Zhang Wei

Background

Zhang was born in the province of Shandong on the east Coast of China.

Career

He has a personal best of 5.62 m (18 ft 51⁄4 in), set indoors in 2013. A best of 5.30 m (17 ft 41⁄2 in) came as part of a fourth-place finish at the. He competed abroad for the first time in 2012 and managed a new best of 5.44 m (17 ft 10 in) indoors in Villeurbanne.

This served a preparation for the 2012 Asian Indoor Athletics Championships, where the 17-year-old was runner-up behind his older compatriot (and national record holder) Yang Yansheng.

Another indoor best of 5.45 m (17 ft 101⁄2 in) followed at the Chinese Taipei versus China international match a month later.

A debut on the IAAF Diamond League circuit came shortly after and he managed to finish seventh at the Shanghai Golden Grand Prix meet. He had an outright personal best at the Chinese Athletics Grand Prix meeting in his home province in Zibo, winning with a mark of 5.50 m (18 ft 01⁄2 in).

In spite of this success, he failed to register a valid mark at the 2012 World Junior Championships in Athletics.

At the end of the season, he equalled his best to place third at the Chinese Championships, behind Yang and Xue Changrui. Still eighteen, he cleared an Asian junior record of 5.62 m (18 ft 51⁄4 in) at the start of 2013. He dropped down the national rankings at the 12th Chinese Games, taking sixth place.

He topped the national scene for the first time at the 2014 Chinese Championships, taking the national title in a personal best of 5.60 m (18 ft 41⁄4 in).

Zhang maintained his form into the following season and built upon his 2012 junior regional title with a senior gold medal at the 2015 Asian Athletics Championships in Wuhan, matching his best to see off a challenge from Japan"s Seito Yamamoto. Pole vault outdoor: 5.60 m (18 ft 41⁄4 in) (2015) Pole vault indoor: 5.62 m (18 ft 51⁄4 in) (2014).

Achievements

• Chinese Athletics Championships Pole vault: 2014.

Views

In the 2012 outdoor season, he defended his Chinese junior title.