BEIJING, Sept. 20 -- China will send a 62-athlete team spearheaded by defending world champions Gong Lijiao and Yang Jiayu to compete in the 2019 IAAF World Championships slated for Sept. 27 to Oct. 6 in Doha, Qatar.
The Chinese Athletics Association (CAA) presented the squad during a news conference here on Friday. The 62 athletes will take part in 25 events with hopes of gold medals pinned on women's shot put, javelin throw, 20-kilometer race walk and 50km race walk.
"I can not wait for the start of the World Championships," said 30-year-old shot putter Gong, who will be competing in her seventh consecutive World Championships. "My expectation for the Doha worlds is quite simple - enjoying the competition and retaining my world title."
The world top ranked Gong won back-to-back Diamond League trophies last month. Her teammate Lv Huihui, a 30-year-old javelin thrower, also won the Diamond prize this year and has been on top of the world ranking for the entire season.
The Chinese team also includes women's 20km race walk world champion Yang and Olympic gold medalist Liu Hong, who holds both the 20km and 50km race walk world records.
China collected two gold, three silver and two bronze medals at the London worlds two years ago. The team's expectation for Doha is to take more titles and more medals than they did in London, according to Yu Hongchen, vice president of the CAA.