Sports
14:45, 01-Feb-2018
Ex-sprinter Zhang Peimeng joins Chinese Winter Olympics team
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Former sprinter Zhang Peimeng announced on Wednesday that he will join China's national skeleton team to try to book a place at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games.
At these Games, Chinese athletes will compete for the first time in the sliding sports: bobsleigh, luge and skeleton.
China has already recruited a former Olympian to train prospective team members.
The General Administration of Sport is in a strategic partnership with Tsinghua University that has facilitated Zhang joining the skeleton squad in preparation for the Games in four years’ time.
Zhang Peimeng of China celebrates claiming the gold medal in the men's 4x100m relay final at the 2014 Asian Games at Incheon Asiad Main Stadium. /VCG Photo
Zhang Peimeng of China celebrates claiming the gold medal in the men's 4x100m relay final at the 2014 Asian Games at Incheon Asiad Main Stadium. /VCG Photo
He is the first Chinese track Olympian to transition into winter sports.
The 31-year-old former sprinter has been to three Summer Olympic Games, and ran the 100 meters in 10 seconds at the 2013 World Championships, becoming the first Chinese sprinter to achieve the mark.
Last year, Zhang became a track coach at Tsinghua University after retiring following the 2017 National Games. He is now ready to compete again, but in a different capacity.