The girls were fantastic

Record-breaking, gold medal-

The girls are amazing!

Reporter Liu Shuoyang

This is a day to remember in the history of Swimming in China! On July 29, at the Tokyo Aquatic Center, the five-star red flag flew high and the national anthem was played twice. In the women's 200m butterfly final, the silver medal in the 100m butterfly won the lead and won the gold medal with a time of 2:03.86, breaking the Olympic record of 2:04.06 set by Jiao Liuyang when he won the London Olympics.

An hour later, Zhang Yufei, who played again, and his teammates Yang Junxuan, Tang Muhan and Li Bingjie, overpowered strong opponents such as Australia and the United States to win the gold medal in the women's 4×200m freestyle relay with a time of 7 minutes 40.33 seconds. This is the first gold medal in the relay event in the history of Chinese swimming in the Olympic Games, and the winning result is changed to write the world record. Two gold medals, two records, the word "perfect" is not enough to describe the performance of the Chinese swimmer that day.

"Reasonable" 200m butterfly champion

In the early morning of the 29th, Zhang Yufei came to the arena and saw Li Bingjie make a gesture of "refueling". "200m butterfly, come on." Zhang Yufei also told himself in his heart.

Before the Tokyo Olympics, Zhang Yufei held 3 of the top four good results of the project this year. In the semi-final on the 28th, she swam 2:04.89, which was the world's best time since 2017, and also made her victory considered "reasonable".

After the start of the game, Zhang Yufei took the lead and quickly established a leading edge in the first half. "There's no one in the opponent who swims faster than I can." Zhang Yufei said: "If you choose to keep up, you will have to pay more consumption in the future; if you don't follow, you may be thrown away by me." ”

The clear tactical line of thought worked perfectly, and throughout the game, no opponent challenged her lead.

Strong self-confidence comes from strong strength. When Zhang Yufei warmed up in the 200-meter butterfly final, she was told to participate in the relay final, "I just learned that Li Bingjie was asking me to relay and cheer. Zhang Yufei said jokingly, but she was not soft on the gold medal that she was able to win.

"Unexpected" 4× 200m freestyle relay gold medal

The award ceremony for the women's 200m butterfly was held before the start of the 4×200m freestyle relay finals. When the five-star red flag was raised, Yang Junxuan, Tang Muhan and Li Bingjie watched in the check-in room. Nor did they expect that their moment of glory would come so quickly.

Compared with this "reasonable" gold medal, the champion of the relay event is more "unexpected".

The process of 4 people cooperating to collect gold should be described as thrilling. Opponents such as Titmus and Ledecky have beaten themselves in individual events; in the relay final, the girls have also been overtaken by their opponents. But from the first stick Yang Junxuan to the fourth stick Li Bingjie, the girls can always bite the opponent or complete the counterattack. "Don't hold the team back" is both a mutual ridicule after winning the championship and a promise to be fulfilled with all your might.

Tang Muhan said: "Yang Junxuan swims so well, I can't lose my advantage." The 17-year-old youngster struggled to chase him back after being overtaken by Australia's McGione. Before Li Bingjie entered the water, she shouted on the starting platform, facing the impact of Ledecky, she resisted the pressure and took the lead in hitting the wall with an advantage of 0.4 seconds. "I know Ledecky has been chasing, but if this stick falls, it will be a joke."

The girls played far beyond their expectations, and they withstood the pressure and won the "seemingly impossible" gold medal.

"Double Champion" supported by "China Power"

After an hour and two consecutive gold medals, Zhang Yufei was undoubtedly the happiest of all the players of the day, but also the hardest.

"The finals are yours, swim out of your own level, who dares to follow you for sure!" In order to help Zhang Yufei overcome the tension before the game, coach Cui Dengrong both reassured and predicted the trend of the game. 'The coach put so much effort into it and I didn't live up to his expectations.' After the game, Zhang Yufei hung the gold medal around the coach's neck.

In 2018, Zhang Yufei began to train with Cui Dengrong. At that time, Choi's plan was not to seek a breakthrough in ability first, but to change technology - the risk was very large, and it was possible to stagnate from then on. "At that year's National Championships, my 200m butterfly retreated by more than 6 seconds." After winning the championship, she did not forget to tease the coach.

What made the teachers and apprentices even more unexpected was that at the 2019 World Championships, Zhang Yufei fell to the bottom, the 50-meter and 100-meter butterfly stopped in the semi-finals, and the 200-meter butterfly was out of the preliminaries. "At that time, many people said that I was not suitable for international competitions, and I could only make a short-lived appearance in China." The two masters and apprentices held their breath and threw themselves into the 2019 winter training.

Effort pays off. Entering 2020, Zhang Yufei stabilized the 200-meter butterfly to less than 2 minutes and 06 seconds. "I realized the coach's good intentions. We chose the hardest path, but stick to it and eventually lead to victory and light! ”

In the Olympic arena, from the 200-meter butterfly to the 4× 200-meter freestyle relay, Zhang Yufei's physical energy consumption was huge. How to spell it out? "Swim to the last 50 meters, the Chinese power burned from the bottom of my heart, I will not obey, fight with you!"

Source: People's Daily