Hong Kong’s Christy Yiu calls it a day after World Athletics Championships swan song in Oregon
- Yiu confirms she will hang up her running shoes after finishing 29th in Monday’s race in Oregon, with plans to have her second child
- ‘I’m not young any longer,’ says the 34-year-old, who insists she and husband Chan Ka-ho ‘don’t have much time to wait’
Hong Kong’s star marathon runner Christy Yiu Kit-ching is ready to call it a day after finishing with a personal best World Championships time in Oregon on Monday.
The 34-year-old, who made her worlds debut in 2015, finished 29th in 2 hours, 43 minutes and 13 seconds – 0.15 seconds faster than her time seven years earlier.
The city’s marathon record holder revealed she had only been able to fully train for a month leading up to the race, after receiving acupuncture treatment for a series of muscle injuries around her pelvis.
“I didn’t have much expectation,” Yiu said. “I knew this would be my last race because I will stick to my plan to have my second baby hopefully this year. So I tried to finish the race.”
Monday’s race started and finished at the University of Oregon’s Autzen Stadium, and followed a primarily flat 14-kilometre loop through Eugene and Springfield.
Ethiopia’s Gotytom Gebreslase won her maiden world title in a championship record of 2:18.11, followed by Kenyan Judith Jeptum Korir in 2:18.20 and Israel’s Lonah Chemtai Salpeter in 2:20.18.
The race featured just 40 competitors from 25 nations after a series of withdrawals, with eight runners failing to complete the race – including defending champion Ruth Chepngetich of Kenya, who led a group of eight through to the 18km mark before quitting with stomach problems.
