Crop of promising young athletes following in the wake of star hurdler Liu Xiang's absence from the international arena has not slowed China's progress in track and field.
Boasting robust results and character, a crop of young Chinese athletes has emerged from the star hurdler's shadow and is set to lead the country's charge against the world's best.
In the absence of Liu, who is recovering from heel surgery in the US, China's sprinters and jumpers drew great attention to themselves at two recent meets held in the country.
"It's unfair to say that Liu's era has ended but I believe the new generation will be able to take over his baton to stand high for Chinese athletics in the future," high jumper Wang Yu said after winning the title at the IAAF World Challenge Beijing with a personal best of 2.33 meters at the National Stadium on Tuesday.
The 21-year-old's result ranked him second so far this year, only 0.01 meter behind US jumper Erik Kynard, and tied with Kynard's silver-medal winning height at the London Olympics.
Boasting marketable looks and a humble demeanor, Wang, a junior student at Tsinghua University, has been hailed as an upcoming star with a distinctly different background to Liu, who was brought up in the State-run system without receiving a college education.
Still, Wang remains in awe of Liu.
"The legacy he left to us is his fighting spirit in facing adversity. We feel the pressure to catch up to him, but we are confident we can reach his level in our respective events," said Wang, who studies business administration at Tsinghua University.
Joining Wang in China's youth surge are long jumper Li Jin zhe, who won the gold medal at last week's IAAF Diamond League Shanghai leg with the year's best leap of 8.34 meters, and sprinter Zhang Pei meng, also a student at Tsinghua, who broke the national records in the 100m and 200m this month.
"I proved that my performance didn't happen by chance and I am definitely more confident now," said the 23-year-old long jumper, who beat London Olympic champion Greg Ruther fordat the Shanghai meet.
Zhang, who failed to smash his own 100m NR of 10.04 sec in Beijing, still earned plaudits from some of the fastest men in the world.
"I am the oldest and fastest man in the world (over 30 years of age), so I look at Zhang and I see the future, not just for China but for athletics all over," 31-year-old Justin Gatlin, the men's 100m champion at the 2004 Olympics, said after winning the sprint in Beijing.
"I think he has a chance to reach many finals at the Olympics and World Championships."
Impressed by Zhang's potential, Gatlin invited the 25-year-old to train with him in Florida later this season.
"My goal is to fill in the blank that no men from China have ever appeared in the 100m final at the Olympics, not just win the title at the National Games," said Zhang.
Benefiting from the country's foreign coaching program, the new breed of athletes, like Wang and Zhang, are more willing than their predecessors to display their individuality and express their opinions in public.
After winning the high jump in the Bird's Nest, Wang bowed with one hand on his chest and the other on his back to the cheering home crowd before making a brief but eloquent speech on how important higher education was to athletes at the post-race media conference.
Feng Shu yong, deputy director of the national track and field administrative center, said: "They are not only improving their results but also their mentality and confidence.
"They are not afraid to challenge the best athletes in the world or to bring out their ambitions, which I believe is a key requirement for top-level athletes."
So far this season Chinese athletes have reached the World Championships' A standards in 13 disciplines, including traditionally weak events like sprinting and jumping.
However, Feng remains guarded about the country's prospects at the Moscow Worlds in August.
"It's too early to make a prediction now as some of our top athletes in the strength and endurance events have injury problems. And the National Games after the Worlds will be a distraction."
Still, the performance of the new generation has impressed some renowned foreign athletes.
"It's exciting. They are catching up. The (Chinese) athletes are making progress," Allyson Felix, the US world and Olympic champion in the women's 200m, said after winning in Beijing.
Felix's countryman, LaShawn Merritt, echoed that sentiment.
