Her games record throw of 17.70 m (58 ft 3⁄4 in) to win the gold medal at the 1978 Asian Games made her the first Chinese to take the title and she achieved the same feat at the 1979 Asian Athletics Championships with a championship record of 17.48 m (57 ft 4 in) a year later.

[3][4] She missed the 1980 Moscow Olympics due to China's 1980 Olympic boycott, but she competed at the alternative Liberty Bell Classic held in the United States and won that event with a throw of 17.09 m (56 ft 3⁄4 in).

[5] This standard was far short of the Eastern European woman who reached the podium at the Moscow Games.

[6] Shen remained at the top of her field at continental level, retaining her Asian gold medal at the 1981 Asian Athletics Championships and improving her championship record to 17.75 m (58 ft 2+3⁄4 in).

[7] In her last major appearance (and first global one) she was eliminated in qualifying at the 1983 World Championships in Athletics.