【Text/Observer Network Yan Shanshan】 At this Beijing Winter Olympics, Xu Mengtao held up the national flag and shouted "I finally won at the doorstep" after the final of the freestyle ski women's aerial skills, Fan Kexin choked up the scene of "I have waited for this gold medal for too long" after winning the short track speed skating mixed relay gold medal with his teammates, which is the tenacity and bravery left by the Chinese girl to the world.
On February 15, a group of photos became popular on social platforms, and many people were deeply touched by the family stories of Winter Olympic champions Zhou Yang, Fan Kexin and Xu Mengtao. Three old photos break many people's perception that ice and snow sports are "far away from ordinary families, especially snow sports".
These three Chinese girls who have not given up their dreams and gone from the northeast to the world stage have a simple wish to make their parents' lives better. Some netizens sighed: "It is these real sufferings that are more powerful." ”
1. Qitaihe, Heilongjiang, Fan Kexin's shoe repair shop
"I've been waiting for this gold medal for too long."
On the evening of February 5, after Fan Kexin's Chinese team with Qu Chunyu, Ren Ziwei and Wu Dajing won the gold medal in the 2000-meter mixed relay of short track speed skating at the Beijing Winter Olympics, she burst into tears in a post-match interview.
Born in September 1993 in Boli County, Qitaihe City, Heilongjiang Province, the Olympic champion who came out of a shoe repair shop has been at the Olympics for three Olympic games.
At the end of 2017, Fan Kexin was preparing for the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, Tencent Sports interviewed her parents, at that time, the Fan family had lived in a clean building, but recalling her daughter's growth experience, Fan's mother's eyes were red.
"Guilt about children." Fan Kexin said that when Fan Kexin was a child, his family lost money in business, and they were instantly destitute, and in 2000, their family went to the city to run to relatives and came to Qitaihe City from Shuanghe Town under the jurisdiction of Qitaihe City.
Fan Kexin's mother
At that time, a temporary movable board house and a shoe repair stall became the whole of the family. The board room is only about 10 square meters, with bunk beds. There was no electricity and no water, so he went to the house of another person to carry it, "You have to drink porridge to eat." ”
The shoe stall that once supported Fan Kexin's family (Source: Tencent Sports)
"(Fan Kexin) Is sensible when he is young." Fan Mu talked about a thing she could never forget, when the conditions were poor, she once picked up a piece of clothing from the garbage can, took it home, washed it, cut it well, and gave it to her daughter to wear, who understood that her parents were not easy and would not pick.
For that poor experience, Fan Kexin also did not shy away from it: "There is nothing that cannot be mentioned, because the conditions at home are like that, my brother has given up school, at that time bottles and paper shells can be sold for money, I have a distance every day when I am out of school, when I play, I will pick it up and go home, and I may buy a pen or something." ”
In 2017, the walls of Fan Kexin's home were hung with family portraits and photos of Fan Kexin's competition
When she was in elementary school, the school called on students to learn their strengths, and Fan Kexin chose dance, but a week later, she said that she did not like dance and refused to go to dance class. Later, the child told the truth, because the dance class had to charge a fee, the tuition fee was 200 yuan, and there was 100 yuan in clothing fees, and the 300 yuan was their family's two-month rent.
Fan Mu heard the customers who came to repair shoes say that it doesn't take much money to learn sports, so she took Fan Kexin to the Qitaihe City Stadium 5 minutes away from home. At that time, Fan Kexin's first question asked the sports school coach was: "Does it cost money to learn this?" ”
Coach Ma Qingzhong let Fan Kexin run three laps, and said to her, practice for a few days to see, like to learn from me, tuition do not worry, the family can not afford to come, or find the sports bureau to think of a way. In 2003, Fan Kexin began training in short track speed skating.
Fan Mu watched her daughter's physical health problems when she trained, she was very distressed, the family did not have money to treat the disease, and once wanted to let the child give up short track speed skating. Coach Ma Qingzhong immediately paid money to arrange for the child to live in the hospital, hoping that this good seedling would not give up.
For those who have helped him, Fan Kexin has always been grateful.
The director of the industrial and commercial office in the street where Fan Kexin's family was located recalled that she and the Fan family met because Fan Kexin's mother came to run a business license for a shoe repair shop. At that time, Fan Kexin's family rented a semi-underground house, and used a teapot for dinner, without a dining table. When he grew up, Fan Kexin's nutrition could not keep up. Only tuition is provided in the team, but ice blades, sportswear, etc. are all personally burdened.
The director of the industrial and commercial institute went home to consult with his wife and squeezed out 100 yuan a month from his limited salary to support her, and they are now affectionately called "dry father" and "dry mother" by Fan Kexin.
In 2017, in the CCTV "Cultural Perspectives" column, recalling another coach who had helped her, Meng Qingyu, Fan Kexin couldn't help but cry.
