China’s Wu Yanni wants Asian 100m hurdles record, but admits Olympics a step too far
Chinese athlete says she can’t compete with Western counterparts, targets top eight finish at LA Games in 2028
Not content with her national record-breaking women’s 60 metres hurdles performance at the World Athletics Indoor Championships, Wu Yanni has her sights set on bigger and better things.
The 27-year-old, who has more than 3 million social media followers, is targeting a new China best in the 100m hurdles, as well as charging towards the long-standing Asian record.
Wu clocked a time of 8.01 seconds in the semi-final in Nanjing on Sunday, missing out on the final by just 0.01 seconds.
The Sichuan native, whose best 100m hurdles time is 12.74, next wants to take a crack at the national record – a 12.64 run by Yu Zhang in September 1993 in Beijing – before attempting the Asian record.
“As an athlete, everything has to start from scratch again after you achieve something,” she said. “I can’t keep telling myself how good I am, or I am a national record holder, but I need to concentrate on further drilling my technique.