On February 14, 2022, Xu Mengtao won the championship with a score of 108.61 points in the free ski aerial skills final. After the game, Xu Mengtao didn't seem to believe the facts in front of her, and she shouted: "Am I the first?" After being confirmed, she couldn't hold back the tears and shouted, "We won!" China has won! This scene quickly rushed to the hot search, and many netizens could not help but burst into tears.
Yes, Xu Mengtao's Olympic gold medal came too easily!
I started practicing gymnastics at the age of 4.
In 2002, Xu Xuejun took his daughter Xu Mengtao to Chen Hongbin, a teacher at Shenyang Sports Academy, hoping that her daughter could learn freestyle skiing aerial skills with Chen Hongbin.
At this time, Xu Mengtao was already 12 years old, because she began to practice gymnastics at the age of 4, and had been practicing for 8 years at that time, and her comprehensive quality was quite good, so Chen Hongbin accepted her.
Considering that Xu Mengtao did not know anything about free skiing, Chen Hongbin first showed her some videos of the free skiing aerial skills competition, and then asked her how she felt? As a result, Xu Mengtao said: "Old danger!" ”
This made Chen Hongbin, who was originally serious, can't help but laugh. However, Xu Mengtao's next sentence made Chen Hongbin look at her with astonishment. Xu Mengtao said, "I want to practice it well and win glory for the country in the future!"
In fact, the seeds of winning glory for the country have long been deeply planted in Xu Mengtao's heart.
Xu Mengtao's father, Xu Xuejun, was a sports fan, and Li Ning, the prince of gymnastics in his early years, was his idol. He was once very eager to become a gymnast, but due to conditions that did not allow him, he was unable to achieve his dream.
In 1990, Xu Mengtao was born. At that time, Xu Xuejun and his wife had no other income, they could only set up a barbecue stall on the street, and they barely made a living by selling some grilled skewers, and the family's economic situation was still very difficult.
When Xu Mengtao was a child, Xu Xuejun found that her body was particularly soft. Not only can you easily split forks, but you can also make beautiful backbends. This discovery reminded Xu Xuejun of the dream of a champion, so when Xu Mengtao was 4 years old, Xu Xuejun sent her to the Gymnastics Training Class of Anshan Gymnastics School to learn gymnastics.
Xu Xuejun also especially likes to watch sports programs, every time he sees Chinese athletes win the championship and get on the podium, he always says to Xu Mengtao: "You will also win glory for the country like them in the future, so you have to practice well now, but you can't be lazy." ”
Xu Xuejun firmly remembered her father's words, and since then, she has had the dream of winning the glory of the country as a world champion. So she is particularly able to train to endure hardships.
Many years later, Xu Mengtao's enlightenment coach Zhang Liping still remembers the scene when Xu Mengtao trained in his early years. She said that at that time, Xu Mengtao practiced gymnastics with a group of older children, but she was particularly sensible and competitive. As long as other children practice better than her, she will definitely practice repeatedly, and she must surpass others in movements. At that time, Zhang Liping felt that Xu Mengtao would definitely have a big show in the future.
In 1997, the coach of the Jilin Provincial Gymnastics Team went to Anshan to select gymnastics seedlings, and Xu Mengtao was caught by them.
Originally, Wang Fengli began to agree to let Xu Mengtao practice gymnastics, thinking of letting her strengthen her body, and never thought of letting her go too far on the road of gymnastics. After all, for girls, being an athlete is too hard, and the competition is too fierce, it is really better to study well, go to a good university in the future, and find a good job to live a good life. However, Xu Xuejun thought that the opportunity was rare, so he repeatedly did his wife's ideological work, and after convincing his wife, Xu Xuejun still sent his daughter to the Jilin Provincial Sports School.
Xu Mengtao is indeed very talented in gymnastics, and she is even more successful after she arrives at the provincial sports school. Although the daily training is very hard, she is never lazy in training, and strives to make every action perfect.
For a couple of years, he cut off the gymnastics road.
However, Xu Mengtao's gymnastics road is not smooth.
Because her hukou is in Anshan, she cannot represent Jilin Province in the national competition. Once, When Bi Xuejun went to school to visit her daughter, the coach told Xu Xuejun that Xu Mengtao was very promising, but if she could not participate in the national competition, it would be difficult for her to rush to the national team.
