On May 10th, the World Athletics Relays Guangzhou 25 kicked off at the Guangzhou Tianhe Sports Center. In the men's 4×400-meter relay heats, the Chinese team, comprising Liang Baotang, Li Yiqing, Zhang Qining, and Fu Haoran, finished second in their group with a time of 3:01.87, securing a spot in the final and earning direct qualification for the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo. Their performance also set a new national record.
In this race, first-leg runner Liang Baotang withstood the pressure and maintained the lead despite starting from lane eight, handing the baton smoothly to teammate Li Yiqing. Anchor runner Fu Haoran gave it his all, overtaking two competitors to move into second place and ultimately holding that position to the finish. It's worth noting that both Liang Baotang and Li Yiqing hail from Guangdong, making this race a true home-field event for them.
After the race, the four Chinese athletes couldn't hide their excitement. As the team was being interviewed, a Portuguese runner passing by patted Li Yiqing on the shoulder and said, "See you in Tokyo." Li responded with a beaming smile.
Li Yiqing said that all four teammates gave everything they had in the race, "Baotang's first leg was incredible! He handed the baton to me while we were still in the lead. At that moment, my only thought was to maintain that advantage and build up more momentum for the teammates after me. We've never had an edge in the 400 meters, but this time we wanted to prove ourselves to the world. It feels incredible to make it to the World Championships. I'm more thrilled than winning the lottery!"
Liang Baotang, who ran the opening leg, said competing in front of his home crowd lit a fire inside him, "Even before the race, I already felt a burning passion just knowing I'd be running at home. When the crowd started cheering, that fire only grew stronger," he said vividly. "As I took off, the cheers felt like a force pushing me forward, like an extra boost of fuel, driving me to run with even more passion."
For these four young Chinese athletes, securing a berth at the World Championships marks a historic breakthrough for China's track and field program. While celebrating their success, they also expressed hope that others would follow in their footsteps and achieve even greater milestones. "Making it to the World Championships is a huge step for us," said Li Yiqing. "We truly hope there will be more Chinese 400m runners stepping onto the world stage in the future."
Source: Lingnan On the Cloud
打破全国纪录直通东京世锦赛！中国男子4×400米接力队创造历史
5月10日，2025年世界田联接力赛在广州天河体育中心鸣枪开跑。在男子4×400米接力预赛中，由梁宝棠、李懿卿、张起宁、付浩然组成的中国队以3分01秒87的成绩获得小组第二晋级决赛，并直通东京田径世锦赛，同时创造了新的全国纪录。
在这场比赛中，首棒出战的梁宝棠顶住了压力，在第八道起跑的他始终占据首位，并稳稳地将接力棒交到了队友李懿卿手中。末棒出战的付浩然更是拼尽了全力，连续超越两名选手上升至第二位，并最终守住了小组第二的位置。值得一提的是，梁宝棠和李懿卿都是广东运动员，此番在天体均是主场作战。
比赛结束后，中国队四名小伙子难掩心中的兴奋。在中国队接受采访时，身后路过的葡萄牙队选手拍着李懿卿的肩膀说“See you in Tokyo（东京世锦赛见）”，而李懿卿则是回了一个灿烂的笑脸。
李懿卿表示，他们四人在比赛中都拼尽了全力：“宝棠的第一棒跑得太棒了！他把接力棒交给我的时候还处于领先，我当时的想法就是一定要把这个优势保持下去，尽力给身后的队友多累积一些优势。在400米这个项目我们一直不占优势，但我们这次一定要证明给世界看。进世锦赛的感觉实在太棒了，简直比中了五百万还要高兴！”
首棒出战的梁宝棠表示在家乡父老面前出战让他的心里燃起了一把火，“本来在家乡出战心里的‘火’就已经很旺了，现场观众的呐喊让‘这把火’更旺了。”梁宝棠绘声绘色地说，“起跑的时候我听到现场观众的欢呼声，就好像有一种力量在后面推了我一把，就像加了一个助燃剂，让我跑得更加有激情。”
对于四位中国队的小伙子而言，拿到了世锦赛门票已经实现了中国田径队的历史性突破，他们在兴奋之余也希望后来者们能追随他们的脚步，取得更大的进步。李懿卿说：“进入世锦赛对于我们来说是一个巨大的突破，我们也希望‘后有来者’，在未来能有更多的中国400米运动员在世锦赛这样的舞台上展现自己。”
文丨记者 郝浩宇 龙希 苏荇 柴智 龚卫锋
图丨记者 钟振彬 王子桐
翻译丨杨钧雅
审校丨林佳岱