Shanghai's Chen Yuanjiang, a rising star in track and field, delivered a stunning performance at the National Youth (U20) Athletics Championships, which concluded on June 24.

Competing over 0.991-meter-high hurdles, the standard height for U20 men, the 19-year-old clinched gold in the men's 110-meter hurdles, clocking in at 12.96 seconds and shattering the Asian youth record by a significant 0.23 seconds.

Chen's remarkable time now ranks as the second-fastest youth record in the world for the event, behind only French athlete Sasha Zhoya's world youth record of 12.72 seconds.

This achievement marks a significant leap forward for Chen, far surpassing his previous personal best of 13.21 seconds, which earned him a bronze medal at the World U20 Athletics Championships in Peru last year.

Born in 2006, Chen has consistently pushed his limits, setting eight new personal bests in the past year alone.

Using the standard 1.067-meter hurdles, the World Athletics Championships will be held in Tokyo this September, and Shanghai's Xu Zhuoyi has already qualified.

Chen is tantalizingly close to joining him, needing just 0.01 seconds to meet the qualifying standard. His record for standard hurdles is currently clocked at 13.28 seconds, indicating strong potential for him to secure his place on the world stage.

Source: Xinmin Evening News