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Shifting the goalposts

Former Steel Roses star Zhao is grabbing each new opportunity with both hands

By Xing Wen | China Daily | Updated: 2026-03-16 09:31
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Since hanging up her gloves in 2023, former Steel Roses goalkeeper, Zhao Lina, has sought to expand her horizons, trying her hand at reality TV, podcasting and trail running, as well as launching and running a charity project aimed at providing children in remote areas with soccer infrastructure and lessons. [Photo/China Daily]

On the pitch, Zhao Lina's world was clearly defined. She was the last line of defense, the guardian of the goalmouth.

But since retiring from China's women's national team in 2023, she has traded the 18-yard box for a much larger arena.

Whether she's running her own charity project, picking up a tennis racket, taking the stage for a music competition or hosting a podcast interview show, Zhao is showing that retirement is a chance to let her passions take her places she never imagined.

Recently, she completed her first trail running race — 21 kilometers with over 1,200 meters of elevation gain — in Moganshan, Zhejiang province.

"Since retiring, I can devote more time to enriching my life experiences," said Zhao, who has been studying public speaking, management and trying out various sports since 2023.

Since hanging up her gloves in 2023, former Steel Roses goalkeeper, Zhao Lina, has sought to expand her horizons, trying her hand at reality TV, podcasting and trail running, as well as launching and running a charity project aimed at providing children in remote areas with soccer infrastructure and lessons. [Photo/China Daily]

Standing at 1.88 meters tall, the 35-year-old Zhao crossed the finish line in tears amid cheers from the crowd.

"Though the muscle soreness hasn't gone away yet, I'm already looking at which trail race I can sign up for next. I also want to try a longer 30 km race," she said.

Zhao added that whenever she feels exhausted in the mountains, the beauty unfolding before her eyes never fails to lift her spirits. For her, trail running is both fun and a challenge to her physical limits.

"Although you're on your own, it's similar to the team spirit in soccer. When someone passes you, or you pass someone during a run, everyone encourages each other and helps out if problems arise," she said.

Growing up in Shanghai's Putuo district, Zhao was scouted by a PE teacher at age seven because she was taller than other kids her age.

That marked the beginning of her daily soccer training, and, in 2005, she was selected for the Shanghai women's team.

But it wasn't until 2015, when she was first called up to China's national training squad for the Women's World Cup and traveled with the team to Canada, that she truly fell in love with the sport she had trained so hard in for years.

At that time, she served as a backup goalkeeper and didn't get any playing time during the tournament.

But before each game, she would warm up on the field alongside the starting players.

"In a packed stadium with over 20,000 seats, as we walked onto the pitch, I was stunned by the deafening cheers. During that 30-minute warm-up, I fell completely in love with soccer," she recalled.

"I will become a starter," she told herself.

In 2017, the Shanghai side, led by Zhao, won the National Games title, beating Tianjin 5-1.

In 2018, she competed with the national team at the Asian Games in Jakarta, finishing as runner-up, before going on to become a key member of the Steel Roses side that claimed the 2022 AFC Asian Cup.

With a stellar career and striking looks, Zhao has become one of the country's most recognizable female soccer players and boasts over two million followers on Sina Weibo.

As age and injuries caught up with her, Zhao decided to hang up her gloves in April 2023, almost immediately launching a soccer charity project aimed at building pitches for children in remote mountainous areas, improving sports infrastructure, donating equipment and providing free soccer lessons.

That same year, she joined the hit music reality show Riding Wind 2023, where she showcased her drumming skills, a hobby she's had since age 18. She lived and trained alongside a group of female entertainers, all over 30, practicing singing and dancing together.

"On the show, each woman's vibrant life was like a window, giving me insight into things I'd never experienced before. It felt truly beautiful," she recalled.

Since hanging up her gloves in 2023, former Steel Roses goalkeeper, Zhao Lina, has sought to expand her horizons, trying her hand at reality TV, podcasting and trail running, as well as launching and running a charity project aimed at providing children in remote areas with soccer infrastructure and lessons. [Photo/China Daily]

But the buzz of such experiences, though, was always followed by a quiet loneliness, something she has always had to face.

As an athlete who had grown up in team environments, Zhao found herself having to process the solitude of retirement on her own. Inspired by Jokes Aside, a comedy podcast she loved listening to, she decided to launch her own podcast in early 2025, focusing on stories of people who, like her, are either navigating career transitions or have successfully reinvented themselves.

"As a former soccer player, I hadn't been exposed to many different professions or fields before. I'm deeply curious about the world and people from all walks of life, so I wanted to create a conversation-based program around that," she explained.

To date, the podcast has produced over 50 episodes, welcoming guests like table tennis legend Deng Yaping, investment banker turned bilingual stand-up comedian Zhang Hui and singer Ella Chen Chia-hwa from Chinese Taipei.

"Since starting the podcast, I've had deeper conversations with friends and guests I don't usually connect with often," She said.

"In the podcasting community, veterans have taught me how to produce a show, buy equipment, edit episodes and choose topics. Through this process, I've felt the warmth of human connection.

"And during a rather dull chapter of my life, that warmth has given me immense strength."

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