In Helsinki 1983, Zhu became China's first man to win a medal in the IAAF World Championships.

In the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, he became the first male from the People's Republic of China to win an athletics medal in the history of the Olympic Games (Yang Chuan-kwang won a silver medal representing the Republic of China in the 1960 Rome Olympics).

Zhu's Olympic performance brought anger as well as pride back home in China – those disappointed he had not won gold, smashed the windows of his home.

The world record stood until August 11, 1985, when Rudolf Povarnitsyn beat it by one centimetre.

His 2.39 m jump in 1984 was the oldest Asian record among all Olympic events in athletics and lasted until 2013, when Mutaz Essa Barshim from Qatar jumped 2.40 m. Zhu's indoor best of 2.31 m stood as the Chinese indoor record from 1986 until 2012, when Zhang Guowei jumped a centimetre higher.