On the evening of the 13th, the Chinese team composed of Fan Kexin, Zhang Yuting, Qu Chunyu, Zhang Chutong and Han Yutong won the bronze medal in the short track speed skating 3,000 meters competition at the Beijing Winter Olympics, and once again reached the podium in the project after 12 years.
The 29-year-old veteran Fan Kexin is indispensable, and the last handover is even more bloody.
After the game, she returned to the center of the field alone and kissed the ice face affectionately. In this beloved arena, she has been "burning" for her dream and for the Chinese short track speed skating team.
Since the Sochi Winter Olympics, Fan Kexin has experienced three Winter Olympics, and some reporters asked, is such a move a signal of "farewell"?
Her response was just the opposite, "I feel like it's a start, I'm just 29, I'm still capable, I still love this project." The reason I kissed the ice rink is to thank the motherland for its strength and the ability to host the Winter Olympics so that we can show ourselves in front of our countrymen. ”
Fan Kexin also said that as long as the country needs it, the national team needs it, and short-track speed skating is still needed, "I will always stand on this ground."
As the "Elder of the Three Dynasties", Fan Kexin stood up when the Chinese short track speed skating women's team was "green and yellow" and led the team to forge ahead.
Although the task of returning to the top is still arduous, the exemplary role that Fan Kexin has shown in recent years will undoubtedly have an important impact on the new generation of athletes.
She hopes that more young people can take over the baton in the future, "I have participated in three Olympic Games, Qu Chunyu and Han Yutong participated in two sessions, Zhang Yuting and Zhang Chutong are the first, for young athletes who have not participated, I hope this is a kind of inheritance." I hope that the motherland can train more athletes to take up this baton, because we are going to rush to the gold medal. ”
Fan Kexin participates in teaching activities at the school
The champion who came out of the 6 square meter tin room
Some people say that in order to impact the winter Olympic gold medal, Fan Kexin insisted for 12 years, and finally got his wish in the short track speed skating mixed relay competition at the Beijing Winter Olympics.
But in fact, the days of hard work are more than 12 years.
According to Heilongjiang Daily, Fan Kexin was born in 1993 in Boli County, and when he first went to elementary school, his family lost money because of business, and had to go to Qitaihe to join relatives, only his brother stayed in his hometown to go to school.
Father Fan Shizhong told reporters that at that time, the three people had only 300 yuan on themselves, and spent 130 yuan to rent a 6-square-meter tin house, living by repairing shoes, eating, living and working here.
Fan Ke's new parents
By chance, Fan Kexin was recruited into the team by short track speed skating coach Ma Qingzhong. Since then, the sensible Fan Kexin has firmly grasped the "turning point" of this fate, training always a little earlier than others, practicing a little more, and never giving up day after day.
Fan Kexin childhood photo from Heilongjiang Daily
"Don't have to call me to get up, especially conscious. Some children left at 5 o'clock, and even went down the ice early, but the new said, Mom, I skate a few more laps, 3 laps, 5 laps and 10 laps... I just want to practice more. Fan Kexin's mother, Nie Guiling, recalled.
It is worth noting that Fan Kexin was once optimistic about the results of the coach in 2008, but the severe iron deficiency anemia of adolescence forced her to slow down the pace of progress.
However, in the face of the "persuasion" of the crowd, she chose to insist, returned to the ice rink after cooperating with drug treatment and food supplementation, and officially entered the national team in 2010.
Up to now, Fan Kexin, who specializes in short distances, has won the women's 500 meters championship at the World Championships five times, and at the Winter Olympics, he has won 1 gold, 1 silver (Sochi 1000 meters) and 1 bronze.
Fan Kexin's medals filled the cabinets
In fact, after taking over the women's team banner from Wang Meng, Fan Kexin also encountered bottlenecks and failed to qualify for the final in the 500-meter main event of the Sochi and Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.
But the repeated defeats did not make her retreat, but after adjusting and summarizing, she had a new understanding of the game.
In an interview in 2018, she said that the opponent to be defeated is actually herself, "as long as you defeat yourself, no one is afraid." If everything is perfect, there can be no mistakes, so still have to work hard. ”
At the Beijing Winter Olympics, Fan Kexin did his best to release all the energy from the four years of preparation on the ice rink, and won a gold and a bronze with his teammates. This time, she became the most stable and reliable part of the Chinese team.
Fan Kexin dream gold medal
"My trip to the third Winter Olympics is over, looking back on my memory, I clearly remember the experience of sliding through the Sochi Winter Olympics and surviving the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, I have been asking myself repeatedly, and today I finally got the answer. One gold and one bronze, I am very satisfied with my performance. Fan Kexin concluded.
Zhou Yang also sent congratulations at the first time, "Hard work will always have gains, I am so happy that you have not given up, and finally defeated the self that was once one step away, proud of you!" ”
The winter Olympic journey has come to an end, but as Fan Kexin himself said, a new cycle has also begun. No matter what role she will play in Chinese short track speed skating in the future and what competitions she will participate in, her love for the sport will continue.
"I'll keep sliding until the day I can't paddle," Fan Kexin said in a post-race interview, "because I love this team, I love this collective, I like to fight with my teammates in short track speed skating." ”
This article is an exclusive manuscript of the Observer Network and may not be reproduced without authorization.