The 24-year-old Japanese native track and field athlete suddenly represented China in the competition this year and has entered the Olympic qualification rankings
Counting the fingers, the qualifying window for the track and field events of the Paris Olympics has been open for about nine months.
In the four consecutive National Indoor Athletics Grand Prix, there were no new Olympic finalists. But there was a very unexpected participant, and she even appeared in the World Athletics Federation's Olympic Qualification Rankings.
She is the women's middle-distance runner Niu Jiahui. According to the latest Olympic qualification rankings, Niu Jiahui is ranked 61st in the women's 5000m Olympic qualification rankings, behind He Wuxia and Ma Xiuzhen among Chinese athletes. In this event, 42 athletes will participate in the Olympic Games.
At the Nanjing Station of the National Indoor Track and Field Grand Prix that ended a few days ago, Niu Jiahui represented the Jiangsu team and won the fourth place in the 1500 meters in 4:24.92, creating a personal best.
Niu Jiahui's special point is that although her parents are Chinese, she was born and raised in Japan. To be exact, it is a native of Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka Prefecture.
His father, Niu Xinxiang, is a men's 3000m steeplechase. 's mother is much more famous, Zhao Youfeng. She was the champion of the women's marathon at the Beijing Asian Games, the two-time Nagoya women's marathon champion, and the fifth place in the women's marathon at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
In September 2000, Zhao Youfeng gave birth to Niu Jiahui. In order to give birth smoothly, she also specially resigned from the Tokai Bank Athletics Club, where she worked at the time.
Niu Jiahui participated in the national women's post pass tournament in middle school and college. After graduating from university, she joined the Japan Postal Savings Bank and became a member of the Japan Post Women's Athletics Team.
In terms of competition level, Niu Jiahui can only be said to be acceptable in Japan, which is full of talents. But with a height of 1.78 meters, she looks very cute, and coupled with the relationship between her famous mother, her popularity among Chinese and Japanese track and field fans is actually not low.
It's just that I haven't participated in any high-level events, and I don't have high-light shots worth talking about. So for more sports fans, even if they have heard it, it is more like an urban legend vaguely ethereal.
But now Niu Jiahui has clearly stepped into the forefront. In China, she represents the Jiangsu Ironman team, because Zhao Youfeng is a native of Nanjing, Jiangsu.
The reason why Niu Jiahui is famous in the Olympic qualification rankings is because she ran a few races in Japan in the second half of last year, which is enough to meet the minimum of three.
It can be seen from the database of the World Athletics Federation that Niu Jiahui has been competing in Japan from 2018 to 2023, with various student competitions, club competitions, and regional competitions, which belong to the lowest level of F-level events, and occasionally set foot in E-level events. He has not participated in domestic first-class events such as the National Championships or the Japan Athletics Grand Prix Series.
The World Athletics Federation shows that her nationality is Chinese, and there is no content that takes three years to change her nationality, so Niu Jiahui should belong to the status of Chinese in Japan.
Because she finished fourth in the women's 1500m in Jinan and Nanjing, Niu Jiahui will definitely participate in the National Indoor Track and Field Championships at the end of the month.
Will Niu Jiahui change the pattern of women's middle-distance running in China? It is unlikely at present, after all, it is determined by the level of competition in the past. But being able to come back is extraordinary in itself. At least it also shows that the Chinese Athletics Association is open to reducing talents without sticking to one pattern.