Zhu Yaming of China made his way into the world's first-class tier of triple jumpers after securing the country's first silver medal in the event at the Summer Olympics in Tokyo in 2021.

One year later, Zhu brought home the bronze medal from the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon, in July 2022.

"I have trained with foreign athletes for so many years, and I realized that we are as good as them," Zhu told the China Media Group (CMG). "I think I'm good. We do better than them in certain areas."

Zhu reached 17.57 meters at the Tokyo Olympics, and thought he could have done better at that time. But now that he looks back, he considers himself lucky for being able to perform as well as he did on that day.

"It's a perfect edition of the Olympics for me in Tokyo," he said.

Zhu turned 30 in May. He feels that he has been in his prime since the Tokyo Games, and will remain in top form for at least another year.

Zhu will go to Rizhao, east China's Shandong Province, to participate in the Chinese National Athletics Championships at the end of June as a warm-up event for the Paris Olympics. He dealt with several injuries during winter training camp, but managed to overcome those knocks and increased his confidence ahead of his journey to the French capital.

"I'm in the best form at the moment because I have a peaceful mindset," Zhu told CMG. "If I hadn't gone through the injuries, I would have been under a lot of pressure from the goal of competing for a medal or even a gold in Paris. Instead, now I think it's already a success for me to be able to display my best form at the Paris Games."