Chinese high jumper (born 2001)
Zhong Tao [ a] (Chinese : 钟涛 ; born 12 August 2002) is a Chinese pole vaulter . He became a national indoor champion in 2024 and then won the gold medal at the Asian Indoor Championships .
Career
Zhong earned his first international title in 2019, winning the Asian U18 Championships . He also equaled the championship record of 5.00 metres.[ 1]
After finishing 4th and 7th at the 2021 Chinese championships and National Games , Zhong improved his best to 5.61 m in May 2023, qualifying him for the 2023 World Athletics Championships . At those World Championships , Zhong finished 18th overall and did not qualify for the final.[ 1]
At the 2024 Astana Indoor Meeting , Zhong finished 3rd in the pole vault.[ 3] He won his first national title at the 2024 Chinese Indoor Athletics Championships , beating Huang Bokai and Yao Jie in an anticipated match-up.[ 4] At the 2024 Asian Indoor Athletics Championships , Zhong became Asian champion as he jumped 5.65 m , 0.05 metres better than the field.[ 1]
Zhong finished tied for 4th at the 2024 Xiamen Diamond League .[ 1]
Personal life
Zhong is from Tongling , Anhui , China. He attended Yangjiashan Elementary School, where he began to train for athletics.[ 1] [ 5] [ 2] He has been described as the "big brother" of the Chinese pole vaulting world.[ 4]
Statistics
Personal best progression
Pole Vault progression
#
Mark
Pl.
Competition
Venue
Date
Ref.
1
4.60 m
National Grand Prix, Youth Olympic Games Trials
Zhuzhou, China
16 Apr 2018
[ 6]
2
5.00 m
National Indoor Grand Prix
Nanjing, China
18 Feb 2019
[ 7]
4
5.15 m
National Youth Games
Luoyang, China
27 Jun 2019
[ 8]
5
5.40 m
4th
Chinese Athletics Championships
Shaoxing, China
12 Jun 2021
[ 9]
6
5.45 m
CAA Training Base Indoor Permit Meeting
Nanjing, China
4 Mar 2022
[ 10]
7
5.50 m
National Indoor Grand Prix
Jinan, China
15 Feb 2023
[ 11]
8
5.61 m
4th
National Grand Prix
Taizhou, Jiangsu, China
25 May 2023
[ 12]
9
5.75 m
Chinese Athletics Championships
Tianjin, China
28 Mar 2024
[ 13]
References
Notes
External links