Xu Xuejun had no choice but to transfer Xu Mengtao back to Anshan Sports School.
After Zhang Liping learned about it, she felt that she could not bury Xu Mengtao, and asked her old classmates for help, which transferred Xu Mengtao to the Liaoning Gymnastics Team. When Xu Mengtao was in the Liaoning Gymnastics Team, he won a good result in the provincial annual competition. Unfortunately, gymnastics is a very weak sport in Liaoning, so the provincial sports association disbanded the gymnastics team soon after. Fortunately, Shenyang Sports School still has a gymnastics team, so Xu Mengtao has a place to go and can continue training.
In 2002, Liaoning Province held the Nine Games in Anshan. Xu Mengtao represented Anshan at that Games and won titles in free gymnastics, vaulting and balance beam.
However, Xu Mengtao, who has just emerged, has to face new problems, that is, she is in a period of development, her height is too fast, and her kneecap is larger than her peers. Such physical conditions are obviously no longer suitable for practicing gymnastics.
Seeing that his sports career was about to be interrupted, Xu Mengtao was very reluctant. After practicing gymnastics for 8 years, I said it was gone!
3. 27 World Cup winners.
His daughter could not practice gymnastics, Xu Xuejun was anxious again, he heard that the Shenyang Sports Institute freestyle skiing aerial skills project was selecting students in the gymnastics team, so with the idea of trying it out, with Xu Mengtao and the medals she won in the gymnastics competition, he found Chen Hongbin, who was in charge of enrollment.
Freestyle skiing aerial skills, also known as "snow gymnastics", require athletes not only to have good balance, but also to have good aerial control. This is also the reason why Chen Hongbin will go to the gymnastics team to select students. Because only with good body flexibility, can we better complete technical actions.
It can be said that in this regard, Xu Mengtao still has a great advantage, so she has been focused on cultivating chen Hongbin. When Chen Hongbin took her and other trainees to the high mountains to ski, she saw that there was snow everywhere and felt that it was particularly fresh and beautiful. Coupled with freestyle skiing aerial skills, although it looks very dangerous, it is also very adventurous, which makes her very fond of it. As a result, she trained particularly hard, and she was particularly good at learning and observing, so she quickly mastered the art of churning in the air.
In 2005, at the age of 15, Xu Mengtao won her first freestyle skiing aerial skills title in the national championships, and she has since begun to win the championship.
In 2007, Xu Mengtao won the World Youth Championships Freestyle Skiing Aerial Skills Championship and became the first athlete in China to win the World Youth Championships Freestyle Skiing Aerial Skills Championships. Subsequently, she won a silver medal at the Asian Winter Games. That year, Xu Mengtao, who emerged in the world of freestyle skiing aerial skills, also won the "World Newcomer Award".
Since then, Xu Mengtao has won the World Championship and the World Cup championship with his impeccable technical level.
In Xu Mengtao's 20-year athletic career, she has won a total of 27 World Cup titles before and after, becoming the athlete with the largest number of freestyle skiing aerial skills World Cup champions.
In fact, not only the World Cup champion, the World Championships and other international competitions, she also stands on the highest championship podium. As for the domestic competition, she easily won the gold medal. At that time, she was simply a gold medal harvester in the world of freestyle skiing aerial skills, and as soon as she heard that she was going to participate in the competition, the other players began to study how to get the second place.
Despite her soft gold medal, she has also become the world's top athlete in the world of freestyle skiing aerial skills, but for her, it is still not satisfied, because there is still a lack of an Olympic gold medal. For athletes, only by winning an Olympic gold medal can they truly prove their strength, which is one of the reasons why every athlete is so tenacious in the Olympic arena.
As a world champion, Xu Mengtao's strength is obvious to all. However, who would have thought that her Olympic dream of chasing gold would be unexpectedly difficult.
Fourth, the 3rd Olympic Games did not have a crown.
In 2010, Xu Mengtao participated in the Vancouver Winter Olympics as a Chinese sports representative, which was also her first time participating in the Winter Olympics. Although in the past, Xu Mengtao has participated in many international competitions and has a wealth of competition experience. However, in that competition, Xu Mengtao only won the 6th place due to defeat.
