He Jie, 24, broke the Chinese national record for men's marathon at the 2023 Wuxi Marathon on Sunday with a time of 2 hours, 7 minutes and 30 seconds. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

He Jie, 24, broke the national record for the men's marathon in China on Sunday with a time of 2 hours 7 minutes 30 seconds. He is preparing to compete at 2024 Paris Olympics.

He, from the Ningxia Hui autonomous region, joined the 2023 Wuxi Marathon in Jiangsu province, with 33,000 runners, including 27 foreigners. The event was seen as the highest-level marathon this year, as it combined multiple events — the national marathon championship (Wuxi station), qualification for 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest and qualification for the Asian Games in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province. About 160 professional runners from national and regional teams took a part.

He broke the record set by Ren Yunlong in the Beijing Marathon in 2007. Ren finished in 2 hours 8 minutes 15 seconds. In the Shenzhen Marathon a month ago, He finished in 2 hours 13 minutes 29 seconds.

He Jie, 24, broke the Chinese national record for men's marathon at the 2023 Wuxi Marathon on Sunday with a time of 2 hours, 7 minutes and 30 seconds. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

He Jie, 24, broke the Chinese national record for men's marathon at the 2023 Wuxi Marathon on Sunday with a time of 2 hours, 7 minutes and 30 seconds. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]