"I'd rather sell popsicles in Harbin than go back, I'll learn curling!" Her father had asked her if she would continue to learn curling or go home, and Wang Rui said this.
The "naughty bag" in the eyes of the father
Yabuli in Heilongjiang Province is famous throughout the country for ski tourism, and curler Wang Rui was born here. Because his father, Wang Shijun, worked in the ski resort, when Wang Rui was 6 years old, his father sent him to the local ski team to learn alpine skiing.
"The child was born in the countryside, thinking that she would learn some special skills, and learning to ski also has this convenient condition, so I sent her to the team!" The father recalls the beginning and end of his daughter's skiing practice.
After practicing for more than 2 years, Wang Rui, who is lively and lively, does not want to continue practicing, and she has a showdown with her father: "This project is not suitable for me, I don't want to learn, I want to go home." ”
Faced with his daughter's request, the father unconditionally accepted. In order to go to school, my father also bought a house in the town.
"When I was a child, I was particularly naughty, but my popularity was very good, and there was always one of her mischievous people in school, and the teachers also looked for me when I was in school." But no matter how much she looked, I never hit her. Wang Rui's father said.
Wang Rui in life is particularly cheerful and is a particularly typical Northeast girl. The father's pampering made the relationship between the two more like friends. "She called me Lao Wangtou, and her classmates and teammates didn't know I was her father at first." Wang Rui's father said.
Such a cheerful girl, one day when she was 14 years old, wrote a small note to her father: "Dad, I don't want to go to school." ”
This time, too, the father agreed unconditionally.
Coinciding with the 2009 Chinese women's curling team winning the world championship, many people learned about the sport of curling. Through the introduction of friends, his father brought Wang Rui to Harbin and wanted Wang Rui to learn curling.
"I took her to a hotel in Harbin for more than half a month, when she was a child, her physical condition was not good, the coach did not want to collect, and then after fighting for it." Seeing that the child successfully entered the team and life was more regular, the father returned to Yabuli to continue working.
I'd rather sell popsicles than curl
The Harbin city team has trained many curling masters, such as curling world champion Wang Bingyu, Liu Yin, Yue Qingshuang, Zhou Yan, Liu Rui, Bade xin and so on are from this team. In 2009, Wang Rui joined the Harbin team for the first time in curling and became a disciple of Zhang Zhipeng, who was the first student of Zhang Zhipeng's belt.
"Wang Rui is a very smart child, although many things in life are not considered, but she can remember the things about curling very clearly, and the training is very hard." This is Zhang Zhipeng's evaluation of his disciples.
Wang Rui did not fall in love with curling when she encountered curling, but more about learning about the charm of the sport over time. She said: "When I was a kid, I didn't particularly understand what I liked. ”
At the 2010 Heilongjiang Provincial Games, Wang Rui became a substitute for Wang Bingyu's team, and that time the team won the gold medal in one fell swoop, which was the first time Wang Rui won results in curling. The 15-year-old girl suddenly had a clear goal, ignited a desire for championships and honors, and strengthened her determination to develop in curling.
In the Harbin city team training, Wang Rui needs to take his own car from Harbin back to Yabuli every Friday, more than 3 hours of driving, and his father is not at ease. Once her father asked her, "Do you really want to practice curling, and if you don't want to practice, let's go home?" Wang Rui said firmly: "I would rather sell popsicles in Harbin, I will not go back, I want to learn curling." ”
In order to take good care of his daughter, the father finally simply quit Yabuli's job and went to Harbin to do business himself, so that he could be closer to his daughter.
Competitive sports hurt and confused
In competitive sports, injuries often accompany an athlete throughout their sporting careers. For the seemingly mild curling event is no exception, and after years of throwing and sliding training, professional athletes will more or less produce some injuries.
Wang Rui, who participated in the Mixed Doubles Curling World Championships for the first time in 2016, won the silver medal with Ba Dexin, which was the first medal of the Chinese team after the mixed doubles curling event entered the Olympic Games, and the following year the two won the bronze medal at the Mixed Doubles Curling World Championships, which means that the Chinese mixed doubles curling project has a world-class level. At the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, the Chinese team's mixed doubles event has the hope of winning the medal!
Because of the excellent performance of the two World Championships, and the tall partner Bade Xin has the most cute height difference, netizens affectionately call Wang Rui "old sister" and "little cute".
However, before the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, Wang Rui's injury recurred.
Diagnosed as a pupal tear, this is a common cartilage injury in professional athletes, and many athletes are deeply disturbed by it. "Don't talk about normal training, it hurts to walk and lie in bed and turn over." Athletes who have experienced this injury are introduced.
If surgery is chosen, the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics will definitely be missed, and in the end Wang Rui chose conservative treatment to strengthen the training of the surrounding muscle groups and protect the injured part.
