She set a personal best throw of 19.46 metres in the qualifying round of the 2008 Olympics; this was the furthest mark for a female Chinese shot putter for over a decade.

At the 2009 National Games of China, Gong further improved her personal best to 19.82 m, taking her to tenth place on the all-time Chinese shot putter's list.

Gong initially finished fourth in the London 2012 Summer Olympics, but was retroactively awarded the bronze medal after the winner, Nadzeya Astapchuk, was disqualified for failing a drug test.

[6] In 2018, Gong won the gold medal in women's shot put during the 18th Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia.

[9] At the 2023 World Athletic Championships, Gong won the bronze medal after tying Portuguese thrower Auriol Dongmo's best throw of 19.69 metres and prevailing on countback.