In the early hours of Aug 11, the Mass Participation Marathon of the Paris Olympics kicked off. Among the 40,048 participants from 127 countries and regions, Zhang Guoying from Taizhou, Zhejiang province, completed the full marathon course in five and a half hours, realizing her long-held Olympic dream.

This is the first marathon event for amateur athletes in Olympic history. It features two categories — a 42.195 km full course and a shorter 10 km course. Zhang was one of 10,012 female runners who took part in the full course, and she was the only person from Taizhou to participate in the event.

As an avid amateur runner, Zhang has participated in many marathons at home and abroad. She eagerly seized the opportunity upon learning about the unique marathon event at the Paris Olympics in August 2021.

In two and a half years, Zhang had run a total of 1,822.1 kilometers, accumulating 449,600 points, far exceeding the 100,000 points required for the draw. With a ranking of 2,563 out of 760,522 participants worldwide, she entered the draw pool and finally attained the opportunity in May of this year.

Her journey to Paris, however, was not without its challenges. During a night run, she injured the ligaments in her right ankle. Fortunately, support from loved ones and advice from her doctor helped Zhang quickly recover before heading to Paris.

Although the injury still brought Zhang some trouble during the race, she made it to the finish line. "For me, with my foot injury, to finish the race is already a win," she said.

Zhang collects all of her marathon medals in her collection cabinet, and now she can add an Olympic medal to it. "Who says ordinary people can't have Olympic dreams? I have achieved mine!" she said.