Chinese hurdles star Wu Yanni misses gold medal by 0.04 seconds

Wu finished second with a time of 12.85 seconds on Wednesday, just behind the winner, Liu Jingyang of Guangdong Province. The race had a contrast in the start: Wu achieved an impressive reaction time of 0.152 seconds, among the best on the track, while Liu had the slowest start at 0.207 seconds. However, it was Liu who accelerated perfectly to reach the finish line first.

This is the second time Wu narrowly missed gold at the National Games. At the 14th Games in 2021, she finished second, losing by an even smaller margin of 0.03 seconds to Lin Yuwei.

"The past four years preparing for the National Games have been incredibly tough. I went through a lot, so it's truly a pity not to win the gold," Wu said, as quoted by 163. "There's nothing much to say. I didn't run well, and that's just how it is. I'm going to rest now. I'm too tired."

Chinese hurdler Wu Yanni. Photo by Instagram/@wuyanni_jennie

Yang Hui, Wu’s coach, told the Global Times that the star hurdler initially planned to challenge the national record, but the temperature made it unlikely.

"We were expecting her to deliver at an even higher intensity at the National Games, and even hoped she could go for the national record," he said. "Low temperature affects muscle performance and reduces the ability to produce power."

Dubbed "China’s track and field goddess", Wu is a social media sensation recognized for her extroverted personality.

Born in 1997, she is the first Chinese athlete to participate in all five major events for the women's 100m hurdles: the Olympics, the World Championships, the World Indoor Championships, the Asian Games and the Asian Championships.

This year, she broke the national record in the 60m hurdles with a time of 8.01 seconds indoors.