The Chinese volleyball team couldn’t defend their title at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. The 2016 Olympic gold medal-winning team bid farewell to their contention in the group stages of the previous Games. Upon introspection, one unprecedented change in their otherwise stellar lineup became apparent.

Zhang Changning, the national team’s star spiker, was absent from the roster. In fact, she was not seen on the court after she led the Jiangsu Zenith Steel squad in the 2021 China National Games. Later, it was revealed that she needed a meniscus surgery and had more health problems. Notwithstanding her personal troubles, Changning took a selfless decision ahead of the big season.

Zhang Changning’s selfless decision marks her volleyball comeback

In 2021, Zhang Changning addressed the nation on her Weibo account and said, “Both my physical and psychological condition mean I am unable to compete in high-level competitions right now”. She felt a pall of “powerlessness,” grabbing hold of her corpus and snubbing out any vestige of courage left in her.

She even resorted to pleading with the Chinese fans, saying, “I hope the public can give us more patience rather than doubt, more encouragement rather than complaints”.

Ultimately, Zhang Changning answered the call of duty and, disregarding her physical pain, returned to the Jiangsu court. Volleyball World relished her comeback announcement and posted a video on Facebook showing the legend in action.

Captioned, “China’s Zhang Changning is back ! After a 2 year absence on the court, the 2016 Olympic champion is back and has joined her club team in Jiangsu to compete in the Chinese league. Are we going to see her with the national team in 2024?” the video has caused a flurry of excitement amongst the team’s ardent fans. However, the looming uncertainty over her all-around dominance on the volleyball court adds a compelling twist to the recent proceedings.

Zhang Changning girds up for Paris

The volleyball legend’s impressive prowess on the court will be closely pondered upon her offensive, defensive, and serving skills. She is all girded up to flaunt her incredible performance before she can set sail for Paris with the national team. Changning knows that “Being a professional athlete is not easy,” but she has her teammates to lean on.

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Wu Mengjie and Zhang Changning form a lethal team, and the duo have started devising a strategy for sync. She believes that in the next two to three months, Changning will recoup about 70% of her former capabilities. Zhu Ting and Li Yingying have also come to her aid for a proper resurgence.

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