29th September 2026 – (Nagoya) China’s Chen Yuanjiang roared across the line to men’s 110 metres hurdles gold at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games in 13.15sec, saying he ran with fire after Japanese rivals blanked his warm-up greeting and local media seemed to crown his chief rival before the gun.
The 20-year-old’s time was no personal best, yet it was enough to beat host star Rachid Muratake and end an eight-year wait for a Chinese gold in the event. After a bruising setback at last year’s National Games, he said the win proved Chinese hurdling remains “the top in Asia”.
In the mixed zone he made no secret of nerves or temper. Folding his number bib before the race, he said, his hands shook — he had not felt so tense for a long time — but he refused to fear a Japanese home crowd or a wet, slippery track. He did not believe the Japanese athletes were calm either; the race would go to whoever managed their emotions. He told himself to relax, run his best, and he did.
On 13.15sec he was frank: the mark was only so-so, close to his lifetime best of 13.13sec and to several recent clocks around the same figure, showing his form is settling. Still he was delighted. Big championships are about placing first, he said — “I ran this race with a little emotion,” bottling the drive until he could claim the title for his country with pride.
That emotion, he explained, began the day before. Watching television, he saw Japanese coverage hang a gold medal graphic beside Muratake’s portrait. Muratake had run 12.92sec in 2025 — the second Asian under 13sec after Liu Xiang — and is widely rated the region’s strongest hurdler now. Chen’s reaction was blunt: “Why? The race has not started — until the last moment, who knows who wins?”
Warm-ups piled on the slight. “I greeted two Japanese athletes in the warm-up area and they ignored me — no basic respect,” he said. He admitted he felt “a bit angry” and carried that heat into the race, which also explains the roar as he hit the tape first. After the National Games he had told himself what does not kill him would make him stronger — and he had done it. “After this race,” he vowed, “my rivals will remember my name.”