The 2024 National Race Walking Championships, Daiyue Cup, took place on Sept 7 at the foot of Mount Tai in Tai’an, Shandong province, with a total of 410 team leaders, coaches, and athletes from 25 teams all over the country.

Athletes start their race walks at the 2024 National Race Walking Championships. [Photo/Wangyue News]

Race walking has traditionally been China's strong suit and also a level I competition set by the Chinese Athletics Association. The national race walk aims to select and cultivate excellent race walking talents and popularize this sport to promote the development of athletics in China.

This competition had a men's group and a women's group with a total of seven events lasting for two days. The men's group and the women's group had two categories: a 35-kilometer race and a 20-km race. In addition, there was also a 10-km youth race respectively for the men's and the women's youth groups and a marathon mixed-relay race walk.

With tranquil landscapes and support every step of the way, race walkers made the right choice by signing up.

"The weather is nice in September in Tai'an, which is conducive to my performance in the competition," said Xu Hao from the Sichuan team, who won the adult men's 20-km race walk. He added that he was noticeably faster than last time.

In addition, Olympic race walking champions Yang Jiayu and Liu Hong, and other well-known athletes showed up at the event – some even competing themselves.