Wu looking to let good times roll

NANJING — Moments after clocking 8.01 seconds in the women's 60m hurdles semifinals at the 2025 World Athletics Indoor Championships in Nanjing, China's Wu Yanni knew she had rewritten history.

Though falling short of the final, her time lowered China's 11-year-old national record of 8.02s set by Wu Shuijiao in 2014. Hours later, the 27-year-old spoke about her journey, ambitions and the weight of expectation on her shoulders.

"I had that feeling," Wu Yanni recalled of crossing the line. "I thought I was third or fourth, but when the second-place time flashed as 8.00 seconds, I thought: 'Oh well, at least I'll have a personal best.' Then mine came up. I just cried."

The newly minted record-holder, however, quickly shifted focus. "Right now, I'm calm," she said. "Once you achieve something, you start over. I can't dwell on the record. I need to keep refining my technique."

Wu arrived in Nanjing determined to break the barrier. "I knew I was capable," she revealed, "but no one around me dared mention it. Even my mom told the team not to bring it up."

Her progress has been relentless. Since 2018, she has claimed five national 100m hurdles titles and two indoor 60m hurdles crowns. Last season, she lowered her 100m hurdles personal best to 12.74 seconds, securing a Paris Olympic berth, and three times improved her 60m hurdles mark, with the best being 8.06. This winter, she doubled down on strength training.

"Track is brutal. It's pure raw ability," Wu explained. "This offseason, I barely touched hurdles. It was all about power and speed. And that translates directly. Our event demands absolute strength."

Her weighted squats surged from 90kg to 120kg, yet she remains humbled by the standard of her global competition.

"Look at the Europeans here, their power, thighs and upper bodies. We Asians look like children beside them," she said. "That's the gap. I've raced internationally more now, but my experience still lags behind. We need to compete abroad constantly to elevate Chinese hurdling."

At last year's Paris Olympics, she finished over 0.2 seconds off her best. "I went there to learn. Domestically or in Asia, if I execute cleanly, I win. But, internationally, I'm always chasing," she reflected.

Undeterred, Wu is eying the record at September's World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, where the 100m hurdles standard sits at 12.73 — 0.01 faster than her current personal best. "I'll hit that mark on merit, not rankings and points."

Her immediate target? Toppling the 31-year-old national 100m hurdles record of 12.64. "Long-term, I want Olympic finals and the Asian record (12.44)."

Amid viral fame and scrutiny over her style and persona, she stays grounded.

"I'm here to make China's hurdling known worldwide. Public attention fades, hard results stay. I won't let noise distract me. My job is to leave no regrets."

Xinhua