Qianjiang Evening News hourly news reporter Yang Wan
On the evening of August 5, after two fierce competition days, the women's heptathlon competition at the Tokyo Olympics ended at the New National Stadium, and China's Zheng Ninali finished 10th with 6318 points.
Although there is still a long way to go before the medal, as the first naturalized athlete in the history of Chinese athletics, Zheng Ninali has written a new history, and at the same time she helped her grandmother Zheng Fengrong realize her dream of participating in the Olympic Games.
Born in Canada in 1998, Zheng Ninali is of mixed Chinese and German descent and was a former Canadian citizen. Born into a sports family, her grandmother was Zheng Fengrong, a famous Chinese track and field star, and her grandfather Duan Qiyan was the men's high jump champion at the first National Games in 1959. Today, in the Shandong Athletics Management Center's Shandong Athletics Games medal table, Zheng Fengrong's name is still star-studded.
In 1957, Zheng Fengrong successfully jumped 1.77 meters, breaking the women's high jump world record of 1.76 meters held by American athlete McDaniel at that time, becoming the first female athlete in China to break the world record and the first athlete to break the world record in athletics. In 2008, Zheng Fengrong participated in the torch relay activities of the Beijing Olympic Games as a torchbearer. However, unfortunately, due to historical reasons, Zheng Fengrong has never been on the Olympic field, which has become an important regret in her life.
Under the influence of her grandmother, Zheng Ninali has shown excellent athletic talent from an early age, and is proficient in many track and field events such as 100 meters hurdles, 200 meters, 800 meters, high jump, long jump, shot put and javelin. In The eyes of Zheng Ninali, she grew up under the Chinese training method.
Zheng Ninali once said in an interview that she has been practicing high jumping with her grandmother and grandfather since she was a child, from the beginning of jumping and playing, to slowly jumping out of the results, inseparable from her grandmother's training and guidance, "I feel that my grandmother is the kind of person who is never afraid of tired, she always told me that she trained very fiercely, almost 330 days a year, so every time I feel tired from the competition, I will think about how my grandmother trained and competed at that time." ”
In 2017, Zheng Ninali participated in the Tianjin National Games as an overseas Chinese, and the following year represented Canada in the Commonwealth Games to win the runner-up, and also ranked first in the world in the heptathlon U20, which attracted the attention and invitation of the Canadian athletics team. However, on Zheng Ninali's 20th birthday, she chose to become a Chinese citizen. Zheng Ninali admitted that such a choice is to realize her long-cherished wish to participate in the Olympic Games for her grandmother. "I want to go to the Olympics, and I think my grandmother is very happy because she didn't have a chance at that time, and I want to represent her and fight for China."
And Zheng Fengrong is also proud of her grandson, "My granddaughter Nina is very sensible and independent, and the training is very hard. More than two years ago, in an interview with Beijing Youth Daily, Zheng Fengrong proudly said, "Without the spirit of perseverance, it is difficult to imagine the success today." ”
The women's heptathlon covers almost every test on the track and field, from running high jump to javelin shot put. In order to put on the chinese Olympic team's jersey, Zheng Ninali encountered more than these seven levels.
According to the IOC regulations, athletes who represent their new country in world competitions such as the Olympic Games after changing their nationality must be eligible for the Olympic Games after 3 years. Zheng Ninali, who submitted her application in 2018, will almost 100% miss the Tokyo Olympics, knowing that there is no result, but Zheng Ninali has no remorse.
With a new training environment, a new place to live, and a new name, Zheng Ninali returned to China from scratch, and when the Tokyo Olympics were forced to be postponed, her patience was finally given life. On April 12 this year, she officially joined the Chinese athletics team, but she must meet the A standard to qualify for the Olympic Games. With two months to go until June 29, she must race against time.
Since then, from the National Games qualification tournament in May to the World Athletics Federation All-Around Challenge in Spain in mid-June, to the Estonian National Athletics Championships, Zheng Nina has won Olympic points in the world run. On July 1, in the list of "women's heptathlons" announced by the IAAF, she finally found her name - "Zheng Ninali/China".
Coming to the Tokyo Olympic Games, Zheng Ninali ran a time of 13.27 seconds in the 100m hurdles of the first event, setting a new personal best (PB) and scoring 1084 points. In the subsequent high jump competition, Zheng Ninali challenged 1.83 three times without success, ranking 11th with a score of 1.80 meters, scoring 978 points. In the next two competitions, Zheng Ninali threw a time of 13 meters 55 in the shot put competition, ranking 13th; in the 200 meters, she ran 24.56 seconds, ranking 16th, with 928 points.
After the four competitions on the first day of August 4, Zheng Ninali temporarily ranked tenth with a total score of 3754 points. In the three events on the 5th, Zheng Ninali jumped 6 meters 12 in the long jump, ranking second in the group, with 887 points; in the javelin competition, she threw 42 meters 60 and scored 717 points; after the last 800 meters, Zheng Ninali ranked tenth with a total score of 6318 points.
Although she failed to complete the goal set before the competition to "hope to compete for a brand in the heptathlon at the Tokyo Olympic Games", Zheng Ninali has proved her efforts and dedication, and her arrival has also made up for the shortcomings of the Chinese women's pentathlon and enhanced China's Asian competitiveness in this project. According to official data, Zheng Ninali scored 6021 points in the women's heptathlon in 2017, while the championship results of the National Games in those years did not reach 6000 points, and the 2017 National Athletics Championships championship was 5137 points.
At the Spain Challenge, which ended in June this year, she scored 6,358 points, setting a new national record for the women's heptathlon. Although this result is still a short distance from the Asian record of 6942 points, the 22-year-old Zheng Ninali has pushed the heptathlon to a new height – more importantly, she is still growing and improving, sprinting towards what she calls the dream of an "Olympic medal".
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Source: Qianjiang Evening News Hourly News