the climate of Europe, but also bridge the gap for the Paris Olympic Games next year.