Tokyo Olympics: China’s Zheng Ninali still in heptathlon hunt on historic debut
- The 23-year-old Commonwealth Games silver medallist is 214 points off leader Anouk Vetter of the Netherlands after four events
- China fan favourite hits personal best in 100m hurdles before high jump, shot put and 200m round out day one
Zheng Ninali made history for China in the heptathlon with the former Canada athlete becoming the country’s first naturalised Olympian.
The 23-year-old, who was known as Nina Schultz when she competed for the country of her birth, sits 10th after four events on day one with three more to come on the second day.
She will be buoyed by a fourth-place finish in 24.56 seconds in her 200m heat to close out the evening session at the Olympic Stadium.
Zheng qualified for the Tokyo Games based on her world ranking of 21, but the 2018 Commonwealth Games silver medallist has only returned to action this year after serving her “cooling off period” following her switch of nationality.
The morning session started well for Zheng in the 100m hurdles, where she recorded a personal best of 13.27 seconds.