In 2014, Xu Mengtao played again at the Sochi Winter Olympics. At that time, Xu Mengtao had already won many World Cup titles, and her state was the best in that period, and everyone thought she would win the gold medal. However, during the game, due to her unstable falling foot, it caused a mistake. In the end, she passed the gold medal and only won a silver medal. Although this silver medal was the first Olympic medal won by the Chinese women's freestyle skiing aerial skills team, she still held the silver medal in her hand and looked at it again and again, and her face was unwilling.
In 2018, Xu Mengtao has reached the best state after a series of competitions and training, both technically and psychologically, so when she competed in the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, she was full of confidence, and even left a harsh sentence of "retiring if she can't get the gold medal" before going out.
However, unexpectedly, due to the lack of momentum during the jump, the result was a big mistake, not only did not even touch the medal, but also slid to the 9th place.
After the game, Xu Mengtao doubted her own strength for a long time, and even wanted to retire for a while, because before this, her worst result was also the 6th place, and she had never won such a bad result as the 9th place, she cried several times for this, and when the reporter interviewed her, she could not suppress the tears in her eyes. She choked up and said, "I don't want to cry, I really tried my best, it's really not easy, I really want to fight for this gold medal..."
5. 4 major surgeries for injuries.
For Xu Mengtao, it is really not easy. Because of the limitations of skis, coupled with the fact that high-altitude flips are easy to lose their balance, it is easy to have accidents after falling, fractures and ligament tears are all injuries encountered during training and competition. Just look at her two scarred legs to see how hard she is trying to compete for an Olympic gold medal.
In 2007, Xu Mengtao tore her cruciate ligament for the first time. For athletes, it will almost ruin their sports careers. However, xu Mengtao endured unbearable pain for ordinary people through surgery and scientific training, and then returned to the field with tenacious perseverance.
At the 2016 National Winter Games, Xu Mengtao fell the ski slope while challenging a difficult move, resulting in a rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament. Doctors had to remove 70 percent of her meniscus and punched 3 nails in her knee. The injury was so severe that the doctor advised her to retire and not continue practicing, otherwise it would cause irreversible damage to the body. But Xu Mengtao always felt that she was just a little bit away from the Olympic gold medal, so she stubbornly stood on the track again.
In the 20 years that Xu Mengtao practiced her freestyle skiing aerial skills, she suffered numerous injuries in training and competitions, including 4 major surgeries alone, not counting the various injuries caused by those small bumps. Therefore, Xu Mengtao's Olympic gold chase road, the pain has always been like a shadow. This is also one of the difficulties that Xu Mengtao has to overcome for a long time.
In addition to physical pain, Xu Mengtao also had to endure psychological torture.
Since she has not won the gold medal in the 3 Winter Olympics, her own psychological pressure is also increasing day by day. Winning the Olympic gold medal has become Xu Mengtao's obsession. No matter how big the difficulty, Xu Mengtao persevered, she thought that she still did not practice enough, so she was very hard in training, and even her teammates said that she was "desperately sanlang".
Fortunately, Xu Mengtao has a cheerful personality and knows how to adjust his mentality. After the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, she was depressed for a long time, but then she figured it out herself, she felt that god was kind to her, deliberately not to let her win the first 3 Winter Olympic Games, in order to let her realize her dreams at the doorstep.
Thinking like this, Xu Mengtao was full of energy and threw herself into intense training.
Six, 32 years old finally came true.
On December 14, 2022, 32-year-old Xu Mengtao finally got what she wanted with a shock.
When she learned that she had won the championship, she cried bitterly. After 20 years of anticipation, this day has finally arrived!
However, in an interview after the game, although Xu Mengtao could not calm her excitement, she said frankly: "This glory belongs to the entire air skill team, to those predecessors who explored and pioneered for us in difficult times." "In the face of honor, I can also think of those predecessors who contributed to the aerial skills of freestyle skiing with a grateful heart, how can such an Olympic champion not be admirable!"
No matter, Xu Mengtao will choose to retire or choose to continue to stay in the national team to compete for national honors, let us all bless her and hope that she will create more brilliant results on the road of life in the future.