China end athletics competition on a high
(AFP)
Updated: 2005-11-05 10:42

Olympic champion Xing Huina stuttered to victory in the women's 5,000m, as China wrapped up the East Asian Games athletics competition with five victories out of eight on the final morning.

Xing Huina (L) runs in front of Japan's Hiromi Ominami during the women's 5000 metre final at the 4th East Asian Games in Macau November 4, 2005. Xing won the gold medal in the event as Ominami took silver. [Reuters]

The late blitz, after Japan swept 10 titles on Thursday, left China with 26 of the 45 athletics golds ahead of Japan on 16 and South Korea on three.

Xing's heat-affected run was followed by Chinese wins in the heptathlon and women's 4,400m relay. Earlier, Zhang Qi had won the men's shot-put with a Games-record 20.06m and Feng Yun had triumphed in the women's 100m hurdles.

Japan's Yuki Nakamura earned his second gold medal of the Games with victory in the men's 5,000m, three days after winning the 10,000m. The Japanese team also won the men's 4x400m, which China did not enter.

South Korea's Kim Deok-hyeon rounded off the field events with a win in the men's triple-jump.

Xing, the biggest draw on day seven, worried her fans with an early lapse but recovered to win the women's 5,000m by a distance here on Thursday.

The Athens 10,000m champion, disqualified from her National Games 1,500m for elbowing, was leading in the fourth minute from Japan's Hiromi Ominami when she slowed suddenly and began moving awkwardly, dropping quickly off the pace.

But Xing, running in hot conditions at Macau Stadium, recovered to build a big lead with Hiromi from South and North Koreans Bae Hae-jin and Ro Myon-gok.

With 300 metres to go, Xing kicked into gear and roared past Hiromi, finishing 50 metres clear but more than a minute-and-a-half off the Games record in 16:04.56.

Afterwards, Xing blamed the weather for her erratic run and said she had always been in control of the race.

"I didn't mean to do it, perhaps it was because it was so hot. I slowed down a little bit but when I noticed my competitor was coming up I increased my speed," she said.

Nakamura timed a slow 14:05.77 in the men's 5,000m and was also unhappy with his performance, and that of his team.

"The 5,000m wasn't that good but my goal here was to get gold medals in both events and I'm happy I was able to do that," he said, warning that Japan had to improve if they wanted to challenge China at the next Olympics.

"We have got to get stronger in the future," he said.

China have wowed the small crowds here with star athletes Xing and Liu Xiang, as well as Olympic diver Guo Jingjing and swimmer Luo Xuejuan, who was expected to add to her 50m breaststroke title in the 100m later on Thursday.

But, like Japan, most of the Chinese team are less experienced athletes being groomed for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Athens gold-medallist Zhu Qinan was due to take part in the men's 10m air rifle for China, who are closing on 100 gold medals with 92.