New Delhi: Chinese skateboarder Zheng Haohao is set to script history at the upcoming Paris Olympics 2024 as she is the youngest athlete to compete at the showpiece event. Zheng will be part of China’s women’s skateboarding team at the Paris Games and will be aiming to make her country proud by returning home with a medal.
She has already etched her name in record books by becoming the youngest Olympian in China’s history at the tender age of 11. A prodigious talent, Zheng’s skills were spotted by her parents and coaches at a very young age. She took up skateboarding at the age of seven and is now set to take part in her maiden Olympics four years later.
Zheng will be aiming to break the all-time world record by becoming the youngest Olympic champion at the Paris Games this year. The record is currently held by Denmark’s Inge Sorensen, who won gold in the 200m breaststroke at the age of 12 years and 24 days in 1938. Zheng can shatter the 86-year-old record if she can finish on top of the podium in Paris.
Who is Zheng Haohao: The youngest athlete at Paris Olympics 2024?
11-year-old Zheng is a skateboarder, who hails from south China’s Guangdong Province. She took up skateboarding at the age of seven thanks to her exceptional athletic abilities which made her coaches take notice of her at an early age. She started training at a club run by Chen Wanqin, father of Asian Games champion Chen Ye.
Her journey was far from a smooth one as a young Zheng faced multiple injuries during training. But the support from her coaches and her parents helped her bounce back strongly. In 2021, the Guangdong provincial team’s head coach noticed her talent and took her under his wings and trained her with the team.
Zheng made quick progress and represented Guangdong in the Chinese national games in the same year. She went on to win a gold medal at the women’s park skateboarding event in the Guandong Provincial Games in 2022 and made her international debut in 2023. There has been no looking back for Zheng as she gears up to make her Olympics debut in Paris.
Zheng qualified for the Paris Olympics 2024 after impressing at the Qualification Series in Budapest and Shangai. She is the youngest ever to represent China at the Olympics and will be hoping to script history for her nation at the Games.
Speaking of her incredible talent since a very young age Zheng’s former coach Wei Naizhnag, who picked her in the Guangdong provincial team, said she was extremely focused despite being young and was always a quick learner.
“She was very young but extremely focused on skateboarding. If she couldn’t nail a trick, she would immediately identify the problem and quickly correct it,” said Wei.
11-year-old Chinese skateboarding sensation Zheng Haohao is the youngest athlete set to take part in the upcoming Paris Olympics 2024. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
