Reporter | A white
Edit | Shi Yiying
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Freestyle skiing aerial skills are a "magical" project. The uncertainty is so great that the traditional strong teams and hot players in competitive sports are always rarely successful in this project.
At the 1997 World Cup, women's aerial skill athlete Guo Dandan won the gold medal, the first world champion in the snow sports of winter sports in China.
The first Olympic medal and Olympic gold medal in the snow event also came from aerial skills. Since the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, the Chinese freestyle skiing aerial skills team has won medals in six consecutive Olympic Games, winning a total of 1 gold medal, 6 silver medals and 4 bronze medals.
Interestingly, the only gold medal came from Han Xiaopeng, a male player who was not optimistic about the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, and the women's team with countless world champions, whether it was Xu Yuanyuan, "Snow Princess" Li Nina, or later Xu Mengtao, the most optimistic gold rushers, but always, a gold is difficult to find.
On the evening of February 10, 2022, the Chinese team composed of Xu Mengtao, Jia Zongyang and Qi Guangpu in the final of the new Olympic Games, or missed the team gold medal that was determined to win, and the 40-year-old veteran Jia Zongyang regretted that he was in tears. The Beijing Olympics are their fourth Olympic journey.
On February 14, 2022, Xu Mengtao, the "Elder of the Four Dynasties", finally realized his dream! The first gold of The Chinese Women's Aerial Skills, after 24 years of the project's first world championship and first Olympic medal, after winning five silver and two bronze medals totaling seven Olympic medals, finally waited for the day of the gold medal.
As soon as the game ended, Xu Mengtao even couldn't believe it, repeatedly asking: "Am I the first?" Am I number one? After confirming the gold medal, Xu Mengtao wore a national flag and shouted loudly: "I finally won at my doorstep!" ”
Born in 1990, Xu Mengtao began practicing gymnastics at the age of 5 and switched to skiing at the age of 12.
Xu Mengtao has a famous aunt , Liu Lanfang, a storytelling and performance artist. Even the name was given by my aunt and grandmother, taken from "meeting Tao Gong in my dream, laughing at the red dust thing." I hope that Xu Mengtao, like the people in Tao Yuanming's Peach Blossom Garden, will live a carefree and happy life.
In 2010, Xu Mengtao, who debuted at the Winter Olympics, was not yet 20 years old. When she arrived in Vancouver, she had only recovered from a serious injury, and the steel nails in her knees had not yet been removed. At that time, three Chinese players competed, Xu Mengtao was the youngest, but he was the only three-week player among the three.
The final of that year also used the old rules, and the two jump points were added to determine the winner. Xu Mengtao, who ranked first in the first jump, appeared last in the last jump. Before Xu Mengtao appeared, the other players had finished the game. Australia's Lasila scored first overall, and China's Li Nina and Guo Xinxin ranked second and third respectively.
The situation in front of Xu Mengtao and the Chinese women's team is very clear, challenging the women's extreme action with a difficulty coefficient of 4.175. Success, create history and rush to gold success; lose, you can't even touch the medal. But at that time, Xu Mengtao had only been on the three-week stage for less than two years.
Set off, take off, flip, stay in posture... The 19-year-old girl tried to control every muscle that could be mobilized in her body, and after successfully completing the air movement, she failed to stand on the ground and finally won the sixth place.
Recalling the experience of participating in the Winter Olympics for the first time, Xu Mengtao once had such a statement: "I did not have the hope of rushing gold at that time, but before the last jump, there was a theoretical possibility of rushing gold, and everyone felt that I seemed to be close to the gold medal." ”
19 years old, can jump for three weeks, talented, hardworking, can endure hardships. For Xu Mengtao at that time, there was really no need to worry too much. In the future, there are still many opportunities to close the distance with the Winter Olympic gold medal, even close enough to be within reach.
In the new Olympic cycle after Vancouver, Xu Mengtao successively unlocked three sets of three-week high-difficulty actions and gradually grew into the leader of the Chinese women's team.
In the 2011-2012 season and the 2012-2013 season, Xu Mengtao won the World Cup championship for two consecutive seasons, and the sub-station championship was even softer. The 4.175 action that made a mistake in Vancouver was also successfully performed in the game many times. In 2013, Xu Mengtao also won her first world championship. Compared with Vancouver, Xu Mengtao, who stood at the Sochi Winter Olympics in 2014, obviously has enough strength to compete for the gold medal.
The difference between Sochi and Beijing is 5 hours, and on the night of the freestyle ski women's aerial skills competition, it was late at night in Anshan, 6,000 kilometers away, but there was a barbecue shop , "Lao Xu Meat Skewers", which was still brightly lit. The relatives and friends who came to celebrate, the various media who came to report, crowded this small shop of more than ten square meters.
The owner of the shop is Xu Mengtao's father, Xu Xuejun. In those years, Lao Xu and his wife started from selling kebabs and accompanied their daughter to stick to her dream of winning the Winter Olympics.
On this night, Lao Xu personally went to the grilled skewers and warmly greeted the visitors. But after the game began, when Xu Mengtao was about to debut, Old Xu walked away. He came to the side of the road alone, lit a cigarette, and "came out to breathe." ”
On the night in Anshan in February, the temperature was still minus ten degrees. At this time, only the street lamps on the street and the faint light of the cigarette burning in Lao Xu's hand illuminated the face of the middle-aged father. There are expectations, and there are also tensions and worries in expectations.