"When I started practicing in 2003, the shoes I wore at that time were quite broken and very cheap, but then I entered the Harbin team, and the ice knives and shoes I used to have stopped working, I remember that the pair of ice knives was 2500 yuan, and my family had no money to buy that pair of ice knives and shoes. At that time, Teacher Meng helped me advance this money, he confiscated a penny, at that time 2500 yuan, may be a year's living expenses in the family. ”
Meng Qingyu
Fan Kexin has always remembered what Teacher Meng said to her: "You must practice well, and then use your own efforts to change the conditions at home." ”
She did.
In 2010, Fan Kexin was selected for the national team, and in October of the same year, at the short track speed skating World Cup in Montreal, Canada, Fan Kexin made his debut in the senior group of the international competition, and won the gold medal in the women's 3000 meters relay with Zhou Yang, Liu Qiuhong and Zhang Hui. Since then, her achievements have become more and more dazzling, winning many world championships, but what Fan Kexin wants most is always a Winter Olympic gold medal.
Before the Beijing Winter Olympics, Fan Kexin won a silver medal in Sochi and missed the medal in Pyeongchang because of a penalty. At the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, the "veteran" finally realized her dream, winning the Olympic gold medal at her doorstep and winning a bronze medal with her teammates in the women's 3000m relay.
On February 14, Fan Kexin posted on Weibo: "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 waited for the answer." ”
And her sister Zhou Yang also forwarded Weibo at the first time and wrote: "I am so happy that you have not given up, and finally defeated the self that was once one step away, and I am proud of you!" ”
2. Changchun, Jilin Province, Zhou Yangjia's lottery station
Also short track speed skating, Olympic triple gold medalist Zhou Yang empathizes with Fan Kexin's experience. On February 13, in the live broadcast room of Wang Meng, a voice of the teenager Fan Kexin made Zhou Yang cry, and the memories poured into his heart, in the voice, Xiao Kexin said to his mother: "I just want to fight myself, fight to the end to become a champion, let you live a good life." ”
Wang Meng and Zhou Yang (right)
At the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Zhou Yang also said the same thing after winning the championship: "After winning the gold medal, it may change a lot." First of all, I will definitely make myself more confident, and I can also make my parents' lives a little better. ”
Zhou Yang was born on June 9, 1991 in Changchun City, Jilin Province, his mother had a leg disability, unemployed at home, and earned a little family by helping others knit sweaters.
Zhou Yang was selected by the speed skating coach at the age of 8 and entered the Changchun City team for training, at the beginning of the 4 years, Zhou Yang belonged to the amateur team, Zhou Yang's father rode a motorcycle every day to pick up, more than 3 a.m. to get up, the wind and snow did not stop.
Once on a snowy day, Zhou Yang's father fell, but the next day he still sent the girl to training, and he happily told the coach: "I hugged the girl, and the girl did not fall." ”
When the coach recalled, Zhou Yang's father sat on the side and smiled
Later, Zhou Yang left her parents to enter the professional team, and she occasionally shed tears because of the hard training, "When the training is tired, think about your parents to survive." ”
According to a sports network reporter reported in March 2010, Zhou Yang's home was a house built in the 1980s on Weixing Road in Changchun City.
Source: Sports Network (the same below)
In addition to an LCD TV, the rest of the hardware facilities in the 50-square-meter home are very old, the house is not decorated, the sofa is polished to reveal a sponge, the two walls are hung with trend charts, and the window facing the street is placed with sports lottery and lucky lottery betting machines.
According to Zhou Yang's father, Zhou Jiwen, "It is both a betting station and a home." ”
Zhou Yang's parents
In 2010, when CCTV went to an interview, he also found that the word "cool skin" was posted on the window of Zhou Yang's home.
According to the Xinmin Evening News, after receiving the salary of the professional team, Zhou Yang believes that skating can change the situation of low income in the family. Sensible, she became the youngest and most hard-working member of the team. She vividly remembers that the first time she got the prize money for the World Youth Championship, she excitedly called home and asked to send money home.
After being selected for the national team, Zhou Yang grew rapidly, and looking at the efforts of coaches, team doctors and staff, she was more determined to win.
At the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, 18-year-old Zhou Yang won the short track speed skating women's 1500 meters championship and won the gold medal in the 3000 meters relay with her teammates, becoming the youngest Winter Olympic gold medalist in China at that time, and then she spent money to renovate her home.
In 2014, Zhou Yang continued to shine at the Sochi Winter Olympics, winning the women's 1500m championship in short track speed skating, and in 2018, she accompanied the team to the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics and served as the flag bearer of the opening ceremony of the Chinese sports delegation.
Along the way, in addition to the efforts of the national team coaches, teammates and staff, zhou Yang supported Zhou Yang, as well as the most simple belief from the bottom of his heart: to make his parents' lives better.
Today, Zhou Yang is a member of the ISU Athletes' Committee, serving from the 2019 World Championships to the 2023 World Championships.
