Olympic champion Gong leads China's team for Nanjing Worlds

BEIJING, March 14 (Xinhua) -- 2020 Tokyo Olympic women's shot put champion Gong Lijiao is among 35 athletes selected to represent China at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Nanjing next week.

At 36, five-time Olympian Gong is the eldest on the roster, which was released by the Chinese Athletics Association on Friday and consists of 18 men and 17 women.

Boasting a personal best of 20.58 meters, Gong opened the 2025 season with a 19.04m victory at an indoor national trial last month. The seasoned shot putter has earned two bronze medals at the World Indoor Championships, in 2014 and 2018 respectively.

China's squad also includes Zhu Yaming, men's triple jump runner-up at Tokyo 2020, as well as rising pole vaulter Li Chenyang, who raised the men's national record to 5.85m last month.

The 2025 World Athletics Indoor Championships will take place from March 21 to 23, featuring some 700 athletes from more than 150 countries and regions. ■