US Athlete Spotlight: Beiwen Zhang - Listen To The Olympics On iHeartRadio

If you are wondering how to listen to the Olympics, iHeartRadio has you covered. iHeartRadio is the exclusive audio home of NBC's coverage of the 2024 Paris Olympics, so it is the only place to listen to the Olympics stream. The free iHeart app is where to go to listen to exclusive play-by-play action of Team USA . To celebrate, we are spotlighting some of the country's athletes that are vying for gold.

Beiwen Zhang , a US Olympic athlete, has a unique journey that has taken her from China to Singapore, and finally to the United States. Born in China, Zhang first picked up a badminton racquet at the age of eight, after her parents encouraged her to take up a sport. She quickly excelled in the sport, which is extremely popular in her home country.

At the age of 13, Zhang moved to Singapore alone to play for the national team. After six years, she decided to retire but was unsuccessful in her attempts. She visited a friend in Las Vegas and began training with the Las Vegas Badminton Club. After a year of undefeated matches, she was approached by the coach who asked if she was ready to resume international competition.

Zhang became a US citizen in 2020 and is now set to make her second Olympic appearance for the US in Paris 2024. Despite her initial plans to retire after the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, an injury during a match against China left her feeling like she had unfinished business.

"I wanted to try to finish the game, but I couldn’t even stand up," Zhang remembered as she spoke with TeamUSA.com . "When they pushed me in a wheelchair from the courts, I felt like I wasn’t finished and I didn’t want to end my career like that."

Zhang is now on a mission to make history as the U.S. women have never medaled in singles badminton. After the Paris Olympics , she plans to retire from competitive play but intends to continue promoting the sport. She hopes to travel around the U.S. visiting as many badminton clubs as she can, educating people on how they can get started in the sport.

From exclusive NBC play-by-play action of Team USA to live hourly updates from the Games to original Summer Games podcasts, you can listen to the Olympics stream only on iHeartRadio . Find out more about how to listen .