CHENGDU, China, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Olympic bronze medalist Zhao Jie became the first Asian female hammer thrower to break the 78-meter barrier as the 23-year-old achieved 78.22m in a Chinese national throws meeting here on Friday.
Four days after improving her personal best mark by one centimeter to 77.61m, Zhao maintained her momentum with a first round effort of 77.31m to take the lead and went on to hurl 78.22m in the second round to seal the win.
Zhao's winning mark beat the previous Asian record of 77.68m set by compatriot Wang Zheng in 2014, also in Chengdu.
Teenager Zhang Jiale, third finisher at the World Championships in Tokyo last September, took the silver at 77.15m, which was just nine centimeters shy of her own world U20 record.
Gao Jinyao settled third at 73.17m and the top six finishers in the competition all achieved marks over 71 meters. ■
