Huang delights home crowd with 400m hurdles victory at National Games

The host Shandong province's Huang Xiaoxiao stormed to the women's 400m hurdles victory in Jinan on Sunday to clinch her second gold at the 11th Chinese National Games.


Huang Xiaoxiao (R) from Shandong competes in the women's 400m hurdles of athletics at the 11th Chinese National Games in Jinan, capital of east China's Shandong Province, Oct. 25, 2009. Huang Xiaoxiao won the gold with 55.49 seconds. (Xinhua/Jiao Weiping)
The 25-year-old, who had won the 400m on Thursday, was fast out of the starting blocks and remained unchallenged in the last three hurdles.

She slowed down, waved to accept the cheers from a sold-out Olympic Sports center, and crossed the line in 55.49 seconds.

With two more seconds fall, Huang could have equalled the national record of 53.96 set by Han Qing at the 7th National Games.

However, the winner chose to enjoy the race and share her joy with a more than 40,000 crowd.

Shanghai's Pan A'mei finished second in 56.73, and Sichuan's Yang Qi stood third in 56.83.

Source: Xinhua