Jumping for joy

Leaning on his early sprint training, Wu broke onto the world stage in 2017 by winning his first international title with a 17.18m effort at the World Challenge tour in Kawasaki, Japan. He achieved his previous personal best of 17.47m at the national trials in Shenyang, Liaoning province, for the 2019 worlds, where he made it into the final and eventually finished 9th.

His smooth progression, however, hit setbacks after suffering a disappointing Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020, where he failed to reach the final, followed by injuries that sidelined him from the next two worlds in 2022 and 2023.

Now, after breaking his PB, achieved on exactly the same day (Aug 4) in 2019, Wu believes the Quzhou meet bodes well for his redemption trip to the Japanese capital next month, where he expects to prove he belongs among the world's elite at the Olympic stadium.

"After a solid winter training camp, I gradually built my confidence with improvements into the outdoor season. My performances became better and I am almost back at full capability," said Wu, whose win on Monday marked his first 17m-plus jump since 2021.

"It was my first complete meet of the outdoor season, and I gave all I have. I didn't expect such a great result, though. I am looking forward to the worlds for sure," Wu told Xinmin Evening News, a Shanghai-based newspaper.

With his sights now firmly set on the upcoming Tokyo meet, Wu will once again join forces with veteran Zhu to contend for international honors.

Zhu, a consistent elite performer with a PB of 17.57m set at the 2020 Tokyo Games, where he took silver, also won bronze at the 2022 Worlds in Eugene, Oregon, and gold at the Hangzhou 2023 Asian Games.

Earlier at the Quzhou meet, China's 17-year-old Yan Ziyi eclipsed her own U20 world record in the women's javelin by more than a meter, throwing an impressive 65.89m to clinch the national title.

Yan's victory followed another new U20 world mark set by young talent Zhang Jiale, who recorded a 77.24m toss in the women's hammer throw on Saturday to win her first national title.

"I feel I've always been explosive when I go hard in a competition, and I even blew myself away today. This progress was surprisingly good," said the 19-year-old Zhang, whose new youth mark was just 0.44 meters shy of the Asian record held by veteran Wang Zheng.

Jiang Xinyu contributed to the story.