On March 9th, 2013, International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) announced that the famous Tibetan race walking athlete Choeyang Kyi ranks No.3 in the latest world ranking of female race walking athletes.

IAAF：Race walking athlete Choeyang Kyi ranks No.3 in the world [Photo/Files]

Choeyang Kyi, whose name in Tibetan means "the sun," is from a rural family in Haiyan County, located in the Haibei Tibetan autonomous prefecture in northwest China's Qinghai province. She grew up herding yaks on a plateau meadow, just like many other women from rural Tibet.

However, she displayed her athletic ability at the age of nine and became known in her community for her exceptional horse-riding skills. Her parents sent her to the provincial sports school seven years later after she won a township-level marathon.

In 2008, Choeyang was picked by coach Yuan Dejiu to concentrate on the race walking event. She joined the national race walking team two years later.

On Aug. 11, 2012, 22-year-old Choeyang Kyi etched her name into history as China's first Tibetan Olympic medalist, having secured a bronze medal in the women's 20-km race walk event held at the London Summer Olympics.

The 22-year-old Tibetan girl Choeyang Kyi(R), the first Tibetan Olympian in the Chinese Olympic history, won the bronze medal in the women's 20-kilometer race walk on Saturday, August 11, 2012. [Athletes from Russia won the first and second medal. [Photo/HBTV]

As a native Tibetan athlete from China's Qinghai province, Choeyang has made many achievements consistently in international competitions. She is hailed as "the pride of Qinghai, of Tibetans and of China."

Choeyang’s squashing into top three in the world race walking is meaningful for the enhancement of race walking in Qinghai, which will attract more and more excellent athletes to get involved and build a strong team of backup athletes.