Day 2 Roundup: Non-Chinese athletes take four of 13 gold medals at China Athletics Open

(Beijing, May 23) -- In a field of competitors crowded with Chinese athletes, four non-Chinese athletes claimed victory in four of 13 finals on the second day of the China Athletics Open.

Australian Robert Crowther maintained his lead in the Men's Long Jump from day one of the competition. He won with a jump on Friday of 7.94 meters, 0.03 meters further than his performance during Thursday's rounds. Yu Zhenwei came in second with a jump of 7.83m, while Cai Peng finished third with a jump of 7.80m.

In the Men's 400m, Ormrod Mark, also from Australia, claimed gold with a time of 46.45 seconds. Horigome Yoshihiro, who had the best time in the heats, finished second with a time of 46.52 seconds. His compatriot Sato Mitsuhiro took third place with a time of 46.63 seconds.

World Champion Vili Valerie from New Zealand was the only non-Chinese athlete competing in the Women's Shot Put final. She won with a throw of 19.41 meters, beating the Chinese athletes comfortably. The silver medal went to Gong Lijiao with a throw of 19.09 meters, while the bronze went to Li Ling with a throw of 18.85 meters.

Japanese Tanno Asami won the Women's 400m with a time of 52.51 seconds. Chinese athletes Wang Jinping and Chen Lin took second and third place with times of 53.15 and 53.19 seconds, respectively.

China's Liu Jing came in first in the Women's 100m Hurdles, reaching the finish line in 13.22 seconds. Despite winning gold, she was not pleased with her performance, which was .29 seconds off her time at the 2006 Doha Asian Games. Deng Ru came in second with a time of 13.32 seconds while Wang Zi came in third with a time of 13.43 seconds. Both times were personal bests.

China athletes claimed the top three positions in both the Women's High Jump and Women's 100m. High Jumper Zheng Xingjuan came in first place with her season best jump of 1.91 meters, while sprinter Wang Jing posted a personal best time of 11.42 seconds to win the 100m. Runners-up Qiao Yanrui and Jiang Haiyan both finished with jumps of 1.82 meters. In the 100m event, second place finisher Jiang Lan was 11.53 seconds while Chen Jue finished third with a tie of 11.56 seconds.

The second day of the Athletics Open ended with the Men's 100m Final. Zhang Peimeng came in first with a personal best time of 10.23 seconds; second place finisher Hu Kai was close behind with a time of 10.24 seconds. Patrick Johnson from Australia took third place with a time of 10.31 seconds.

Chinese athletes, including Liu Xiang, the world record holder in the 110m Hurdles, commended the quality of the track at the Bird's Nest. They expressed confidence that the excellent venue would enable them to perform well during the Games in August.

Liu Xiang eased his way into the finals of the 110m Hurdles with a time of 13.46 seconds on Friday. Crowds are expected to reach fever pitch on Saturday when Liu Xiang makes his final appearance at the Bird's Nest before the Olympic Games. The Men's 110m Hurdles Final will take place at 9:45 p.m.

The other eight finals taking place on day 3 are in the Women's Long Jump, Pole Vault, 3000m Steeplechase and Hammer Throw and in the Men's Discus Throw, 400m Hurdles, 3000m Steeplechase and Triple Jump.