Wang Jianan competes in the men’s long jump final at the World Athletics Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, United States, on July 16. Wang won China’s first long jump gold medal at the world championships. (Charlie Riedel / AP)

EUGENE, Oregon－Team China's legendary American coach Randy Huntington rates Wang Jianan's long jump gold at the world championships among his athletes' greatest achievements.

Huntington guided Mike Powell (long jump) and Willie Banks (triple jump) to world-record-breaking feats, and watched with similar pride on July 17 when his latest star pupil collected China's first-ever world title in the horizontal jumping events with his final effort of 8.36 meters.

"He is probably third," Huntington told Xinhua when asked where Wang's gold ranks on his all-time list of coaching achievements. "It would be Mike in 8.95m (1991) and Banks going 18.20m (1988)."

Huntington remains a highly respected figure in the sport, with six of his athletes placing in the US all-time top 10 of their respective events.

Wang has been coached by Huntington for seven years and gave him a big hug after the victory at Hayward Field in the University of Oregon.

And Wang's on-track celebrations took Huntington back to the night 31 years ago when Powell broke Bob Beamon's 23-year-old long jump record in Tokyo.

"He came out of the pit, running down the whole track, just opened his arms up," he recalled. "He did almost a duplicate of what Mike did at the 1991 world championships. It was fascinating."

Huntington, who turns 68 this week, said he was not surprised by Wang's triumph. Wang, who also goes by the English name Eddie, was a bronze medalist at the 2015 Beijing worlds.

"I think he was capable of jumping 8.40 to 8.50 if the event was going on last year," Huntington said. "After the qualifying round I told him, 'Eddie, you could win this thing.' I told him, 'Eddie, this is your house, this is my house. Nobody beats you in our house.'"

Huntington earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Oregon in 1982 and Wang won the long jump title at the 2014 world junior championships at Hayward Field.

Huntington was also instrumental in helping Su Bingtian become the first Chinese to run in a 100-meter final at the Olympics last year, when he finished eighth, having set an Asian-record 9.83 seconds in his semifinal.

"Jianan's gold medal is really close to Su's 9.83," said Huntington. "They are very similar. Su's performance is better, but Jianan's result was a gold medal. We have to understand that when you go into world championships and the Olympic Games, you are there to win and to medal."

Su missed out on the final this time, clocking 10.10 sec in the first round and 10.30 in the semifinals.

But Huntington still believes that Su, who will be 33 in August, can run faster than 9.83.

"The first round was his first race of the year," he said. "You don't come to a world championships for your first race. It doesn't work. You don't have confidence then. But he can still run low 9.80s easily, for sure."

He said Su, who has the highest stride frequency in the world, needs to improve his stride length.

"We know what the problem is, but partially solved the problem. The partial solution gets him to 9.83 and the full solution will get him to under 9.75."

The COVID-19 pandemic has kept Huntington away from China and he has not coached Su since the Tokyo Olympics.

New methods

Huntington believes outdated coaching methods have stunted China's development in sprinting and jumping.

"There are a lot of young talents in China," he said. "They are just stuck in the old training methods. That is why you can find a bunch of people running 10.40 or 10.30. Old training methods can get you there. If you want to get under 10.10 or 10.00, you need to change the training methods.

"The biggest problem with China right now in track and field, in the sprint and jump, is a lack of education. They (coaches) are not given the right information. When they do get the right information, they say no and they are not right."

"The CAA (Chinese Athletics Association) needs to get all the coaches educated ... I want the coaches to be professional."

Huntington, one of only five coaches in his country to be rated as a USA Track & Field (USATF) Master Coach in jumping, revealed he will leave the Chinese team soon for retirement.

"I am 68. I have a mother to take care of. I have some responsibility here in the US that I have given up for nine years," he explained. "I cannot continue. I can still help from a distance. I just can't be in China full time."

Huntington has never married and admits his personal life has taken a backseat to his coaching career.

"That is the powerful drug that helps a person to achieve his dreams," he said. "That is what I do.

"You look at Jianan and his dream. This was beyond his dreams. I was sure he could achieve this. For me what drives me is to help people reach their dreams."