Zhang Shuihua Suspected of Working Three Consecutive Weekends—Too Afraid to Take Comp Time, Misses Three Matches as Guizhou Electronics Factory “Star Worker” Clinches the Title

On December 28 (Beijing time), the 2025 Guangzhou Huangpu Marathon came to a close, but “the fastest nurse” Zhang Shuihua was once again absent from the start line. Taking full advantage of the open field, amateur runner Wen Qin from Guizhou captured the women’s title.

Since receiving disciplinary action from her hospital, Zhang has not competed in any races. At the Fuzhou Marathon on December 14—despite being held in her home region—she was reportedly scheduled for hospital duty and did not participate.

The same situation repeated on December 21 at the Xiamen Huandong Half Marathon in Fujian, where Zhang was again on duty and missed another major event.

At today’s Huangpu Marathon, Zhang’s name was still missing from the participants’ list. In the end, Wen Qin—an amateur runner popularly nicknamed the “factory star” from a Guizhou electronics plant—won the women’s race. It marked her first full-marathon victory of 2025, earning her a 10,000 RMB prize.

However, Wen Qin’s winning time was over 2 hours and 50 minutes, a result that isn’t considered elite by top competitive standards. That has fueled speculation that, had Zhang Shuihua raced, she would have been a strong favorite to secure the championship.

From the current pattern, it appears Zhang has been reluctant to request time off again following the disciplinary episode, leading to three consecutive missed weekends of competition. Looking ahead, her next planned appearance is expected to be the Xiamen Marathon on January 11 next year—a World Athletics Platinum Label event that is widely seen as too significant to skip.