China's Liu Hong, a three-time world championships medalist, set a world record as she broke the women's 20km race walk by nearly 25 seconds at the Spanish leg of the IAAF Race Walking Challenge in La Coruna on Saturday.

Liu set at time of 1 hour, 24 minutes, 38 seconds, beating previous record time of 1:25:02 set by Yelena Lashmanova of Russia at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, according to Reuters.

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Liu's victory is only one of several others that Chinese athletic fans are celebrating. 2012 London Olympic Games bronze medalist Qieyang Shijie finished in second place with 1:27:44.

According to IAAF results log, third goes to Brazil's Erica De Sena who finished in 1:29:50, fourth to Portugal's Ana Cabecinha with a set of 1:30:19 and fifth to Italy's Valentina Trapletti with a set of 1:31:44.

According to Xinhua, China's men team also got a podium finish at the IAAF Race Walking Challenge as Wang Zhen finished first with a time of 1:18:00, runner-up Chen Ding came in at 1:18:44, a lag of just 44 minutes, and in third place Cai Zelin finished at 1:19:45.

The International Association of Athletics Federations said in a report that Liu performed her solid style of walking, which made her receive only one warning. Liu will be eager to get the gold medal as she already gathered two bronze medals in 2009 and 2013 and a silver medal in 2011 at the IAAF World Champions held in Daegu, the report added. The 28-year-old Chinese race walker holds the Asian record of the Olympic 20km distance.

In a report by Global Times, Sergey Bubka, the world athletics governing body IAAF vice president, said that China has great potential in athletics. 

"I'm sure you have infinite potential and China will continue to be successful in athletics," Bubka said in an email to Xinhua last month. He also noted that China's athletes are always among top athletes.

Bubka said that the IAAF appreciates China's effort in developing athletics. Pundits say this may be an indication that cities in China will likely continue to be chosen to host top athletic events in the future.

TagsLiu Hong, walk world record, Liu Hong breaks record, women 20km race walk, Liu Hong wins world race walk, IAAF Race Walking Challenge