BEIJING - Chinese sprinter Ge Manqi claimed that all the effort she put in during her winter training was worthwhile, after she set her personal best time of 22.69s in the 200m on Sunday.

In an event organized by the Chinese Athletics Association in the country's southeastern city of Fuzhou, Ge improved on her previous personal best of 23.12s, with her new mark also representing the fastest 200m time by a Chinese woman since 1998.

"Hard work pays off!" Ge wrote on social media.

Ge admitted she hadn't improved her 200m performance for a long time and said she had been training especially hard over the winter, without even one day off.

"I just wanted to give a big hug to my coach after the race, and I will keep working hard to continue my form," she said.