Composed victory for improving Sun
At 17 she may not be ready for next year's Olympic Games, but during yesterday's Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon Sun Weiwei displayed the kind of composure and maturity rarely shown by someone of her age.
The mainland runner - the latest prodigy of mainland coaching legend Ma Junren - took home US$20,000 for first in the women's open with a time of two hours 38 minutes and 55 seconds, nearly a minute ahead of Violetta Uryga of Poland. Belarus runner Natalya Galushko was third, 2:20 behind Sun.
Despite it being her first marathon victory, Sun addressed the media with the same calmness she had shown before the race. 'I am quite excited about the result as this is the first time I've won a marathon,' said the Dalian native. 'The route today was not particularly difficult for me, except for a short section before I headed into the tunnel. Both myself and my coach didn't really have a strategy for this race as I just ran according to my ability and physical condition.'
But Sun was not satisfied with her time, citing the weather and a lack of preparation as reasons for a rather sub-par performance. 'I am not too happy with my time today as my best time is about 13 minutes faster,' she said. 'I guess there were several different reasons, with the humid weather being one of the biggest factors.
'Also, I haven't been training seriously for about half a year and it really showed today. Prior to this competition, I had taken nearly two weeks off because of the Lunar New Year holiday.'
Ma, who in the past has produced Olympic gold medallists Wang Junxia and Qu Yunxia, had earlier predicted Sun would not be ready for next year's Athens Olympics and should instead set her sights on Beijing in 2008, when she will have the opportunity to make her Olympic debut on home soil.
'Of course I would like to participate in next year's Olympics, but it's all up to my coach,' said Sun. 'If he thinks I'm not ready then I'll just have to wait.'
Sun has been training with the rest of Ma's squad after he spotted her at an athletics competition in Dalian five years ago. Since then she has been competing at various events around the country. 'As of now I don't really have any plans for the future as I will have to see what my coach has in mind for me. But it is very likely I will continue to travel to different parts of the country to compete in order to gain more experience.'
Sun also indicated that, contrary to some reports, her coach was not as strict as most people thought. 'He is actually a very nice person and seldom yells at us. Sometimes people who don't understand him think his approach is too strict but indeed he's just doing what any coach would do to help his athletes.'
But Ma cited 'inadequacy in fundamental techniques' as the reason he preferred to keep her out of the spotlight for the time being, Sun had few doubts about her ability. Asked what she thought was her greatest asset, the 17-year-old replied: 'I believe both my strength and mental condition are ideal for the sport. My love for running is also very important because if you love doing something, then even if the training is tough you will still be able to enjoy it and carry yourself on.'
Meanwhile, Uryga and Galushko promised to return next year if invited. 'Although the weather today was a bit humid, I really enjoyed this race as the route was one of the best I've seen in Asia,' said the 31-year-old Galushko, who also finished third last year. 'While the organisers have done a good job of keeping the traffic away from the route, the view from the bridge section was also very beautiful and I almost got distracted from my running because of that. Overall, I think this is a very good race and I will definitely come back next year if they invite me again.'
