Lebogang Shange shatters national race walking record

Race walker Lebogang Shange took another step forward on Monday, building on his steady progress by breaking his own national 10km record in China.

Shange, who finished fourth in the 20km race at the World Championships in London last month, won the contest over the shorter distance during a four-day competition held at Lake Taihu.

He crossed the line in 39:48, holding off Australian Olympic bronze medallist Dane Bird-Smith by seven seconds and chopping 41 seconds off his own SA mark set in Rome last year.

The day before, Shange had completed the 20km battle in 1:24:21 at the annual competition, which hosted international athletes competing over a variety of distances, just two seconds off the pace of Swedish winner Perseus Karlstrom.

After two days of competition, the 27-year-old South African held the lead in the race for the overall title, with Bird-Smith lying in second place.