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Hong Kong's top junior race walker hopes the visit of Chinese Olympic gold medallist Wang Liping to her school today will encourage more young people to take up the sport.

The 2002 women's Olympic champion shared training tips at Ma On Shan Sports Ground on Wednesday, ahead of the MTR Race Walking Competition in Central on Sunday.

Wang, who also won gold at the East Asian Games in Macau last year, will introduce the sport to an audience of 400 students and teachers  at Tin Ka Ping Secondary School in Fanling.

'It's good that she will visit our school as I think it will promote the sport and let more people understand it,' said Angel Lee Shan, the girls' junior champion who won the 2005 Hong Kong Road Race Walking Championships.

Form Four  students from Tin Ka Ping, Angel and Amy Keung Oi-yan, and fifth former  Vivian Lai Tsz-yam from Fanling Rhenish Church Secondary School were among more than 50 local race walkers who attended the training session on Wednesday.

'She [Wang] showed us some useful drills to practise,' said Angel. 'She said she was racing slowly when we did a lap around the track, but to us she was still going very fast!'

Angel, Vivian and Amy are members of the Sahn Hahng Tai Bo Race Walking Club, and have been training for more than a year. They say race walking is better than running because it's less painful on the knees.

'Our teacher introduced us to the sport,' said Amy. 'It's a good way to make new friends of different ages, and we do many social activities together.'

The trick to race walking is to keep the legs straight, and competitors must always have one foot touching the ground, said the girls. Stretching and a good warm-up were important to avoid injuries, they added.

Wang said talent was not a priority to succeed in race walking.

'Attitude and good technique are more important,' she said.

The second MTR  competition, a fund-raising event, will take place on a five-kilometre circuit around the Chater Garden area. It includes both individual and team categories. Angel, Vivian and Amy  will enter the junior 1km race, and also a 4x100 metres inter-school relay. Last year, nearly $1 million was raised for health education in Hong Kong.



China's golden girl gives race walking a boost