"I really fought for the game, and Wang Rui sweated in pain when she was training." Coach Zhang Zhipeng recalled the preparation experience of Pyeongchang.
In this way, Wang Rui withstood the problem of injury and stood on the field of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics with Badexin. However, the "Xinrui" combination, which stood in the Winter Olympic Games for the first time, failed to win the medal and ended the trip to Pyeongchang with the regret of fourth place.
After the game, the scene where Wang Rui cried and walked out of the arena made everyone feel sad, and she cried in the interview at the time: "The game has lost and won, this is the charm of sports, in a word, see you in four years!" ”
Press the whistle to get the opportunity to participate
During the Beijing Winter Olympics cycle, Wang Rui practiced this four-year covenant with actions. She teamed up with teammates Mei Jie, Yao Mingyue and Ma Jingyi to start preparing for the team event.
At the 2019 World Championships, Wang Rui led the team to participate, the new lineup was unveiled, only Wang Rui had rich experience in the competition, and the team finally ranked sixth for the purpose of training team members in a new cycle.
The injured "old girl" and her teammates returned to the local team to train. Affected by the epidemic, the ice rink where the Harbin team trained was no longer open, wang Rui and his teammates could only train physically and on land at home, and the original participation plan was stranded.
Until November 2021, Wang Rui led the team back to the national team as a "challenge team" to play in the Winter Olympic Trials, and Wang Rui re-entered the national team with excellent performances.
With the announcement of the lineup of the Chinese women's curling team at the Beijing Winter Olympics, Wang Rui joined Han Yu's team as a third baseman this time.
"Playing in the Olympics again, I enjoy the atmosphere of this competition." Wang Rui said in an interview.
She proved her state of mind with her actions, and she often played a difficult pass in the game, which attracted the applause of the audience, and after a few games, the topic of "Wang Rui is really stable" rushed to the hot search.
Former teammates commented: "Wang Rui is a girl with big hearts and big lungs, you see her throwing pots, it will be very happy, not all the time will not fall into this mistake, she will soon be able to come out." “
She was ordered to fight
On the field, she has always adhered to the attitude of "doing herself well", and whenever the Chinese team encounters difficulties, she can always use her two pots to resolve the disadvantages of the situation.
However, the good form did not translate the team into a final victory, and the Chinese team, which had lost three consecutive games in the opening round, faced a promotion crisis.
Wang Rui was ordered to be adjusted to fourth base in the fourth game against Sweden, with Zhang Lijun, Dong Ziqi and Han Yu, three teammates who had just been working together for less than 3 months, they defeated the Pyeongchang Winter Olympic champion Sweden, and then defeated the Pyeongchang Winter Olympic runner-up South Korea, with two consecutive wins to stop the team's decline. However, when encountering the Japanese team, which was also hot in the hand, the Chinese team that was gradually getting better was broken by the winning streak.
"Halfway through the race, the ice maker sharpened the pot, the line of the pot changed, we failed to adapt in time, or the team is relatively young." After the game, Wang Rui recaptured the loss of this crucial battle.
This defeat directly put the captain Han Yu on the bench, and Wang Rui became the captain. This is the first time she has been the captain of the Beijing Winter Olympic Games cycle, and after the substitution, the Chinese team lost the big score to the Russian Olympic Committee team that had not won a previous game, and almost lost hope of promotion.
After that game, Wang Rui did not cry, but his look was difficult to hide his loneliness, and tears swirled in his eyes.
After coming off the field, she said to herself, "Is my tactic too complicated?" I'm a little skeptical. ”
The last two opponents are the World Championship champion Britain and the Winter Olympic champion Canada, which are very difficult opponents with higher experience and strength than the Chinese team.
On February 16th, Wang Rui led the team to defeat the British team first and then narrowly defeated the Canadian team in the canadian game, saving the Chinese team's hope of promotion to the end.
"I gave myself a 6 point because some places still didn't do well, some regrets, but the game is over." Wang Rui summed up her trip to the Beijing Winter Olympics in this way. "But the team has 8 points." Wang Rui then added.
epilogue
In the last game, when the camera lens swept over Wang Rui, she was very calm, calm and a little less like the "little cute" who had probed the previous day in the stands and played with the railing.
When someone asks, did it touch you that The Canadian team's 47-year-old Jones is still insisting on the field?
She smiled and said, "I think I can hold on." Looking at her, I also want to persevere! ”
Suddenly, the picture flashed back to the PyeongChang Winter Olympics 4 years ago, which was the next 4-year appointment of "Little Cute".
Written by / Jiang Bo
Editor/ Li Xu Liang Lina
Visual / Wang Ye