Liu Xiangrong leads China's gold charge in EAG athletics

China's Liu Xiangrong can finally breathe a sigh of relief after winning the women's shot put gold medal at the 6th East Asian Games in Tianjin on Monday.

For the 25-year-old shot putter who finished 7th at the London Olympics last summer, winning an EAG gold is not the sole reason for celebration. The end of a long and busy, in some sense exhausting, season could be better news.

"Finally, the season is over. It was such a tough season because it felt like when other athletes were competing I was competing, and when the others were having a rest I was still competing," she said.

"Since this May I have competed in more than 10 meets, including the Asian Championships in India, the Kazan University Games, the Moscow World Championships, the National Games and now the East Asian Games," said Liu, who won a silver in Kazan and a gold in the Asian Championships.

"After the National Games, I took just several days off and then returned to prepare for this games. I was thinking 'I had to at least throw over 18 meters, or it would be too embarrassing.' So achieving a winning mark of 18.40 is quite satisfying," said Liu, whose PB is 19.24m, recorded in Wiesbaden, Germany in 2012.

In fact, with rich international experience, the seasoned Liu was so outstanding in the field of EAG that each of her four valid results was good enough to secure the gold because the silver medalist Lin Chia Ying of Chinese Taipei only posted 16.95m.

Liu's overwhelming dominance can be seen as an example of China's reign in the EAG athletics, with seven of 11 golds going to the host on Monday.

Chinese won the men's hammer, men's and women's 400m hurdles, men's and women's 1,500m, women's 200 as well as women's shot put.

Japan won three golds, including the first gold of the 6th EAG, earned by Japanese runner Riko Matsuzaki from the women's 5,000m, who timed 15 minutes, 26.05 seconds. Japan also claimed the men's pole vault and 200m sprint events.

South Korean jumper Kim Sang Su took the men's long jump gold thanks to his fifth effort of 7.71 meters, edging local favorite Yun Zhiming by two centimeters.