Despite coming home lamenting the twilight of its celebrated veterans, China's track and field team remains positive for the future, with a contingent of young talent making its progress felt at the recent worlds.
Signing off another World Athletics Championships without a gold, following its thin harvest in 2023, Team China has returned from Tokyo with a sobering reminder of the gap between the world's best and its own elite athletes, after collecting just two silver and two bronze medals at the biennial meet last month.
The waning power of once world-beating heroes due to age and injury in its strength events, such as women's throwing and men's jumping disciplines, has cost Team China its competitive edge.
Women's shot put veteran Gong Lijiao bid an emotional farewell to the worlds at the same venue that witnessed her Olympic triumph in 2021, after she placed ninth at her 10th, and certainly last, worlds on Sept 20 at Tokyo's National Stadium.
"It was my last world championships for sure. My (right knee) injury is too serious for me to go for another one. All I have left is my passion for the sport," said the 36-year-old, who's collected eight medals, including two golds, at 10 worlds since 2007.
"I've experienced the proudest wins in my prime and some of the most disappointing near-misses and losses when I was down.
"I've seen it all and done it all. I have no regrets. This is a life that I've lived to the fullest."
In the men's triple jump, another Tokyo 2020 medalist Zhu Yaming also felt the pull of Father Time, as the 31-year-old, considered a veteran in the discipline, failed to sail even close to his season best on his return to the former Olympic venue where he won silver four years ago.
"I think, at this stage of my career, after recovering from multiple injuries, it's really challenging to try to maintain the consistency I've come to expect," said Zhu, who finished 11th, his worst final result ever at the worlds.
As barren as it was for some of the established stars, the Tokyo meet wasn't altogether a total disappointment for Team China, with the raw potential of its next generation delivering a silver lining in the Japanese capital.
Women's hammer throwers Zhao Jie and Zhang Jiale both emerged as serious title contenders at future major meets after winning silver and bronze, respectively, to complete the podium with defending champion and eventual winner Camryn Rogers of Canada.
The 22-year-old Zhao improved her personal best by a full meter to finish runner-up with a 77.60m throw, climbing a step higher on the podium from her bronze finish at Paris 2024, while Zhang, still only 18 years old, turned heads on her worlds debut by claiming bronze with 77.10m.
"My goal was to gain as much experience as possible on the world stage, and a medal felt like a bonus," said Zhang, holder of the U20 world record (77.24).
"It really helped with my confidence."
In the men's long jump, 26-year-old Shi Yuhao earned bronze with a season-best 8.33m effort, while race walker Wang Zhaozhao, also 26, rounded out Team China's medal haul by winning silver in the men's 20km race in one hour, 18 minutes and 43 seconds.
Wang's silver matched China's best-ever result in the event over the last five worlds, and ended a 10-year medal drought for Chinese men on the world stage.
Beyond medals, the invaluable experience of young hopefuls making their worlds debuts in some of the traditionally Western-dominated disciplines deserves equal attention.
Teen sprinter Chen Yujie, although failing to advance from her 200m heats, summed up her first worlds at just 16 as a helpful learning curve.
"It opened my eyes to how fast it is at this level, and shed light on the road in front of me," said the Asian U18 record holder in 100m (11.29) and 200m (22.97).
On the men's side, rising 100m sprinter Deng Xinrui's talent was laid bare off the starting blocks, as his explosive launch carried him into the lead over the first 30 meters in the heats, falling behind midway through the race, messing up his own pace by trying to keep up with the strong surge of his more established international opponents.
As the first Chinese man born after 2000 to qualify for the 100m at the worlds, the 21-year-old Deng's appearance represents fresh hope for the country in the marquee discipline, after China's golden generation led by Asian record holder and Tokyo 2020 finalist Su Bingtian faded away.
"I tried too hard to bring out my best today. I didn't manage to start as smoothly as I would've wanted, and I obviously messed it up in the final stretch," Deng said of his 10.23 performance in the heats, 0.17 seconds behind his PB set at the national championships in August.
In the men's 110m hurdles, the collective rise of the young trio Liu Junxi, Xu Zhuoyi and Chen Yuanjiang, who all advanced to the semifinals in Tokyo, has proved that the country's training expertise in the technically demanding sprint event, which had produced the legendary 2004 Olympic champion Liu Xiang, is still working.
Though none of them made it into the final, their collective presence has left fans intrigued, as it was the first time at least three Chinese hurdlers had reached the semis since Liu led a three-man Chinese trio to do so in 2011.
