China sweeps medals in women's marathon Olympic test event

BEIJING, April 20 (Xinhua) -- China made a clean sweep of women's podium at the Good Luck Beijing Marathon race Sunday, with Chen Rong winning the gold in half journey of raining.

Chen Rong finished at two hours, 30 minutes and 42 seconds in the National Stadium, the end of the 42.195 km race.

"I didn't feel well," said Chen. "It's a little cold outside. But I'm happy I managed to get the gold."

"I'm not sure whether I can qualify for the Olympics," she added. "If I can, I'll try my best."

China's Zhou Chunxiu, maintaining her momentum of recent years in which she has won the silver medal at the 2007 world Championships in Osaka, Japan and the gold medal at the 2006 Asian Games in Doha, Qatar, took the silver in two hours, 37 minutes, and 49 seconds.

The temperature dropped to about 15 Celcius dgrees after the start, much cooler and clearer than the last two days when a race walking challenge was held, but it turned raining one and a half hour later, breaking up mass performance at the terminal.

"After 30 kilometers, it was so difficult, and I was so tired," Zhou said. "Marathon is a sport requiring great determination, so I just stuck to the end."

"The whole course is very flat and will help runners a lot improve their results, maybe someone could finish within two hours and 25 minutes," said Zhou who has been expected as another Olympic hope for Chinese track and field besides Olympic hurdle champion Liu Xiang.

Zhu Xiaolin finished the third at two hours, 37 minutes, and 49seconds.

"I just gave 70 percent to 80 percent of my energy," said Zhu. "Our purpose for today was to know more about the course as it's the course for the Olympic Games."

British Yamauchi Mara Rosalind who finished the fifth place said the course is "smooth" and the stadium is "fantastic".

The Marathon race, shooting off at 7:30 Sunday morning, is one of the Good Luck series test events for the Beijing Olympics in the coming summer.

Participants of the Good Luck Beijing 2008 international Marathon race tried the newly announced course for the Beijing Olympic Games marathon race.

It started from Tiananmen Square, located at the heart of the capital as a symbolic venue to hold prominent ceremonies in China, and finishes at the National Stadium, nicknamed as Bird's Nest, going along in a route that meets historical cites and major business streets including China's top two universities.