Zhang Juanjuan

Lore & Background

Zhang Juanjuan was born in Qingdao, Shandong Province. Before taking up archery, she trained in shot put, javelin, and discus. She represented China at the 2004 Summer Olympics, finishing 10th in the women's individual event after losing to eventual bronze medalist Alison Williamson. At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, Zhang entered the ranking round as the 27th seed with a score of 635. She defeated Tetyana Berezhna, Yuan Shu Chi, Natalia Erdyniyeva, and Joo Hyun-Jung to reach the semifinals, where she upset South Korean Yun Ok-Hee with a score of 115-109, matching the Olympic record set earlier that day by Park Sung-hyun. In the final, Zhang defeated Park 110-109 in a close match, becoming the first non-Korean to win the women's individual gold since Keto Losaberidze in 1980. She also competed in the team event with Chen Ling and Guo Dan, earning a silver medal after losing to South Korea in the final. Zhang married in 2009 and had a child in 2010. As of 2015, she worked as the deputy director of an archery centre in her native Qingdao.

Reader's Guide

Zhang Juanjuan's victory at the 2008 Summer Olympics is significant as it ended a long period of South Korean dominance in women's individual archery, a streak that had lasted since 1984. Her gold medal match against Park Sung-hyun was decided by a single point, with Zhang scoring 110 to Park's 109. The 115 points Zhang scored in the semifinal matched the Olympic record set by Park earlier that day. Beyond her individual success, Zhang contributed to China's team silver medal alongside Chen Ling and Guo Dan. Her career also includes Asian Games team medals: a bronze in 2002 and a silver in 2006. In 2015, Zhang participated in a televised archery challenge in Nanjing, where she tied with Austrian archer Peter O. Stecher by each hitting seven falling rings out of fifteen opportunities. The program aired on Jiangsu Broadcasting Corporation and was seen by 250 million Chinese viewers. Zhang's legacy is tied to her role in breaking South Korea's Olympic gold streak and her continued involvement in archery administration in Qingdao.

Did You Know?

• Zhang Juanjuan trained in shot put, javelin, and discus before taking up archery.
• She matched the Olympic record with 115 points in the semifinal of the 2008 individual event.
• Zhang won the gold medal in the women's individual event at the 2008 Olympics by a single point, 110-109.
• In 2015, she appeared on a Chinese television program where she tied with Austrian archer Peter O. Stecher in a falling rings challenge.