On January 5, 2022, Beijing time, FINA officially announced that Zhang Junhong, a 31-year-old Malaysian diving star, officially retired. Zhang Junhong defeated Ren Qian and Si Yajie at the World Championships and was crowned the women's 10m platform world champion. In addition, Zhang Junhong also won the Olympic silver medal in the double event, and it is indeed not easy for Zhang Junhong to achieve such a result in the face of the powerful Chinese diving dream team.
In recent years, although Zhang Junhong has worked hard to persevere, as she has increased her age, her competitive state has declined sharply, and her physical state is also very general, and Zhang Junhong's competitiveness has greatly declined. After the Tokyo Olympics, the cooperation between Zhang Junhong and the Malaysian Swimming Association came to an end, because of the lack of sponsors, Zhang Junhong was difficult to continue to participate as an athlete, and finally announced her retirement.
Looking back at Zhang Junhong's career, it can be summed up in two words: persistence and success. From the springboard to the platform, Zhang Junhong fully unleashed her potential, but she suffered a major injury during a critical period in her career and once faced retirement. However, with the encouragement of her coach and family, Zhang Junhong persevered, which led to the success of the Olympic Games and the World Championships, and her persistence was very meaningful.
The runner-up in the women's doubles 10m platform at the Olympic Games and the world championships women's single 10m platform champion gave Zhang Junhong a very successful career. Why? Because the Chinese diving dream team is too strong, especially in the women's platform event, the Chinese team has a group advantage. It was in this situation that Zhang Junhong actually defeated Ren Qian and Si Yajie and took away a valuable gold medal in the world championship single event.
Looking back now, Zhang Junhong still expressed disbelief because she defeated two Chinese masters. In the process of Zhang Junhong's fame, Coach Yang Zhuliang from China was indispensable, and she fully excavated Zhang Junhong's advantages and helped Zhang Junhong become a world champion. Don't forget, when Zhang Junhong won the World Championships, she only practiced in the platform project for two years, and most of the time before she practiced springboard, which shows that Zhang Junhong is very talented, and it also shows that her coach is discerning.
Because of Zhang Junhong and Penderella, the Malaysian diving team used to be very competitive, but they were not successful in the replacement of old and new, and now the Malaysian diving team has fallen behind in an all-round way, with the retirement of Zhang Junhong, Malaysia can only be picked by the youngster!