After the Olympic Games, Wang Shun posted a paragraph on social platforms, "Survive the darkest night and embrace the dawn." To my own third Olympic Games, thank you to everyone who has helped me and share my joy with you. Behind this heavy Olympic gold medal is the insistence of Wang Shun and coach Zhu Zhigen day after day.
In Zhu Zhigen's eyes, Wang Shun continues to grow, but the original intention in the pool has not changed. In Wang Shun's heart, coach Zhu Zhigen's figure is like a beacon of the ocean, leading him to keep moving forward.
Whether it is 1 minute and 55 seconds or 14 shots on the field of the National Games, the pair of masters and apprentices work together to show the strength of the Chinese swimming army and the Zhejiang swimming army. After the "Double Luck Tour" holiday, Zhu Zhigen's group went to the Shangyu Swimming Pool for training. There, a reporter from the Zhejiang Sports Fusion Media Center chatted with the two about their Olympic trip.
Reporter: The preparation cycle for the Olympics has changed from four years to five years, has Zhu Dao made some special adjustments in the process of preparing for the olympic games? What impressed Wang Shun most in the process of preparing for war?
Zhu Zhigen: The extension of the preparation cycle is also a test for coaches, how can we adjust the best state of athletes to the Tokyo Olympic Games? The Tokyo Olympics are the morning finals and evening preliminaries, and Chinese athletes are often accustomed to the evening finals as a point of excitement, so we practice at 7:30 a.m. a year and a half earlier to test a person's will. Wang Shun can actually do it in place, starting activities in the swimming pool early, which I really admire, and I am also very relieved to have such an athlete, and I can also drive the whole group. This achievement is not easy to come by, the details are very important, and the details determine success or failure.
Wang Shun: The training before the Olympic Games was still relatively hard, and I was also working towards that goal. In this year's isolation, Zhu Dao has changed a lot of training methods and means, mainly focusing on our mentality, afraid that our mentality will collapse. Because the isolation is boring, the next game does not know when, and there is a feeling of endlessness in the offseason. Although many difficulties were encountered, they were eventually overcome.
Reporter: Do you have a time to crash?
Wang Shun: In fact, there are quite a few, and every time it is worse than a bad one, it is more collapsed. At the 2019 World Championships, 1 minute 56 seconds 1, in fact, this championship result is not fast, I should also have this level, but then swim 1 minute 56 seconds 9, it is a pity.
Reporter: How do you adjust your mentality? Do you usually have other hobbies?
Wang Shun: Zhu Dao will enlighten me, and so will I myself. The goal has never changed, no matter what difficulties encountered on the way, or unswervingly towards the goal. I don't usually have many hobbies and interests, and basically I don't have much time for myself after a day of training.
Reporter: The Tokyo Olympics was 1 minute and 55 seconds upstream, I was watching it with the swimming team at the academy, and when I won the championship, the whole place boiled over, did you do a review or celebration in Tokyo on the night of the championship?
Zhu Zhigen: Because we still have a game, the most exciting point is also in the swimming pool, and it is relatively flat to go back to the dormitory. The athlete's happiness will also be self-controlled, this time Wang Shun is still very excited, because our Olympic village sound insulation is very poor, I see that he basically did not sleep at night, turning over I can also hear.
Wang Shun: Turning over, the two of us were separated by a wall. After all, for the first time in my life, I was excited for at least a month, and every time I closed my eyes, it felt like a dream.
Reporter: After Wang Shun became an Olympic champion, did his life change?
Wang Shun: The attention will become higher, and everyone will be more enthusiastic. The others have not changed much, usually the time to train is a few times to train, what time to rest or what time to rest.
Reporter: Will this enthusiastic attention bother you?
Wang Shun: Let's re-adapt to this identity, because now it is different, and everyone's expectations of me are different. I hope that this expectation, as well as some of my own opinions, will not become a burden on future training or competitions. I will also face it positively, adapt to it and digest it in my usual training, and lightly pack it in the following games.
Reporter: In fact, many people do not understand what is the concept of winning the men's 200-meter medley championship at the Olympic Games, and what is the gold content of this gold medal.
Zhu Zhigen: This gold content is very high, it can be said that 100% or 200% is good. To put it bluntly, because of various influences, the preparation process is not easy. Wang Shun also often told me, Zhu Dao I can not change the color of this bronze medal, I am very low-key, then can not be changed to silver medal, bronze medal you give me to change to silver medal. At that time, I didn't think about the gold medal, the gold medal was a joke, but I still had to have a bottom in my heart. Chinese athletes have been training systematically under the influence of the epidemic in recent years, which is a powerful guarantee, no matter what, even if we can't get a medal, as long as we pay, I always carry out this hope, and Wang Shun has done it. It's really not easy.
Reporter: Zhu Dao has been taking Wang Shun since 2007, and has been for more than ten years, has there been any moment in this process that makes you feel painful?
Zhu Zhigen: The most painful thing may be the ankle, he himself has done a lot of hard work in all aspects of recovery, this thing really made me think about it all at once. Originally I was considering retiring after the Olympic Games, Wang Shun asked me if I could continue to work until 2024, we want to work harder, go off the podium, or start from scratch and fight again.
Reporter: After talking about the Olympic Games and then talking about the National Games, Wang Shun participated in six sports at the National Games, swam fourteen guns and won six gold medals, and he also topped the list of individual gold medals in the National Games.
Wang Shun: The most impressive thing is that on the second day of the swimming schedule of the National Games, I swam three shots in one night. 4× 100 meters freestyle and Guangdong team competition is very fierce, the last session is a pity, I hope that there will be no regrets at this National Games, with the idea of competing for gold pressure must also be borne. The next 4×200 meters relay is the same, the first time to set up this project, and hubei team in the previous results are also indistinguishable, the competition is also very close to each other, only ten to fifteen minutes of rest, for me is also a very big challenge, but also very unforgettable.
Reporter: There is a video on the Internet where you and Zhu Dao received the award together is very hot, in the video you raise Zhu Dao's hand and point to Zhu Dao, at that time both of you were very proud and proud, then what was your inner OS at that time?
Wang Shun: In fact, this is the second time to take the podium with Zhu Dao, we athletes should be regulars on the podium at the National Games, there are more opportunities, but the coach is very rare, because it belongs behind the scenes. To have such an opportunity, I think more applause and more honors are given to the coach.
Reporter: What is Zhu Dao like in your heart?
Wang Shun: I think when I was a child, it was terrible for me, very severe, really severe. When I entered the team, I didn't dare to look at him more, but now Zhu Dao has changed his way, and when he is older, he is more willing to communicate with me and exchange some ideas. Sometimes what I say, Zhu Dao did not respond to me too much, but he listened to it, and there will be changes in the subsequent training, which will make me feel it from the heart.
Zhu Zhigen: There is a saying that strict teachers produce high disciples, I always feel that we must be strict, and the training effect with his hippie smiley face will not be the first. Second, as a coach, you must also have strict requirements for yourself, and you must also do what you ask the players to do first.
Reporter: Do the two have any hopes for each other?
Zhu Zhigen: I hope Wang Shun can work harder at next year's Asian Games in Hangzhou!
Wang Shun: I hope that Zhu Dao can have a little more time of his own, and many things can be entrusted to me to do.
Producer: Guo Biwen
Review: Tang Yihong
Sports News reporters: Zhou Bin, Zheng Runxin, Ying Yukang, Tang Yihong, Feng Jingjing, Xu Cuicui