On March 27, Chinese hurdler Wu Yanni made history by earning 1,258 points in the World Athletics women’s rankings, surpassing Japan’s Yumi Tanaka to become Asia’s No. 1 for the first time. This milestone came after her outstanding performance at the 2025 World Athletics Indoor Championships in Nanjing, where she broke records and inspired the nation.
During the championships, Wu set a new personal best of 8.05 seconds in the 60m hurdles preliminaries (预赛) on March 23. Hours later, she amazed fans again by clocking 8.01 seconds in the semifinals (半决赛), breaking the national record of 8.02 seconds. Her achievement marked China’s fastest time and highest ranking in the event at an indoor world championship. “I’ve waited so long for this moment,” Wu said emotionally. She thanked her supporters, adding, “I’ve always been a strong finisher, and the 60m hurdles isn’t my strength, but I’ll always fight for my country.”
___△___ “I wanted to break the national record, even though my team avoided mentioning it to ease my pressure,” she shared. Her progress has been steady since early 2024, with each race showing slight improvements — sometimes by just 0.01 seconds. “I never settle,” she emphasized. “Real growth comes from pushing through challenges.”
Despite being called Asia’s “hurdle queen” by fans, Wu remains humble. “I’m not there yet — it depends on my performance this whole year,” she stated. However, she expressed confidence, quoting Chinese track legend Liu Xiang: “If I perform well, the title should be mine.” Looking ahead, Wu aims to break more records, including the national 100m hurdles mark (12.64 seconds) and the Asian record (12.44 seconds).
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