"I know Liu Xiang will be back, but China has a lot other great athletes coming up. He will be missed but I am sure there will be somebody else to step up," said Merritt, the 400m gold medalist at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
参考译文：在刘翔因伤淡出体坛的2013年，中国田径并没有因为缺少领军人物而失去前进的速度。
一批年轻运动员通过自己优异的成绩和有感染力的个性，撑起中国田径走出刘翔奥运会伤退后的阴影，继续在世界舞台展现中国田径的潜力。
虽然在美国养伤的刘翔没能参赛，最近在国内举办的两次国际田径盛会(国际田联上海钻石联赛和北京挑战赛)，依然吸引了媒体的广泛观众和大批观众到现场观赛，中国年轻选手表现出了具备世界顶尖水平的竞争力，表现出了在未来代替刘翔领军中国田径的信心。
来自清华大学的跳高小将王宇就是其中的优秀代表，他在上周结束的北京站比赛中以个人最好成绩2.33米在鸟巢取得冠军。2.33米也是今年世界第二好的成绩，只比于伦敦奥运会银牌得主，美国名将埃里克-凯纳德创造的最好成绩低了0.01米。而2.33米也正是凯纳德在伦敦获得银牌的成绩。
“对于刘翔受伤是一个时代终结的问题，我觉得这么说不合适。对于我们这代运动员来说，(面对诸多关注和期待)压力肯定是有的，我坚信中国田径的后起之秀能填补空白，达到刘翔那样的成绩，”21岁的王宇说。
除了优秀的竞技水平，王宇修长的身材和谦逊的气质也为他赢得了不少的粉丝。虽然还很年轻，他已经开始被称为“刘翔的接班人”。而相对于刘翔，王宇在校大学生的身份似乎更加吸引人，成长在大学校园里的运动员比成长在体工队时代的专业运动员在教育背景上更有优势。但王宇依然对刘翔充满敬意。
“刘翔对我们的影响是他的精神，无论伤病或其他原因，他给我们这一代运动员留下了最大精神财富就是坚持和永不放弃。”
与王宇同时在近期国内赛事中惊艳亮相的还有跳远运动员李金哲和同样来自清华大学的短跑选手张培萌。
李金哲在上海钻石联赛上力压伦敦奥运会金牌得主格雷格?卢瑟福德取得冠军，他的夺冠成绩8.34米刷新了今年世界最好成绩。张培萌则在最近的比赛中接连打破男子100米和200米两个项目的全国纪录，成为中国新飞人。
“我想我证明了自己的实力不是昙花一现，”李金哲北京站再次夺冠后说。
虽然张培萌没能在北京站打破自己刚刚创造的10.04秒的全国纪录，但他的潜力已经获得了美国名将、2004年雅典奥运会男子百米冠军贾斯丁•加特林的认可。
“人们都说我是30岁以上的人里跑得最快的，我现在看到了张，我觉得看到了田径运动的未来，”加特林说。
“我认为他有潜力在不久的未来进入奥运会和世锦赛的百米决赛。”
加特林也表示，将会邀请张培萌前往美国佛罗里达州和他一起训练，相信他的美国教练能够帮助提高这位中国小将的水平。
在很多国内运动员都将自己今年的参赛重点放在世锦赛(8月10日至18日)后的全运会上时，张培萌表示他的眼光不止于此。
“终极目标并不是全运会，我的目标还是自己的成绩能够达到高峰。并不是在全运会拿到金牌。我希望能够填补中国男子选手没有在奥运会男子百米决赛出现过的空白。”
经历了高等教育的熏陶和平凡的对外交流，以王宇和张培萌为代表的新一代的田径选手正在为中国体育树立新的形象。他们比以往在体工队体制下成长起来的运动员更具个性，也更愿意在公众面前表达自己的个人特色。
赢得北京站的比赛后，王宇兴奋地在鸟巢主场观众注视中行绅士礼，随后又在发布会上高谈阔论清华大学“体格人格并重”的教育原则。
田径运动管理中心副主任冯树勇也表示，这批运动员和以前相比展现出了新的特征。
“他们不只是成绩好，心理素质和自信心也进步显著。不惧怕挑战国际大牌明星，也不吝啬表达自己的目标。这也是优秀运动员必备的素质。”
中国新星们的表现也引起了高水平对手的注意。
美国女子200米奥运冠军艾莉森?菲利克斯表示“非常兴奋看到中国运动员在短距离项目上取得的进步，他们正在大步追赶”。她的同胞拉肖恩?梅里特，北京2008年奥运会男子400米的冠军，也表示十分欣喜看到刘翔因伤淡出时中国田径后及后人。
“我知道刘翔会回来的，但是中国还有很多其他优秀的运动员正在赶上来。我们会想念刘翔，但是我肯定会有其他的中国人赶超他。”(chinadaily)