Nina Schultz

Zheng Ninali

Personal information
Native name	郑妮娜力
Birth name	Nina Li Schultz
Nationality	Chinese
Born	(1998-11-12) November 12, 1998 (age 26) New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada
Height	178 cm (5 ft 10 in)[1]
Weight	62 kg (137 lb)
Sport
Sport	Track
Event(s)	Heptathlon Pentathlon
College team	Kansas State University University of Georgia
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)	Heptathlon: 6358, Arona, Spain, 2021[2] Pentathlon: 4502, Lubbock, US, 2018[2]
Medal record Representing  China Asian Games 2022 Hangzhou Heptathlon Representing  Canada Commonwealth Games 2018 Gold Coast Heptathlon

Nina Schultz (Chinese: 郑妮娜力; pinyin: Zhèng Nīnàlì; born November 12, 1998) is a Chinese track athlete who competes in the heptathlon and pentathlon. She was a Canadian citizen at birth and previously competed for Canada.

Career

Schultz began training in athletics from a young age, and set a junior record in the indoor pentathlon in 2017 prior to being accepted to Kansas State University on a track scholarship.^[3] In her debut season in university athletics, Schultz won the bronze medal in the 2017 NCAA Indoor Championships' pentathlon event. At the 2018 NCAA Indoor Championships, she won the silver medal. At the 2018 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships she placed 7th in the heptathlon scoring 5,778 points.

Schultz competed as part of the Canadian team at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in the Gold Coast, Australia. She was the youngest member of the Canadian track and field team. In the heptathlon event, she set a new personal best of 6,133 points and won the silver medal, finishing 122 points behind gold medalist Katarina Johnson-Thompson of England.^[4]

Schultz returned to the competitive scene in 2021 under the Chinese flag to increase her personal best by over 200 points at the Spanish leg of the World Athletics Challenge – Combined Events. The athlete, now competing as Ninali Zheng, won the meeting with a score of 6,358 which moved her into qualification for the 2020 Summer Olympics.^[5]

Change of citizenship from Canada to China

Schultz became one of a handful of naturalized athletes of China; the athlete served a three year waiting period in compliance of the IAAF competition rules. World Athletics confirmed her eligibility to be a competing member of China's national team on April 12, 2021.^[2]

The Chinese press quoted her maternal grandmother Zheng Fengrong, who in 1957 set the women's world record in high jump 1.77m and is a celebrated athlete in China.^[6] Her brother Ty Schultz is a hockey player in Canada.^[7]

References

1. "Athletics | Athlete Profile: Nina SCHULTZ". 2018 Commonwealth Games. Archived from the original on April 12, 2018. Retrieved April 11, 2018.
2. "Ninali ZHENG | Profile". World Athletics. Retrieved July 15, 2021.
3. Hall, Vicki (January 31, 2017). "The next Brianne Theisen-Eaton? Canadian teenager Nina Schultz vies for heptathlon greatness". National Post. Retrieved August 11, 2021.
4. wildcat00 (April 13, 2018). "Schultz comes up silver at Gold Coast". Bring On The Cats. Archived from the original on April 15, 2018. Retrieved April 15, 2018.
5. Valiente, Emeterio (June 14, 2021). Zheng and Sykora take the spoils in Arona (Report). World Athletics. Retrieved July 15, 2021.
6. White, Johnathan (April 5, 2021). "Tokyo 2020: China's Nina Schultz aiming to fulfil grandma's Olympic dream". South China Morning Post. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
7. Shi, Futian (March 9, 2018). "Trolling for overseas talent". China Daily. Retrieved August 11, 2021.

External links

• Nina Schultz at Athletics Canada (archive)
• Zheng Ninali at World Athletics
• Zheng Ninali at Olympics.com
• Zheng Ninali at Olympedia (archive)