TIANJIN, Sept. 3 (Xinhua) -- "Mr. Spectacles" Guo Zhongze broke the 16-year old national record on his way to win the 400m at China's National Games here on Sunday.
Guo, 21, clocked 45.14 seconds in the full lap race, beating the previous Chinese mark of 45.25 set by Xu Zizhou in 2001's East Asian Games.
The student from China's prestigious Peking University admitted the result was beyond his expectation.
"I went all out to race and I am so happy about the result. I never expected to break the record," said Guo.
Guo entered the National Games as a "student athlete", an identification distinguished him from most of the professional athletes. He was admitted into the news and mass communication school of Peking University in 2014, studying while training and competing as the country is attempting to explore more ways to folster its sports talent besides the state-run training system.
Therefore, Guo often needs to answer questions that are very different from those for his peers.
"I wear spectacles in my races and they can stay firmly on my nose. I am already used to wear them while I run," Guo explained.
He went on to tell what are the cons and pros as a student athlete.
"I like studying and I like running, so I can enjoy both as a student athlete. I can well adjust my schedule to make them work," he said. "Of course I will have much less leisure time. It is just a small price to pay."
