On April 1, 2013, "Chinese women's volleyball general" Chen Zhaodi also left this world on this day, at the age of 58.
"Seven consecutive wins, five consecutive championships, passion burning for forty years." Glorious history, heroic tears, inspiring a generation of Chinese. ”
Chen Zhaodi, as a hero of the "five consecutive championship period" of the Chinese women's volleyball team, at the funeral, former women's volleyball members Lang Ping, Sun Jinfang and former Asian first female center Zheng Haixia came to mourn this old teammate who had fought side by side and fought in the south and the north.
And Sun Zhengfang, a famous anchor of CCTV who broadcast the first victory of the Chinese women's volleyball team, said sadly on the day of Chen Zhaodi's death:
"I still clearly remember the scene when the women's volleyball team won the championship for the first time in 1981, when Chen Zhaodi was the main member of the women's volleyball team, which can be said to be a model of a generation and a hero of a generation. The kind of inspiration that won the championship to the people of the whole country is not something that can be described in words. ”
From the first time the Chinese women's volleyball team won the championship, it has been 40 years ago, for many young people, when it comes to the Chinese women's volleyball team, it may only think of "Zhu Ting", or the victory of the Rio Olympics, but for the generation that has witnessed the rise of China's reform and opening up, the story of the Chinese women's volleyball team "winning the world championship for the first time" seems to have happened yesterday.
Reform
In 1978, the country announced the reform and opening up, this sleeping oriental dragon is about to usher in the highlight of decades, when China was an agricultural country, 90% of the people were farming, the country was facing transformation and economic opening up, but at that time, the world was looking at what kind of form China would use to stand up.
In the 1980s, China's economy began to slowly accelerate, and society was "accumulating energy" in preparation for a big explosion. Chinese want to prove to the world, "We can!" In the context of such a time and space environment, the "Third World Cup Women's Volleyball Championship" that "changed the world" in 1981 was held in Osaka, Japan.
The Chinese women's volleyball team passed the hurdle, all the way into the championship battle, facing the landlord Japan, facing history, in the case of falling behind in the big ratio of 1:3, winning three consecutive sets, miraculously reversing to defeat Japan, and winning the first world championship in the history of China's three major balls (basketball, football, volleyball) ! Win this time, let the world "see China"!
When we win the championship, we always see only the most eye-catching people, such as the coach "Yuan Weimin" and the best scorer "Lang Ping", but we can't ignore the key person who wins the game, the one who "wants the ball and doesn't die" - Chen Zhaodi.
On the pitch, Chen Zhaodi always desperately saves every ball, because she believes that "the ball does not land, never give up".
To what extent is Chen Zhaodi's obsession with volleyball?
This also begins when she was in middle school.
Chen Zhaodi was born in Hangzhou, middle school to hangzhou ten middle school, from childhood sports performance is very good, athletic talent can be said to be revealed, she once in the middle school students' games, participated in the high jump project, it can be said that Chen Zhaodi was born is the perfect "sports embryo".
In a certain sports meeting, Chen Zhaodi's super jumping power in the high jump project was noticed by the head coach of the Zhejiang Provincial Volleyball Team, and the coach thought to himself, such a good bouncing force, it is a pity not to play volleyball, the height is also quite high, is a usable talent!
So, in 1970, when the Zhejiang women's volleyball team was formed, the coach invited this young girl from Hangzhou Ten Middle School to be selected, and the coach's vision was correct, Chen Zhaodi also performed perfectly on the day of selection, and 15-year-old Chen Zhaodi was so smoothly selected for the Zhejiang women's volleyball team.
At the beginning, Chen Zhaodi did not know what volleyball was, but seeing the fighting spirit of volleyball, as well as the momentum of teamwork, he was completely attracted, and he was very obsessively attracted, every day in addition to the practice time, after school, he would stay to practice independently, and he would not practice the action, just practice it over and over again, until he was skilled.
As the youngest player in the team, she understood that her strength was still far behind, so he proposed to his parents the idea of sending her to Beijing for systematic training, at first the parents did not agree, but the child's desire for volleyball, and finally agreed to his idea, the girl embarked on her own volleyball journey with full expectations.
In this way, she came to the Beijing Institute of Physical Education, and at the beginning Chen Zhaodi went to Beijing for training, and the coach only said a light sentence after more than a month of "trial training":
"This girl really doesn't have any talent for volleyball."
