China wins men's 4x100m relay after 20 years

GUANGZHOU - After 20 years, China finally lifted the men's 4x100 meters relay title at the Asiad here on Friday.

China's men's 4x100m relay team stands with their gold medals at the 16th Asian Games in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, November 26, 2010. [Photo/Agencies]?

The hosts, who last time won the event at the 1990 Beijing Asian Games, clocked a season best 38.78 seconds to lift the title.

Chinese Taipei got the silver in 39.05, while Thailand placed third in 39.09.

"I am so excited," said Lao Yi, who anchored the winning team. "We were very satisfied with the result."

"The relay gold is more important for me than my individual gold," added Lao, who claimed the Asiad men's 100m title on Monday.

"It took us more than three months to prepare for the relay," said Lu Bin, the third runner in the relay. "We performed quite well, but we still need some improvement in baton exchange."

But it is disappointing for home fans that China lost to Thailand in the women's 4x100m relay, and it was the first time China lost the title since the 1986 Seoul Asian Games.

Thailand's anchor runner Nongnuch Sanrat outsprinted her Chinese counterpart down the straight and brought her country the gold. They clocked in 44.09, while China took the silver in 44.22. Japan finished third in 44.41.

"The result was slower than we expected," said Tao Yujia, the first leg of the relay. "But we did our best and we are happy with the silver."

"Thailand and Japan were both quite strong in relay and we need to learn from them in the future," she added.

China also pocketed the men's triple jump title as Li Yanxi, the Asian record holder of the event, made the winning distance of 16.94 meters, beating Yevgeniy Ektov of Kazakhstan to second in 16.86 meters, while Cao Shuo of China got the bronze medal in 16.84.

"Actually it was not easy to win the gold," said Li. "My injury affected my performance but luckily I made a season best and won."