The 15-year national record for men's marathon was broken by He Jie

New Komarathon record holder: This is a natural result

In October 2007, 10 years and 2 months have passed since Ren Longyun set the national record of 8 hours, 16 minutes and 15 seconds for men's marathon, and countless Chinese athletes tried to make new history, but failed again and again, until March 5 this year, this record was finally broken.

In the 2023 Wuxi Marathon on March 3, 19, China's He Jie ran a good time of 2023 hours, 2 minutes and 7 seconds, setting a new national record.

On March 3, He Jie, who returned to the Kunming training base in Yunnan, was interviewed by a reporter from Beiqing News, and said that he was not particularly excited when he learned that he had broken the national record, but felt very calm, thinking that this was a natural result.

Dialogue with He Jie

Hope for a new breakthrough at the Paris Olympics

Beijing Youth News: Can you tell us about your marathon experience? Why did you choose this project?

He Jie: I have loved running since I was a child, and I like the feeling of sweating when I run and the wind blowing around me. When I was in the fourth or fifth grade of elementary school, I participated in the sports day organized by the school, which was my first competition, and I won the 800 meters and 1500 meters, and I got a towel as a prize. At the time, I was happy and thought that running was something that would give me a sense of accomplishment, and now it seems that it was the towel that started my sports career.

Later, I went to junior high school, and in 2010, I was selected by my teacher and began to practice long-distance running on the school's amateur sports team; He joined the Ningxia team in 2013, where the main events were 3000m and 5000m. I feel like I'm the kind of athlete who shows talent late, and my first few years with the Ningxia team didn't do very well.

In 2018, my coach gradually realized that my running speed was not dominant, but my aerobic capacity was particularly strong, so I switched to marathon. Since I started practicing the marathon, my performance has continued to improve. In 2020, I entered the national team as a sparring partner and later became an independent athlete.

Beijing Youth News: In the course of so many years of training, have you ever wanted to give up?

DH: Absolutely. In 2018, I was admitted to university, but my running performance has not improved much, so I have been struggling between my studies and my profession for a long time. Because I was a child from the countryside and was 20 years old at the time, I also thought about giving up the marathon road altogether and going to classes outside to earn some money and relieve the burden on my family. But my parents have always been very supportive of me, and I feel that I should not give up what I have been doing for more than ten years.

Beijing Youth News: How did you feel when you knew you had broken the national record?

HJ: Frankly speaking, the moment I crossed the finish line and learned that I had broken the national record, I was not particularly excited, but very calm, and felt that it was a natural result. At the same time, you will also feel very relieved, feeling that your sweat, tears, struggles and even grievances for so many years have finally had a good result.

Beijing Youth News: Do you have any plans and expectations for the future?

He Jie: The short-term goal is to try to compete well with the Hangzhou Asian Games and the Budapest World Athletics Championships in the second half of this year, and strive to win a medal at the Asian Games. At the same time, I have been sent to China University of Geosciences (Wuhan) to major in sports management, and I plan to study another undergraduate degree to expand my knowledge, and I will officially enroll in September this year.

In the long run, I will continue to work hard to break the next national record and hope to break new ground at the Paris Olympics. Because I am a marathon person and shoulder a heavy burden, our dream of the Chinese marathon is to set a new record and let the world see that our Chinese marathon is not bad.

Text/Reporter Qu Chang

Intern Zhang Zheng

(Beijing Youth Daily)