Close-up: A man's stage

Xi'an, September 22 (Xinhua) -- Close-up: A stage for one person

Xinhua News Agency reporter Yao Youming wang Haoyu

Pole vaulting is a race between oneself and oneself, and even if it is a champion, it mostly ends with failure in the end.

On September 22, Li Ling, a Zhejiang athlete born in 1989 at the Xi'an Olympic Sports Center Stadium, ushered in such a moment.

After crossing the 4.70m crossbar, Li Ling has won the women's pole vault event in the 14th Games Athletics Competition. Like ishinbayeva, the famous Russian star of the year, she chose to attack the record she held.

4 meters 72, that is the Asian record set by Li Ling in 2019. That year, she went abroad twice to learn from Coach Petrov, who had trained pole vaulters such as Bubka, Isinbayeva, and Rio Olympic champion Da Silva.

Li Ling chose to raise the crossbar to 4 meters 75, and she wanted to use a new Asian record to complete her final performance of this Year's National Games.

The first time she tried to jump 4 meters 75, Li Ling did not even get off the normal jump, and after returning to the field from the mat, she poked her own pole position with the pole.

The second time, Li Ling still failed to succeed. She found the coach, discussed another 30 seconds, and then returned to the venue, put on a down jacket, simply replenished, and then lay on her side on the ground and turned on a short rest mode.

The track events on the field have all been completed, although the audience is not much, but when Li Ling began to meditate like Isinbayeva at that time, the whole venue fell into an instant silence.

On the big screen of the scene, there is a close-up of the countdown to the last jump. On the countdown clock, the number of seconds is decreasing, and the audience's heart rate is soaring.

When the countdown was about 3 and a half minutes left, Li Ling got up, picked up the pole, and recited the words in her mouth. Use the method of "physical isolation", eliminate external interference, frankly face your determination, and maintain the simplest belief in the moment of a thousand gunshots, concentrate your attention, and fight hard.

Li Ling's previous state this year was not good, and her Zhejiang teammate Xu Huiqin, whether it was a "civil war" or an "external war", had better results than her. In April this year, at the 14th Olympic Athletics Test Event held at the Xi'an Olympic Sports Center, the athletics venue of the Shaanxi National Games, Xu Huiqin won the championship with a score of 4.50 meters. At the 2021 National Athletics Championships and Olympic Trials held in Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province in June this year, Xu Huiqin defeated Li Ling, who jumped 4.50 meters, with a score of 4.60 meters, to win the championship.

At the Tokyo Olympics, Li Ling missed the women's pole vault final. Xu Huiqin achieved a score of 4.50 meters and was tied for eighth place in the final ranking.

"This year, I feel more difficult. Because this year my overall training state is better, but there are some strains in the middle, which makes it difficult for me to play. I have not been able to compare the training state. Li Ling said.

"When I was in Tokyo, I started playing at 7:20, and I didn't start jumping until more than two hours later, and I wasn't in very good shape." The Asian record holder choked up and said, "I think it's all about the coach to get the gold medal today." Today's plans and tactics are very well formulated. ”

In the last jump, Li Ling failed to cross the crossbar. With a sigh from the audience, Li Ling ended her game.

"(Before the last jump) I keep saying 'last three steps, last three steps' because the running distance is more than 30 meters, and when I want to get a grade or a certain height too much, it is easy to start and start accelerating. So I told myself, don't start so fast in the front, start a little more relaxed, and then accelerate later. Li Ling said.

As for not succeeding in setting a new Asian record in the end, Li Ling explained that it may be because she wanted this result too much, and the final result was not as smooth as when she challenged 4 meters 70.

Li Ling will not retire, she said she will also participate in the Hangzhou Asian Games on her doorstep next year.

"Pole vaulting is our strength in Zhejiang, and our overall level is now in the leading position in China, and I hope that with everyone's efforts, this project will have better prospects." Li Ling said. (Contributors: Geng Huihuang, Niu Mengtong) (End)