National record holder Dou Zhaobo clinched the title of the men's 1,500 meter race at the 10th Chinese National Games on Wednesday.

The 22-year-old Dou from Shandong has been holding the national record of 3:36.49 since October, 2003. He entered the final of the10th National Games with the top qualifying time of 3:45.08 on Tuesday.

In Wednesday's final, Dou hid himself among the second group, leaving Ma Jifu from Gansu to lead the squad alone. However, Ma was surpassed soon after the first 400 meters by other finallists and it was Dou who touched the finish line first at three minutes and 40.88 seconds.

Shanghai's Tang Baojun who trailed Dou closely grabbed the silver medal by clocking at 3:41.10. Yang Anyue from Yunnan was placed third with a result of 3:44.54.