3. Anshan, Liaoning, Xu Mengtao's barbecue restaurant
The holding of the Beijing Winter Olympics has made many people interested in ice and snow sports, and "300 million people on ice and snow" has also moved from a vision to reality, but there is also a saying: "Ice and snow sports are very expensive, especially snow sports, and need family support when starting." ”
When Xu Mengtao, the Olympic champion of freestyle skiing women's aerial skills, was not rich at home, her wish at that time was also to train well and no longer let her parents suffer.
Xu Mengtao was born on July 12, 1990 in Anshan City, Liaoning Province, her father Xu Xuejun, after discovering that his daughter's legs can easily make cross forks and her body flexibility is very good, sent 4-year-old Xu Mengtao to the Gymnastics Training Class of Anshan Sports School; in 1998, Xu Mengtao was selected for the Liaoning Provincial Gymnastics Team; in 2002, Xu Mengtao achieved 3 gold, 2 silver and 1 bronze in the Liaoning Provincial Games.
But at the same time, Peach grew taller and taller, and her kneecap was larger than that of other gymnasts, and it was no longer physically suitable for practicing gymnastics, so Xu's father sent his daughter to Shenyang Sports Institute and began to practice freestyle skiing aerial skills , a sport called "snow gymnastics" by coaches.
"Liaoshen Evening News" reported that on February 14, after Xu Mengtao won the gold medal at the Beijing Winter Olympics, she shouted at the camera with tears: "Thank you for the full companionship of my parents, I have not been filial to you at home since I was a child." But in the hearts of Xu Mengtao's parents, the daughter is the most filial child.
According to upstream news reports, the Xu family's old house is less than 40 square meters. Outside the south wall of the Golden Pomegranate Supermarket on Hunan Street in Anshan, there was once an "old Xu meat skewer", which was a barbecue restaurant once run by Xu Mengtao's father, Xu Xuejun. Relying on more than 20 years of grilled skewer career, Xu Mengtao's parents have supported their daughter's dream of champion.
According to the Women's Federation WeChat public account "All-China Women's Federation Women's Voice", Xu Xuejun said: "Her mother and I have no other source of income, we have always relied on barbecues to support Xu Mengtao's training, previously it was an open-air food stall, and later borrowed money to open a small shop... Every time Mengtao came home, she would come to the store at night to help. ”
The business of the barbecue stall that the Xu family once ran was not very large, at the beginning of the fifty cents a string, the father shouted in the front, Xu Mengtao in the back to help take the string, "a day also earned thirty or forty yuan, earn more than thirty yuan is very happy." According to NetEase Sports, Xu Mengtao's mother will come to pick up the father and daughter at night to go home, and the night in the northeast often cools down, and when encountering this kind of weather, Xu Mengtao will say to his father: "Insist on it again, and then insist on it and may sell twenty more." ”
Xu Mengtao (left) and father
The happiest time for the family is to put the empty foam box on the "upside-down donkey" in front of the shelf, Xu Mengtao's father rides the car, and the family happily goes home to settle the day's results.
"Now I feel very nostalgic, every day is very happy," Xu Mengtao suddenly shed tears, "speaking of this I kind of want to cry, although the conditions in my home are not particularly good, but I feel very happy, I have never been because of the bad conditions at home, or because of what kind of champion shelf, I will not accompany them to barbecue." ”
In 2014, after Xu Mengtao won the silver medal at the Sochi Winter Olympics, she returned to Anshan to help the shop first, helping her father wear meat skewers, serve dishes, and greet guests.
"From a small family, the family is difficult, and she did not get a rich life in the childhood of other children," Xu Xuejun said in a recent interview, saying that her daughter shed tears, "I told her that in terms of moral character, civility and courtesy should be done well." Be polite to the teacher, coach, friend, and teacher; and work hard in learning. ”
Recalling the injuries and sufferings suffered by his daughter in training and competition, Lao Xu once again couldn't help but cry, "Competitive sports athletes, it is really not easy today. ”
Now, Xu Mengtao, who has competed in the Winter Olympics for four years, has finally realized her dream at the doorstep of her home, and on February 15, she wrote in a post on Weibo: "The feeling of realizing my dream is also too good, they said that I would laugh out of my dreams last night, but in fact, I did not sleep all night, so happy!" There are too many people to thank, thanks to the country, the coach and my family and friends. You are my strongest backing, my great motivation to get up after falling down again and again. ”
At this Beijing Winter Olympics, we have not only witnessed the style of a group of vigorous, confident and generous "post-00s" young generals, but also sincerely happy for the "veterans" who persevered and fought until the last moment, and they all paid hardships that ordinary people could not imagine to realize their dreams.
On February 15, after the old photos of the three Olympic champion families became popular on the social platform, many netizens were deeply touched, and some people left a message saying that the girls were too cattle, and they used their own struggles to break the saying that "ice and snow sports have nothing to do with ordinary people", "It is these real sufferings that are more powerful." Tribute to the winners of these medals. For medals, but also for their lives. ”
Some netizens also suggested that both Olympic champions and athletes who are not well known to us hope that they will get more attention.