Zhu Hongshan poses for a photo with an installation celebrating the 75th anniversary of the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 2024. [Photo provided to en.wuxi.gov.cn]
Wuxi native Zhu Hongshan and her partner Ren Wanning won the women's pair final in rowing at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Sept 24, giving Wuxi its first gold medal of the Games.
Zhu was born in 2005 in Jiangyin, a county-level city of Wuxi. She entered Wuxi Sports School in 2019 and began rowing under coach Cai Dongmei. In 2022, she joined the Jiangsu provincial rowing team, and from April to June 2023, she trained with the national rowing team.
Her career has produced a series of strong results. At her first Games of Jiangsu province in 2022, she secured victory in both the women's pair and women's four. She finished fifth in the women's pair senior category at the 2022 National Rowing Championships.
In April 2023, she placed second in both the women's pair and women's eight senior categories at the National Rowing Spring Championships. In November, she won the women's pair at the first National Student (Youth) Games, and in December, she claimed the women's double sculls title at the Asian Rowing Junior Championships.
In 2024, Zhu won the women's pair senior title over 2,000 meters at the National Rowing Championships. Her gold in Nagoya is the first for a Wuxi athlete at the Games.
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