CHANGCHUN, China, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Former world junior speed skating champion Han Mei became the biggest winner with three gold and two silver medals at the Chinese Speed Skating National Championships which concluded here on Sunday.
Han who earlier claimed two golds in the women's 3,000m and team sprint, and two silvers in the women's 5,000m and team pursuit, demonstrated her prowess in the women's 1,500m, winning in two minutes and 0.9 seconds. Yin Qi came second in 2:01.17 and Li Dan took the bronze.
"My performance is good today, although the result is not quite well compared with that of the best athletes in the world. It's acceptable given my physical condition," Han said.
Competing in five events in four days, Han took it as a stern test to her perseverance and was satisfied with her overall performance.
"I'm satisfied. I lost focus in the final two laps in the 5,000m race and only got a silver, but I'm happy for (winner) Er Ahena Adake. It's good to have a young talent to challenge me in long distance races so that I can be more motivated and we can improve together," the 21-year-old said.
Han told Xinhua that her next goal is to have fruitful results at the 14th Chinese National Winter Games to be held in February, 2020.
"I will compete in my second National Winter Games next year and it will be held in my hometown Hohhot. Hopefully I can win several golds," Han said.
In the men's 1,500m race, Alemasi Kahanbai won the title in 1:50.02, after a runner-up finish in the 10,000m event. Wu Yu ranked second by 0.305 seconds and Liu Yiming was third in 1:51.14.
"I'm not satisfied with what I had. I did not perform to my best form for the championships," Kahanbai said. "Compared with some Europeans skaters, we are still far behind so what we can do is to practice day by day and try to qualify for the Beijing 2022 Winter Games."
Ma Xinxuan and Fang Huiyan won the men's and women's mass start respectively.
After the Championships, the Chinese speed skaters will have a rest until April when they will start training for the new season.
