Zheng Fengrong, the first Chinese woman to break a world record, dedicated her life to athletics.
On November 17, 1957, the high jump bar at the Beijing Athletics Stadium was set at the 1.77-meter mark and remained perfectly still. Zheng Fengrong, a 20-year-old woman from Jinan, Shandong, leaped over the bar and became the first female athlete in New China to break a world record.
On August 25, 2026, news of the passing of 89-year-old Zheng Fengrong spread, bringing tears to the eyes of many who knew her.Zheng Fengrong joined the national track and field training team at the age of 16. To perfect her high jump technique, she spent years repeatedly practicing the fluid sequence of takeoff and clearing the bar on hard ground, wearing out three pairs of training shoes in just a few short years.The sandpit used for daily training was trampled by her so many times that it became dense and thick—its depth even exceeded the waist and abdomen level of those standing nearby. That tenacity and resilience—her willingness to give it her all and endure the hardships—remains a vivid memory for her fellow athletes from that era.
After retiring, Zheng Fengrong was successively recognized as a National-Level Athlete and awarded an honorary medal by the State Sports Commission. Her husband, Duan Qiyan, was also a well-known high jumper in China who had won the high jump title at national competitions on multiple occasions;Many years later, her granddaughter, Zheng Nina Li, won the gold medal in the women’s heptathlon at the 15th National Games. The life journeys of three generations of this family have always been closely intertwined with the world of track and field.
After retiring from her athletic career, Zheng Fengrong served as vice chairwoman of the Chinese Athletics Association. Although her role has changed several times, whenever she stands on the sidelines of a training field watching younger athletes take off and clear the bar, the intensity with which she scrutinizes the finer details of their movements is no different from the focus she displayed in her youth when she herself stood before the bar.
Upon hearing the news of Zheng Fengrong’s passing, many of her longtime teammates and coaches—who had worked with her for years—dug out old photos they had tucked away, pointing to the young woman in the pictures with thick, black braids standing next to the high jump bar, and remained speechless for a long time.Zheng Fengrong devoted nearly her entire life to the high jump; from her days as an athlete to her role as an administrator, she never strayed from the world of track and field.
For those veteran sports figures who have devoted their entire lives to a single cause, their life journeys—rooted in the fields they love and marked by their unwavering dedication—are, in themselves, the most moving testament to their lives.
