Chinese Runner Claims Yet Another Record : Track & field: Wang Junxia wins 3,000 meters in 8:12:19 to head field of five to better previous world mark.

Another day, another world record by a Chinese woman runner.

Wang Junxia chopped 10 seconds off the 3,000-meter record Sunday at the seventh National Games with a time of 8 minutes 12.19 seconds.

It was the third time in five days that a Chinese woman runner has broken a track and field world record.

Perhaps even more remarkable is that five Chinese were under the old the 3,000-meter world record of 8:22.62, set nine years ago by Tatyana Kazankina of the former Soviet Union. Qu Yunxia finished just behind Wang in 8:12.27 in Sunday’s second heat.

Wang, 20, smashed the 10,000-meter world mark by 42 seconds last Wednesday. Then Saturday, Qu set a record in the 1,500 meters, barely ahead of Wang, who also broke the old world mark.

Wang by herself broke three world records within five days, an astounding feat.

More records could fall in today’s finals.

All five runners who broke the 3,000 record are from Liaoning province, where Coach Ma Zunren has been working miracles with his athletes, using strange techniques and potions. Ma coaches 18 women from Liaoning. Most are peasants, Ma says, who can endure rigorous training.

The unprecedented success of the Chinese runners has led to speculation they use performance-enhancing drugs.

“This kind of talk makes me really angry,” Wang said Saturday. Both she and Qu swore they had never taken such drugs.

Ma also lashed out at critics who question China’s sudden dominance in the sport.

“Now that we’re strong, they say we did it through drugs,” he said. “They’re the ones on drugs.”

Ma refused to divulge the secret to his training, saying he planned to have it patented. He did show a box of the potion made from fungus from the “dong qiong sya cao” caterpillar.

The caterpillar, or worm, whose name translated means “winter-bug-summer-grass,” lives in the summer at high altitudes. It dies in the winter and is collected by peasants, who sell the caterpillar to herbal medicine markets.