The first half of the story of the Sochi struggle for gold is very similar to that of four years ago. Xu Mengtao's last jump is still the last appearance, before her, Belarus's Super, Australia's Rasila, China's Li Nina ranked in the top three.
The format of the tournament in Sochi is different from that in Vancouver, the preliminary final is played on the same day, and the final is changed from the sum of the two jumps to three rounds of elimination. In the third round, only these four players were left to compete for medals. The situation in front of Xu Mengtao is also the same as four years ago, her jump will determine the final ranking of the four, and the hope of the women's team for gold can only be realized by her.
The action is still the familiar 4.175, but Xu Mengtao is no longer the green girl on the three-week stage. Lao Xu, who did not watch his daughter play in front of him, also returned to the TV at this time.
This time, Xu Mengtao still made a small mistake on the ground, and the landing lost its balance, and she stood firmly on the ground with one hand. In the end, Xu Mengtao scored 83.50 points and won the second place. This is also Xu Mengtao's first Winter Olympic medal.
At this time, it was three o'clock in the morning in Anshan, and Lao Xu ran outside the house and lit the firecrackers that had been prepared. "The silver medal is not bad, and the next time I won the gold medal." This seems to be another agreement between Lao Xu, Xu Mengtao, and the Chinese woman's aerial skills and the future.
"You see, four years is very easy to say, we are all growing up, four years is more than 1,000 days." Xu Mengtao's expression in an interview with the media was like saying to others, more like talking to herself.
Freestyle skiing aerial skills are an early and rare advantage of China. But only Han Xiaopeng achieved a gold medal breakthrough in the men's event at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, and the women's event began with the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano.
For another 1,000 days, Xu Mengtao first had to face not preparation and waiting, but pain and recovery. At the 2016 National Winter Games, Xu Mengtao fell in the final and suffered serious injuries, his left knee meniscus was cut in half, and three steel nails were punched into his knee. The difficulty king had to start with rehabilitation and basic training.
The ruthlessness of fate sometimes requires you to fight it with more ruthless stubbornness. Ten months later, Xu Mengtao returned to the field. Next, two consecutive seasons won the World Cup championship.
Before Nirvana returned and stood on the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, Xu Mengtao wrote the words "retire without taking the gold medal" in the circle of friends to motivate herself.
Only this time, the reality seems to be more brutal. Xu Mengtao successfully advanced to the first round of the final, and in the second round, he chose the BFTF for three weeks, but he made a mistake and fell, ranking at the bottom of the 9 players in the second round, and did not even have the opportunity to enter the round of the medal competition.
After the game, Xu Mengtao revealed the idea of retiring on social media: "Everyone don't have to worry about me, I'm fine!" Go home and have surgery and remove the nails from your legs! And then...... I hope we can see you again. but...... Now really say goodbye! A tribute to my 24 years of sporting career! And my 28 years old! ”
But after the mood calmed down, Xu Mengtao "reneged on his word". This unwilling and reluctant girl sent a long article: "I am the girl who "fights" the gold medal in the three Winter Olympic Games, and it is a mission and an honor to fight for the gold medal for the motherland! No amount of sweat and tears are worth it! There is no boldness, only the determination to go out! Don't want to retire... The dream is still unwilling, and do not give up! ”
After PyeongChang, surgery – rehabilitation – training – preparation for battle, once again a familiar cycle.
In more than 20 years, the Chinese aerial skills women's team has won 5 Olympic silver medals and 2 bronze medals, when will it meet the gold medal?
Xu Mengtao said that a year after the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, she still feels that she can't win the Olympic championship at all. But she also showed open-mindedness beyond the gold medal: "The Olympic Games are all falling to ninth, I am afraid of something." It's all small races. ”
In the season before the Beijing Winter Olympics, Xu Mengtao raised her World Cup titles to 27, becoming the first person in history. Among them, the new mixed team event of this Winter Olympics, in the two matches of the World Cup in Finland, whether it is the combination of Xu Mengtao and Jia Zongyang and Qi Guangpu, or the combination of Xu Mengtao and Sun Jiaxu and Qi Guangpu, the two gold medals have not fallen.
The first event of the Beijing Winter Olympics freestyle skiing aerial skills competition, the mixed team, is regarded as the perfect time for the "Four Dynasties Elders" to realize their dreams.
China sent the most experienced trio: Xu Mengtao, Jia Zongyang and Qi Guangpu. The mixed group is divided into two rounds, each round of three people scored together to score the team score, the first four of the first round into the second round to compete for medals.
The same action jumps twice. Xu Mengtao's first jump was slightly flawed, but Jia Zongyang and Qi Guangpu successfully completed the action, and after the first round, the Chinese team ranked first and entered the second round. The second jump Xu Mengtao played perfectly, but Jia Zongyang landed a big mistake. This project, which originally had a high probability of winning gold, was pressed the pause button for the breakthrough.
Jia Zongyang could not hide his remorse and self-blame and tears, Xu Mengtao went to hug and comfort his teammates for the first time.
Sochi Supel was 35 years old when she won the championship, and Lasilla was still challenging the difficulty in her 30s, and age was not an obstacle to the championship in this project, xu Mengtao inspired herself in this way.
On February 14, 2022, 32-year-old Xu Mengtao, the fourth Winter Olympics, finally got his wish.