With their awe-inspiring predecessors about to hang up their spikes, China's future track stars have taken up the baton in style, fueling their hot pursuit of the world's elite with breakout performances at the National Games.

Leading the charge is China's own "Pocket Rocket" in the making, teen sprinter Chen Yujie, who's emerged as a serious world challenger at just 16 years old, bagging a golden double in the women's 100m and 200m at the 15th National Games, while also becoming the youngest winner of both sprint events in the quadrennial sporting gala's 66-year history.

Chen Yujie (1st R) of Zhejiang competes during the women's 100m final of athletics at China's 15th National Games in Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong Province, Nov. 17, 2025. (Xinhua/Zhou Mu)

The high-schooler set a new under-20 Asian record in 100m, too, clocking a personal best of 11.10 seconds to win Monday's final, before continuing that scintillating pace on Wednesday, battling through her fatigue to win the 200m title in 23.02 — the fastest time in the event since the 2001 Games.

Chen's untapped career potential, coupled with her bright smile and pint-sized physique, has earned her the "Pocket Rocket" nickname, with her fans paying homage to Jamaica's three-time Olympic champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, who originally inspired the catchy track moniker for her diminutive five-foot-tall frame and signature burst of color and speed.

Only one U18 female sprinter in history has broken the 11-second barrier — American sprinter Candace Hill, who ran 10.98, also at 16, at a meet in Seattle, Washington, in June 2015, while Jamaican Olympians Briana Williams and Tina Clayton are the only other U18 athletes to have run faster than Chen over 100m.

With her breakthrough celebrated as a highlight of the Games' entire track and field program, Chen remains a confident, yet humble, young prodigy, who always has her sights set on the next race.

"I've been focusing more on the 100m, so my condition for the 200m wasn't my best," Chen said after winning the 200m final at the Guangdong Olympic Sports Center Stadium in Guangzhou.

"I'm so excited at being able to win both, but now it's all over with the National Games. I want to focus on the long term and keep training well, stay humble and work hard. Now, it's time to look forward."

Two months ago, Chen became the youngest female athlete to compete at the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, where she ran the 200m heats and was on China's women's 4x100m relay squad.

A natural talent

Chen began athletics training in fifth grade and never looked back, taking by storm almost every student meet in her home city of Ningbo, and then provincial youth events in Zhejiang, consistently beating fields of older girls in the 100-200 combo, before eventually taking her senior bow on the national stage last season.

In June 2024, Chen won her first national championships in Rizhao, Shandong province, in a symbolic fashion, edging out Olympians Liang Xiaojing and Ge Manqi in the 100m final to herald the rise of the younger generation.

With Liang and Ge both sidelined by injuries this week, Wei Yongli, one of China's all-time best female sprinters and a three-time Asian Games champion, stood as the only hurdle in the way of Chen claiming her maiden National Games title in the 100m. She became another footnote in the story of Chen's surging rise, finishing runner-up on Monday.

Wei, for whom the Games were a final curtain call, said Chen represents a bright future for Chinese women's sprinting.

"I am actually happy that it was Chen who won today," said the 34-year-old veteran, who, in Beijing in 2015, became the first Chinese woman to reach the 100m semis at the worlds.

"I hope to see her crack 11 seconds on home soil in Beijing in 2027," Wei said, predicting success for Chen when the worlds return to the Chinese capital.

Teaming up with Liang, Ge and Huang Guifen, Wei helped China finish sixth in the women's 4x100m relay final at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, marking the best result ever for Chinese women.

The women's relay squad is already eyeing a higher finish at LA28, with a little help from Chen, said national indoor 60m record holder Ge.

"She's such a strong newcomer and her development has rekindled our hope (for better international results) if she joins us in the relay," said Ge, who helped her home province Fujian win the mixed 4x100m relay on Nov 15.

New kids on the block

The men's sprint events at the National Games also saw a changing of guard, as star veterans Su Bingtian, 36, and Xie Zhenye, 32, both likely ran their final races in Guangzhou.

Su, who became the first and only Chinese man to qualify for an Olympic 100m final at Tokyo 2020, didn't sign up with any individual events, only running a leg on Guangdong's men's 4x100m relay, while Xie missed the cut for the 100m final before finishing 7th in his strength distance 200m.

In the wake of their waning speed follows a younger group of talented runners, led by 20-year-old sprinter Li Zeyang, who became the first man born after 2000 to win the 100m title at the National Games on Monday, and his counterpart Shi Junhao, also 20, who came out strongly from the blocks to win the 200m on Wednesday.

"Obviously they are already better than me and Su at the same age. I hope they can lead Chinese sprinting to a new level," said the reigning 200m Asian record holder Xie.