Four days ago, in the air skill mixed team final, when teammate Jia Zongyang made a mistake in the second jump of the final, Xu Mengtao was the first person to come forward and give him a hug. "I knew that no one was more upset than him in that moment, no one wanted to end up with that action."
At the award ceremony after the game, although Xu Mengtao tried her best to show her iconic smile, the camera still cleverly captured a slightly "cruel" picture - Xu Mengtao looked at the silver medal on her chest at least five times until tears overflowed her eyes.
Once again, she rubbed shoulders with an Olympic gold medal.
Twelve years ago, 19-year-old Xu Mengtao made her Winter Olympic debut in Vancouver with a steel nail — a rupture of the cruciate ligament in her right knee two years ago. In the first round of the final, she ranked first with a near-perfect move, and the fledgling youngster instantly became the favorite to win the championship. Xu Mengtao, who was almost unprepared, challenged the ceiling bLdFF of the then women's player's difficulty in the second round and failed to land successfully. The sixth place result was not bad for Xu Mengtao, who participated in the World Series for the first time, but Xu Mengtao still shed unwilling tears after the game. The second youngest in the audience, she held her breath, "See you in four years!" ”
Eight years ago, 23-year-old Xu Mengtao ushered in her own "golden age". In 2011-12 and 2012-13, Xu Mengtao won five World Cup championships. In particular, in March 2013, she won her first World Championship title, and her absolute strength, technical difficulty and stability reached its peak.
But in the crucial Winter Olympic season, Xu Mengtao's state suddenly declined, and only two bronzes were recorded in the first five World Cups. Standing on the stage of Sochi with a lot of uncertainty, the modification of the format allowed Xu Mengtao to complete 5 high-quality moves in 5 hours. The moment of fate was still the bLdFF four years ago, this time, Xu Mengtao landed on the ground with one hand and ended the trip to Sochi with a silver medal.
Four years ago, 27-year-old Xu Mengtao challenged the Winter Olympic champions for the third time. Throughout the Pyeongchang cycle, the memories belonging to Xu Mengtao fluctuated continuously. At the 2016 Xinjiang National Winter Games, a mistake in her movement caused her to tear the anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee and a sprained medial collateral ligament. After the "overhaul," nearly 70 percent of her left knee was removed for meniscus. For the coveted Winter Olympic champion, Xu Mengtao returned to the field ten months after the operation – even if she still had steel nails in her left knee at that time, and the slightest deviation in posture when completing the action landing would cause severe pain.
During the Winter Olympic season, Xu Mengtao won 2 championships and 2 runners-up in the World Cup, shouldering the heavy responsibility of rushing the first gold for the Chinese delegation. But in the final, on the "bFTF" with a high success rate, Xu Mengtao did not have enough speed when gliding, head down, and was carried by inertia to do a forward roll. Those brief few seconds seemed like a long few years in Xu Mengtao's mind, and the final chapter of Pyeongchang was that she cried in front of the camera and laughed at herself, "No one has fallen worse than me" - no one wants to end up with such an action.
After returning from Pyeongchang, Xu Mengtao completed meniscus surgery on both legs. Over the years, injuries and suffering have become a part of her body, one more point, one less point, not today's Xu Mengtao. It is said that freestyle skiing aerial skills are games for the brave, in addition to dreams and beliefs, but also have a strong heart and courage. It's not that she didn't doubt herself, "Such a good state can't win the championship, and maybe not in the future." "Many athletes are proud and spirited when they are young, and they have made countless promises and dreams. In the process of chasing dreams, most of the promises and dreams are drowned in the torrent of time, but Xu Mengtao, who has been in her own trajectory, chasing her Olympic dream and making choices without regrets.
Four months after the operation, Xu Mengtao began to retrain, using sweat and tears in the gym to answer questions about whether she could stick to the Beijing Winter Olympics. "My first World Cup gold medal was won 11 years ago, I was 19 years old, now I'm 31 years old, and I've worn the yellow leading shirt representing number one every year for ten years," she said. Whether I'm healthy or injured, I've never lowered my goals and I've always had to be the best version of myself. "Even if the wind rises, I will ride the wind to break through the miles."
Snowfall at Genting Park disrupted the freestyle skiing skill competition schedule, requiring at least three high-quality moves to be completed in five hours than the final round runners. In the first round of the final, Xu Mengtao showed a bFFF with a difficulty coefficient of 4.293. In fact, she knows better than anyone that in the World Series where success or failure is rotated instantaneously, choosing some less difficult moves may be able to reduce the risk, improve the degree of completion, and perhaps have a greater chance of impacting the medal. But like the previous three Winter Olympics, Xu Mengtao purely and passionately pursues the limits of women's athletes, because this is the only way to hit the gold medal, because this is her obsession, but also her pride.
She did.
On Valentine's Day, Xu Mengtao's beloved snow field gave her the most beautiful fairy tale ending. bFFF, difficulty coefficient 4.293, gliding, acceleration, take-off, air rotation, landing, short 10 seconds to see people hold their breath, thrilling. In these 10 seconds, you seem to be able to piece together Xu Mengtao's past 20 years——
Began practicing gymnastics at the age of 4, switched to freestyle skiing at the age of 12; hides unspeakable "fragility" under the smiling appearance, 4 knee surgeries, rupture of the anterior cross band, sprain of the medial collateral ligament, deformation of the posterior angle of the medial meniscus, multiple bone contusions, joint effusion; countless times of snow, and countless times with different regrets; 27 years of sports career, 27 world championships, two Olympic silver medals; an Olympic gold medal.
(Text/Yan Haiying)