On August 4, Beijing time, the athletics competition of the Tokyo Olympic Games continued. In the women's heptathlon 200m race in the evening, China's Zheng Ninali finished fourth in the group with a time of 24.56 seconds.
This girl with an exotic face attracted the attention of many viewers. In fact, Zheng Ninali, born in 1998, is a mixed-race girl and a naturalized athlete. Zheng Ninali's original nationality is Canada, she is of mixed Chinese-German descent, and her original name is Nina Schultz. In the women's heptathlon event, Zheng Nina is very strong, she once ranked first in the world in the women's pentathlon U20.
It is worth mentioning that Zheng Ninali's grandmother is Zheng Fengrong, a famous Chinese high jumper who set a world record in the high jump in 1957. Her grandfather is Duan Qiyan, a famous high jumper in China, and her mother Duan Li is also a high jumper. It can be seen that Zheng Ninali has excellent genetic genes.
Zheng Ninali played for Canada and won the runner-up of the 2018 Commonwealth Games, but she eventually gave up her Canadian citizenship and returned to Chinese nationality. On her 20th birthday, Zheng Ninali chose to naturalize in China and follow in her grandmother's footsteps to become a Chinese track and field athlete.
However, the price of changing nationality is that she cannot participate in international competitions for 3 years, which makes Zheng Ninali's points in the IAAF almost zero, and she almost can't participate in the Tokyo Olympic Games.
The Tokyo Olympics were postponed for a year due to the epidemic, which allowed Zheng Nina to successfully complete the naturalization procedures. Since April this year, Zheng Ninali has been qualified to fight for the country. She brushed enough points in less than two months to become the only athlete representing China in the women's heptathlon event at the Olympic Games.
It is worth mentioning that Zheng Ninali also has an older brother, named "Zheng Enlai". He was naturalized in China in 2017 and became a member of the Chinese ice hockey team and is currently preparing for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.