Defiant Zhang Wenxiu shrugs off past struggles to make hammer throwing history for China
Hammer thrower Zhang Wenxiu made history in Rio by becoming the first-ever Chinese athlete to win an Olympic silver in the discipline – and all after getting back on her feet since going through 219 days of mental hell when wrongly accused of doping.
Hammer thrower Zhang Wenxiu made history in Rio by becoming the first-ever Chinese athlete to win an Olympic silver in the discipline – and all after getting back on her feet since going through 219 days of mental hell when wrongly accused of doping.
The four-time Olympian was in 2014 stripped of her Asian Games gold medal after failing a pre-competition drug test when traces of Zeranol, used as a growth promoter in livestock, were found.
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She waited more than seven months before the Olympic Council of Asia announced its findings that Zhang’s positive test had been the result of the athlete consuming contaminated food.
“[The incident] has not defeated me. It has made me stronger. I am a soldier and I need to have the spirit to win wars,” the 30-year-old said defiantly after collecting her silver medal on Monday.
“I have proven to everyone that I don’t have to rely on anything but my own strength.”