On February 22, 2016, a red-headed document released by the General Administration of Sports of China shook the entire swimming world like lightning. This document is extremely clear and serious: "Suspected of violating the regulations, it is now decided to immediately require Ning Zetao to withdraw from the national swimming team and return to the navy for training."
In short, Ning Zetao, a popular player who was once known as the "Asian Flying Fish", has been officially terminated from his contract by the national swimming team.
For the young athlete, who is only 24 years old, such a blow is undoubtedly heavy and fatal. Ning Zetao's heart was full of shock and anger, he couldn't believe that he would suffer such a cruel fate of "forced retirement".
I recall that many years ago, when he was still an 11-year-old child, he was selected by a discerning coach because of his outstanding talent and joined the reserve talent team of the provincial team. At that time, he was full of endless expectations for the future.
During his days in the provincial team, he trained diligently and diligently, constantly made progress, quickly surpassed his peers, and became the envy of his brothers and sisters. Only three years later, Ning Zetao was fortunate to get acquainted with Ye Jin, the head coach of the Navy swimming team.
The experienced coach had a unique vision and was good at teaching students according to their aptitude, and soon discovered that freestyle was the most suitable event for Ning Zetao.
So, she decisively asked Ning Zetao to switch to freestyle, and tailored a special training program for him that was far more intense than twice that of ordinary team members. What surprised Ye Jin was that Ning Zetao not only did not have any complaints, but was able to easily cope with this kind of high-intensity training.
The young talent seems to have been born to be a shining star for swimming.
In 2014, Ning Zetao emerged at the 17th Asian Games and won the men's 50-meter freestyle and men's 100-meter freestyle championships one after another! What's even more amazing is that he not only managed to break the 48-second mark, but also broke the all-time record of the Asian Games.
The 20-year-old from Shenyang finally showed his brilliant light on the stage of the Asian Games. At the press conference after the competition, Ning Zetao smiled confidently and was full of confidence in realizing his dream of becoming a world swimmer.
"I will work harder, and I must break the world record in the future, so that the world can see the strength of Chinese swimming!" Facing the reporter's question, Ning Zetao replied in a firm tone.
His energetic spirit really made all the coaching teams present sigh with emotion! "Ning Zetao is very talented, and he is definitely a bright star of Chinese swimming in the future!" Ye Jin, a coach with rich experience, praised him to the extreme.
As an elite from a naval family, Ning Zetao has received rigorous military training since he was a child, and his indomitable character makes people have high hopes for him. "I am convinced that one day he will be able to win glory for his country on the stage of international competitions!" Another coach expressed expectation.
Ning Zetao's excellent performance in the Asian Games made Ning Zetao quickly popular in the swimming world at home and abroad, and countless fans cheered for his wonderful performance. However, who would have expected that just a few months later, at the 2016 Rio Olympics, Ning Zetao handed over a disappointing report card.
In the semi-finals of the men's 100m freestyle, he managed to achieve a dismal ranking of 48.37 seconds, which was far from his personal record of 47.7 seconds set at the World Championships, and unfortunately failed to qualify for the final.
What's even more heart-wrenching is that in the men's 50-meter freestyle event, Ning Zetao did not even qualify for the semifinals. As the rising star of the Chinese swimming team, his defeat in Rio was undoubtedly a heavy blow.
When the live broadcast camera captured a stunned Ning Zetao, his face was expressionless, his eyes were overshadowed, as if he realized that his dream had been shattered. After the game, he sat alone on the sidelines, his shoulders sagging weakly, his tracksuit soaked with sweat, his hair disheveled, and he looked extremely depressed.
In fact, as early as a few months before the competition, Ning Zetao began to suffer from huge pressure and exclusion from Wang Lusheng, director of the swimming center. As an arrogant and conceited person who values power, Wang Lusheng is quite dissatisfied with Ning Zetao, an "unreasonable" young man.
He not only openly cut Ning Zetao's personal endorsement fees, but also repeatedly released cruel words to ask him to terminate the contract, and even tried to prevent Ning Zetao from participating in the Rio Olympics before the game, resulting in Ning Zetao's training and living environment being extremely bad.
In the critical period before the game, Ning Zetao had to reluctantly leave the former residence-dormitory apartment, and even the daily meal card lost its usefulness.
In this swimming team that carries dreams, he has become an outlier in the eyes of everyone, full of indifference and neglect from everyone, and what is even more sad is that no coach is willing to provide the necessary guidance to help him complete the arduous training task.
Under such heavy blows, Ning Zetao's physical condition took a sharp turn for the worse, which was worrying. According to media disclosures, on the eve of the opening of the Olympic Games, his weight plummeted by as much as 8 kilograms, which is undoubtedly a fatal blow for a professional athlete!
