BEIJING, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) -- China's promising long jumper Shi Yuhao will compete in his first national-level event for two years at the 2020 Chinese National Athletics Championships next week and will test his sprinting ability in the 100 meters.

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The 21-year-old suffered a severe injury in the Shanghai Diamond League two years ago where he registered a personal best of 8.43 meters to finish second but went hospital after injuring his left foot. He underwent surgeries on the foot and spent more than six months in rehabilitation.

He came back from the injury at the beginning of the year, but following the outbreak of coronavirus, his return was postponed by a few months.

The national championships slated for Sept. 15-18 in Shaoxing will be Shi's first national-level competition since the injury. Last month he competed in the 100m race in a provincial testing event and improved his personal best to 10.42 seconds, which largely boosted his confidence in his speed ability.

"I did not expect to run so fast. My expectation was to break 10.60s," Shi said. "After clocking 10.52s in the preliminaries, I just went all out in the final."

"Sprinting and long jump are always related events. If you can run faster in 100m, your long-jump result will be better. I want to further test my speed ability in the national championships. My goal was to make it to the 100m final," he added.

Because of his foot injury, Shi has been attempting to switch his take-off leg to his right. He admitted the process is very difficult and he is still not familiar with the change.

"It's indeed very difficult. It feels like you have been eating with your left hand all your life, and suddenly you need to start using your right hand. It is quite uncomfortable," he said.

Although the process is quite tough, the Asian junior record holder still firmly believes that he can return to his best form soon.

"I am confident, especially since my speed ability has improved so much. My current speed is much faster than when I achieved 8.43m. To jump with such speed, (return to his best form) would not be a problem," he said.