Xu Mengtao, 31, won the gold medal in women's aerial skills in freestyle skiing on the evening of February 14. When the last contestant finished the game, Xu Mengtao cried and hugged her, I believe that this player can also feel Xu Mengtao's excitement.
Xu Mengtao's parents shouted excitedly in front of the TV, and they and their relatives and friends witnessed their daughter's championship. When Xu Mengtao was 12 years old, from gymnastics to skiing, this year is exactly 20 years, and her parents know how much she has suffered. In her hometown of Anshan, Xu Mengtao is already a "celebrity", but relatives and friends still expect her to realize her dream of winning the championship in Beijing.
Xu Mengtao, born in 1990, is definitely a "veteran" of the Chinese Winter Olympic team. This is the 4th Winter Olympics she participated in, Sochi Winter Olympics Xu Mengtao has the strength to win gold, but in the end she only won the silver medal, she vowed that the PyeongChang Winter Olympics will win the championship, otherwise she will retire, to the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, her mentality and technology are adjusted to the best, and finally still regret.
This is the other side of the Olympics and competitive sports, especially in scoring events like skiing. You need to be technically the best, you need to play well on the spot, and you need to have a good weather on the spot. And this, with a certain degree of contingency.
Xu Mengtao has won 27 World Cup titles, is the player who has won the most World Cup titles, and has also won the World Championship, and is undoubtedly at the world's first-class level in technology, but it seems that there is a spell, or heaven wants to give her a special test, not only to test her skills and mind, but also to test her patience.
Fortunately, she did not give up. Or maybe heaven had already made arrangements for her to win this gold medal in her own home country. Xu Mengtao at the Beijing Winter Olympics is more mature than 4 years ago, she has been very calm, and seems to have "looked down", but only she herself knows that that firmness is still there.
At the moment of winning the championship, she won the favor of heaven, and if there is really a roadblock in the world, she has also retreated in this year of the tiger. If "luck favors only those who are ready", then no one is more qualified than Xu Mengtao.
"Veteran" Xu Mengtao finally won the gold medal at the Winter Olympics. Photo: Xinhua News Agency
It was at the Beijing Winter Olympics that Xu Mengtao realized the sublimation of her life realm. A jump that determined fate, she jumped out of a high score of 108.61, which is beyond herself, whether it is difficulty or completion, she has done her best. Xu Mengtao, who landed steadily, was extremely calm, and it was only after knowing her score that she became excited and repeatedly confirmed, "Am I the first?" ”
Perhaps only Xu Mengtao knows that the most difficult thing in life is actually to overcome and surpass himself. 27 World Cup titles are a huge achievement and a huge pressure, the IOC will not give you a gold medal just because you are the "first person", you still have to fight to jump. The stronger you were in the past, the harder it is for you to be now. In the snow field, Xu Mengtao's real "opponent" is actually herself.
It's a lonely adventure and the most exquisite interpretation of the Olympic spirit. It's fairly unfair that we always expect an athlete to keep going above and beyond, but the best athletes will rise to the challenge.
At the "front", she has no companions, not even "opponents", only herself or her own shadow, the enemy known as the "heart demon". In the end, Xu Mengtao did it, and only she herself knew how difficult it was.
Xu Mengtao said that she did not start her "life" until after the Olympic Games, she may mean relaxing and enjoying life, wishing her all the best. She may find herself standing at a new starting point, a new self being born.
Contributing Writer | Zhang Feng (Columnist)
Edit | Ma Xiaolong
Proofreading | Liu Baoqing