As the saying goes: "Karma is good at diligence, absurd in play; If the innate talent cannot complete you, then the day after tomorrow should be studied harder to achieve a piece of heaven.
Chen Zhaodi, with her love for volleyball, is not optimistic about the coach, and her only belief is to practice this ball well!
The Chinese women's volleyball team in the movie "Win the Championship"
Before dawn, Chen Zhaodi reported to the gymnasium, and before it was time to practice, she was ready to start practicing.
She felt that if she came an hour earlier than others, she could practice for an hour more than others, and maybe she could improve. After a long day of practice, she carefully handled each ball, tried to speed up the pace of movement to pick up every smash, every jump, accompanied by crystal clear sweat, was her process towards success.
As the evening twilight approached, the teammates all ended the day's training, Chen Zhaodi was still on the court, the coach looked at her with a tired face, this time Chen Zhaodi just said a word:
"Coach I want to practice for a while!"
With this silly energy, Chen Zhaodi survived three years of training, in 1972 she was selected for the Beijing Sports Youth Team, and even "joined the army" in 1973: selected for the "Bayi Women's Volleyball Team", the Bayi Women's Volleyball Team was known in the future as a base for cultivating and transporting outstanding sports women's volleyball players, among the famous five consecutive champions, Cao Huiying and Yang Xilan were from the Bayi Women's Volleyball Team, and Chen Zhaodi was also one of them. Movie
Finally, in 1976, Chen Zhaodi was successfully selected into the "China National Women's Volleyball Team" led by Coach Yuan Weimin, "General Manager Yuan", opening her legendary road of world volleyball.
Chen Zhaodi was selected by the women's volleyball national team coach at that time, she took every practice more seriously, and the national team at this time, with the expectations of the Chinese people, was about to spread its wings and fly high.
It was at this time that he met Lang Ping, the "big hammer" who later became the head coach of the national women's volleyball team. The two have a deep relationship, and this relationship also plays a key role in lang pinghui's return to China to teach in the future.
Lang Ping
And for the image of the ball desperate, but also deeply imprinted in the heart of every women's volleyball player, Chen Zhaodi once said:
"Since you have done it, you must do it well"
Yes, the road is chosen by himself, no matter how to grit your teeth, you must finish him, so as not to live up to your original intention!
Gradually, Chen Zhaodi used less than half a year's effort to become an important "second setter" in the women's volleyball team.
The so-called second setter is an indispensable soul role in the volleyball team, because whether the attacker plays well or not depends on the scheduling of the second set player's on-the-spot tactics, it can be said that without the second set, the whole team does not have a character who organizes the attack.
Every wave of offensive second setters must stand up and go out to handle the ball, the importance is equivalent to the "on-field coach", and Chen Zhaodi's second pass is to play the role of "temporary commander" on the field when the original second setman is too late or unable to deal with it, and must also bear the responsibility of the attack, which is a fairly all-round role.
Setter
In addition, she who "loves the ball like a fool" has also won her the reputation of "Desperate Sanlang", because Chen Zhaodi always strives to chase every ball and not let the ball fall to the ground! Because until the end of the game, she will not give up, completely open up, "give her life to the court."
At that time, chen Zhonghe, a sparring partner of the women's volleyball team, recalled: "She was simply deadly when she practiced the ball"!
Chen Zhonghe
After a certain game of the Bayi women's volleyball team, Chen Zhaodi went to the treatment because of the problem of arm injury, and after seeing her injury, the doctor sternly warned her: "You can't play anymore, and if you play again, you will be paralyzed!" ”。
But this can't stop Chen Zhaodi's heart of love for volleyball, and she chooses to continue to practice and continue to run on the field. Even in 1979, when the Asian Club of Japan visited, because of an arm injury, the left hand was wrapped in a bandage to play, and the game was completed with "one hand", which also gave Chen Zhaodi the title of "one-armed general".
And Chen Zhaodi, who has made rapid progress and is full of hard work, finally stood in an important position of the national team, the position of the second setter of the Chinese women's volleyball team, and at the same time ushered in the highlight moment of her volleyball career.
In 1981, the Chinese women's volleyball team won the first world championship, that tense championship battle, facing Japan with historical roots, the whole country is holding its breath. In the end, Japan was defeated, the Chinese women's volleyball team won the first championship, and Chen Zhaodi still tried his best to defend in the case of physical weakness, and in the second pass and attack, he cooperated with Lang Ping and other players with excellent tacit understanding, and finally broke through the defense line of the Japanese women's volleyball team and successfully won the championship.
