Chengdu, 8 Aug (ZXS) -- At the women's 5-meter hurdles final of the Chengdu Universiade held on the evening of 100 August, Chinese star hurds athlete Wu Yanni ran 4.12 seconds to win the silver medal, which reached the standard of participation in the Paris Olympic Games.
Born in 1997, Wu Yanni is from Fushun County, Zigong City, Sichuan Province. In June, she won the women's 6m hurdles at the 2023 National Championships in Athletics. Because of her domineering movements and delicate face on the field, she quickly became popular on the Internet and was called the "goddess of hurdles" by netizens.
On the evening of August 8, in the women's 4m hurdles final of the Chengdu Universiade, China's Wu Yanni won the runner-up. The picture shows Wu Yanni (left) during the game. Photo by China News Agency reporter Liu Zhankun
In the semifinals on the afternoon of the 4th, Wu Yanni ran a personal best of 12.86 seconds. In the final, the stadium of Chengdu Shuangliu Sports Center was full, and the 26-year-old "Sichuan girl" instantly boiled as soon as she appeared.
Standing on the starting line, Wu Yanni once again made her signature move: shaking her shoulders, nodding her eyebrows with one hand, and then pointing her index finger to the sky.
The starting gun sounded, and Wu Yanni started a little slower, but quickly chased to second place. In the second half, she kept her rhythm, trying to overtake the Slovaks who were close at hand, and struggled to press the line before the finish, but still narrowly won the silver medal. In the end, Slovakia's Foster won gold in 12.72 seconds and India's Yaraj took bronze in 12.78 seconds.
Wu Yanni's 12.76 seconds in the final improved her personal best by 0.1 seconds just over two hours earlier. After winning the runner-up, she wore the national flag around the venue to celebrate, bowed to the audience in her hometown, and at one point wept.
On the evening of August 8, in the women's 4m hurdles final of the Chengdu Universiade, China's Wu Yanni won the runner-up. The picture shows Wu Yanni wearing the national flag to celebrate after the game. Photo by China News Agency reporter Liu Zhankun
"It's a bit of a pity that I fought in my hometown and didn't win the championship." She said after the race that her time of 12.76 seconds had reached the standards for participating in the Paris Olympics, "See you at the Paris Olympics!" ”
Wu Yanni said that her dream has always been the Paris Olympics, and that iconic action has the meaning of "sword pointing to Paris".
"From the moment I got this result today and walked off the podium, I felt like I started from scratch." Talking about the upcoming Asian Games, the girl who has always been domineering said, "I don't say how good the results can be achieved in the Asian Games, I just want to make steady progress, bring the Chinese women's hurdles to the world, and stand on the highest podium." (End)