Race walkers from Inner Mongolia (in green vests) take the lead during the men’s 50-km race walking contest. [Photo/Xinhua]

The 2017 IAAF Race Walking Challenge in conjunction with the National Race Walking Grand Prix was held in Taicang, Jiangsu province, and involved 38 foreign athletes from 19 countries and 578 walkers from China’s 56 representative teams.

Inner Mongolia brought 23 athletes and eight coaches to participate, resulting in a big haul of medals during the races.

Yang Jiayu from Inner Mongolia won second place with a time of 1:31:04 during the women’s 20-kilometer race walking at the IAAF Race Walking Challenge, trailing Lyu Xiuzhi from Anhui province.

Lyu passed the finish line three seconds earlier and was also the bronze medalist of the women’s 20-km race walking during the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.

Wang Na from Heilongjiang province earned the third place in 1:31:09.

Thanks to her performance, Yang qualified to enter the 2017 IAAF London World Championships that will be held from Aug 4 to 13.

Inner Mongolian athletes Zhang Hongliang, Bai Liga and Xu Hao took the top three places during the men’s youth 10-km race.

Lu Ning from Inner Mongolia claimed the first title during the men’s youth 30-km race with a time of 2:24:05.

During men’s 20-km race walking, the gold medal went to a Brazilian athlete with a time of 1:22:16. Chen Ding, the gold medal winner at the 2012 London Olympic Games, was ranked in 15th place representing Guangdong province.

The second and third places were taken by race walkers from Mexico and South Africa with times of 1:22:58 and 1:23:45 respectively. China’s Luo Yadong won seventh place in 1:25:17.

Shandong and Jiangsu provinces took first place during the men’s group 20-km race and women’s group 20-km race respectively.

Lyu Xiuzhi touches the finish line during the women’s 20-km race walking contest. [Photo/Xinhua]

Athletes compete during the women’s 20-km race walking contest at the 2017 IAAF Race Walking Challenge held in Taicang. [Photo/Xinhua]