After that, he won the gold medal at the 9th Fiat Women's World Championship in 1982, the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games, the 1985 World Cup and the 10th Women's Volleyball World Championship.
"I stood on the podium, watching the five-star flag slowly rise, and listening to the national anthem ringing all over the arena, I was happier than ever."
In this way, Chen Zhaodi retired with the glory of five consecutive championships!
The "five consecutive championships" is the mark of the times that China let the world see in that era, and it is also a memory that Chen Zhaodi is proud of.
Chen Zhaodi, who retired from Hugh, actually did not really leave volleyball, but did not make more efforts in the national volleyball career. At the same time, she did not fall behind to study, after retiring, she entered the Beijing Institute of Physical Education to study, after graduation, she successively served as the head coach of the "Bayi Women's Volleyball Team" and the "National Youth Women's Volleyball Team".
However, the insistence on volleyball does not change with the change of identity from player to coach.
Even as a coach, she still went to the court early every day to prepare for practice, and even after marriage, she practiced until she had no time to take care of her children, put her daughter "Guo Chen" in a "cardboard box", took her to the court, sweated on the field, and her daughter played in the cardboard box.
Guo Chen and Chen Zhaodi
In addition to being a coach, Chen Zhaodi also played for the country, and in 2006 she was promoted to "major general", and she also served as the director of the Culture and Sports Bureau of the General Political Department, which magnified the goal from the field of volleyball to the entire Chinese sports scene.
One of the more famous incidents is that she resisted the pressure for the sake of the country, mediated from it, and called Wang Zhizhi back to China!
Wang Zhizhi is China, the first basketball player to enter the NBA before Yao Ming, but because of various factors, he refused to return to China to accept the national team's call-up, and even cut off all contact with China.
Wang Zhizhi
Chen Zhaodi, on the other hand, personally wrote two letters, entrusted them to Wang Zhizhi, persuaded Wang Zhizhi to return to China, and promised that there would be no "burden" after returning home, although it would be right to go home and win glory for the country.
Finally, Wang Zhizhi returned to China, and it was true that as Chen Zhaodi said in his letter, there was really nothing to do when he returned to China, which shows that Chen Zhaodi tried his best to dredge up a lot of relations for him, and carried questions from all sides for Wang Zhizhi.
However, such a hard work also caused the body to be out of condition, Chen Zhaodi was diagnosed with "cancer" in the intestines in 1988, and after 20 years of fighting with the disease, on April 1, 2013, he died at the Chinese People's Liberation Army General Hospital at the age of 57.
Before dying, she still had volleyball in her heart, and in the last stage of her life, she instructed the reporters waiting outside the ward to tell her at any time there was a situation of the Chinese women's volleyball team.
"What is the spirit of the women's volleyball team? It is selfless dedication, victory and defeat, supreme sense of social responsibility and down-to-earth efforts. ”
When Chen Zhaodi was seriously ill and hospitalized, Lang Ping had visited him in the hospital, and his mouth was still chanting how the Chinese women's volleyball team should train, and he also exchanged some experience in practicing ball teaching with Lang Ping, perhaps the dying person's love for volleyball touched the deepest piece of Lang Ping's heart, igniting Lang Ping's return to the national team in 2014 to take a match.
Footage from the movie "Win the Championship"
On the day of the funeral, all the teammates returned, and Coach Yuan Weimin, who led the five consecutive championships, also came, and Lang Ping cried at the farewell ceremony:
"In the afterlife, we'll play together!"
On the first anniversary of her death in 2014, the ashes were sent back to Hangzhou for burial, and the old women's volleyball players Cao Huiying, Zhang Jieyun, Zhou Lumin, and Song Shixiong, a CCTV anchor who had explained the game with him, all rushed to send her on her last journey.
Subsequently, under the leadership of Lang Ping, in 2016, the Chinese women's volleyball team won the championship again on the Rio Olympic field, and the Chinese women's volleyball team returned to the stage of the world's peak again, although Chen Zhaodi could not see the women's volleyball team rise again, but her spirit would always accompany the Chinese women's volleyball team.
If the Chinese women's volleyball team has opened the dream of revitalizing the Chinese nation with the spirit of hard work, Chen Zhaodi is the eternal symbol of the Chinese women's volleyball team that can continue to go on.
As her daughter Guo Chen said on the night of winning the Olympic championship again more than 30 years later:
"We finally won the Olympics, and my mom must have seen it too...".