At the 2024 Wuxi Marathon on Sunday, He Jie achieved a significant milestone by setting China's new national men's marathon record. Finishing the race in two hours, six minutes, and 57 seconds, the 25-year-old nearly matched Ethiopia's Tadu Abate Dedm, who set a new event record.
He Jie secured fourth place in the men's race, trailing Dedm by 39 seconds. Other notable performances included Abay Alemu Lesa of Ethiopia and Nicholas Kirwa of Kenya, who finished second and third respectively.
Reflecting on his performance, He expressed, \"I'm more than satisfied with myself today, it's a result of our hard work from the training camp in Kenya. The international athletes raced at a very high level today and I almost collapsed in the final kilometers. But the result showed that the better my opponents are, the stronger I am.\"
He Jie improved the Chinese record by 46 seconds at last year's Wuxi Marathon and further lowered it by another 21 seconds by Yang Shaohui at the Fukuoka International Marathon last December.
He added, \"My goal was to break into two hours and six minutes for China. The new record doesn't belong to myself, but is a result of collective efforts from marathon runners of my generation.\"
Reference(s):
cgtn.com