So, what is the reason why Wang Lusheng is so strict with Ning Zetao? The answer is actually very simple, that is, the intricate entanglement of interests between him and Mengniu, a well-known dairy company.
Just when Wang Lusheng was promoted to the director of the swimming center, he couldn't wait to establish a strategic partnership with Mengniu. However, at the critical juncture when the two sides were about to sign a formal agreement, Ning Zetao preemptively signed a personal endorsement contract with Mengniu's rival Yili.
For Wang Lusheng, who has always regarded himself very highly, this is undoubtedly a heavy blow. He felt that he had suffered a serious betrayal and offense from Ning Zetao, and the anger and dissatisfaction in his heart could not be suppressed.
Under the active operation of Wang Lusheng, Mengniu finally reached a cooperation agreement with the swimming center at an extremely meager endorsement fee. As an old rival of dairy giant Mengniu, Yili naturally does not want to be left behind.
Seeing that his mentor had signed a contract with Mengniu, Wang Lusheng openly put pressure on Ning Zetao, forcibly demanding that he terminate his personal contract with Yili, and reluctantly proposed an extremely harsh Mengniu cooperation agreement.
Faced with such unfair terms, Ning Zetao naturally couldn't accept it and resolutely refused to terminate the contract.
Seeing that both soft and hard measures were ineffective, Wang Lusheng began to do everything possible to suppress and retaliate against Ning Zetao, not only greatly reducing the proportion of his original personal endorsement fee from 50% to 23%, but even began to strictly control his daily life, which was pervasive.
The conflict between the two quickly escalated and eventually turned into an irreparable tragedy.
Ning Zetao's poor performance and experience at the Rio Olympics immediately aroused widespread concern from all walks of life. All of a sudden, questions about the national team's behavior on the Internet came and went.
All of a sudden, all kinds of speculation about this matter came one after another, and some people boldly speculated that this incident may involve the conflict between Mengniu and Yili, a well-known domestic beverage company. There are even some netizens who boldly question whether Wang Lusheng, the director of the swimming center, is manipulating behind his back to take revenge on Ning Zetao, who had "betrayed" him before!
However, just as the majority of netizens were hotly discussing and speculating, some more reliable internal information gradually surfaced. As a national athlete, the bad impact on the national team is obvious when he endorses a brand suspected of pyramid schemes in pursuit of commercial interests.
If it were replaced by ordinary people, they might be able to turn a blind eye to this, but for Ning Zetao, a well-known sports superstar, he is undoubtedly damaging his public image.
In an instant, the direction of the wind in the field of public opinion changed dramatically, and the insults and accusations poured in like a tide, and Ning Zetao instantly became the focus of everyone's attacks. Even some other national team athletes who knew the inside story also joined the crusade, and they accused Ning Zetao of lacking team spirit, short-sightedness, and only focusing on personal interests and ignoring the overall interests of the national team.
What is even more shocking is that it was revealed that Ning Zetao was self-absorbed and refused to participate in the all-important men's 4x200m relay qualification event for the Rio Olympics, causing the Chinese team to miss the opportunity to participate in the event.
There is no doubt that some people in the management, such as Wang Lusheng, should also be severely condemned for their reckless behavior and selfish desires. However, it is obvious that Ning Zetao, as the protagonist of the incident, has seriously deviated from the professional ethics and sense of responsibility that he should have as a national athlete, which is also an undeniable fact.
In fact, in recent years, the General Administration of Sport has indeed implemented a so-called "dual-track" policy, which aims to incentivize big-name sports stars to give back to the national team by earning personal commercial gains.
However, there are huge deviations and loopholes in the actual operation of such policies, which provide opportunities for some people to take advantage of.
It is with the ambiguity of this policy that Wang Lusheng was able to brazenly ask Ning Zetao to turn to the Mengniu camp to safeguard the overall interests of the so-called national team, but in fact he himself is the biggest beneficiary.
However, what is embarrassing is that Ning Zetao was unjustifiably labeled as "only concerned about individual gains and losses, lacking collective concepts", and became an innocent victim of the dark side of this system.
Indeed, we cannot deny that some of Ning Zetao's behaviors have indeed caused controversy, such as using his own image to endorse a pyramid marketing brand without authorization.
So, when will the clarion call for deepening reform be sounded loudly? Ning Zetao's encounter may be only the tip of the iceberg, profoundly exposing the huge contradictions and conflicts between the current state system and personal interests.
As people who are looking forward to change, we are eager for people of insight to come up with practical solutions, so that the relationship between the state and the individual, and between the collective and the individual, can reach the ideal state of harmonious coexistence, and no one party will be excessively exploited or harmed.
The original purpose of sports should be to win glory for the country and cheer for the people, and it should never be reduced to a tool for some people to pursue personal interests and abuse their power. Only by giving the athletes a free sky can they give full play to their talents, climb the peak and strive to be the first on the competitive stage!