China unveils London Athletics World Championships squad

Xie Zhenye of China and his teammate Su Bingtian of China compete with Christian Coleman of USA and his teammte Tyson Gay of USA during men's 4 x 100m relay round 1 at Olympic Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazi, August 18, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]

BEIJING - China has announced a 46-strong team to compete at the upcoming athletics world championships next month in London.

The Chinese Athletics Association released the roster on Wednesday, with top sprinter Su Bingtian, shot put medal hopeful Gong Lijiao and high jump star Zhang Guowei all included.

Although China's best world championships result in the men's 100m is a ninth place finish in the final by Su in 2015, the blue ribbon event remains a big attraction, not just because world and Olympic champion Usain Bolt will run his final worlds, but also because Su and Xie Zhenye will be challenging the Chinese record in the British capital.

Medal hopes will be pinned on women's shot put, race walk, long jump and triple jump.

Gong will be on her sixth trip to the world championships and a gold medal is her goal. Already with three wins in this season's IAAF Diamond League series, Gong has reason to be confident going into London.

Olympic champions Wang Zhen and Liu Hong will be missing from this year's competition, but Chinese race walkers still are strong competitors for the titles.

Beijing worlds runner-up Lyu Xiuzhi is presented with the best chance to move to the top of the podium in the absence of defending champion Liu while Wang Kaihua, a world championships rookie, will contend for the men's honor, coming to London with this year's world lead time of 1:17:54.

Rio Olympic bronze medalist Dong Bin will aim for a medal in the men's triple jump while Beijing worlds bronze medalist Wang Jianan will lead a three-man long jump charge this time.

High Jumper Zhang has been struggling with injuries since the Rio Olympics and is still in search of his best form, so a medal could be too high a bar for him this time.