She is the main receiver of the Chinese women's volleyball team.
She is affectionately known by fans as "Little Universe".
She is the youngest Olympic champion in the history of the women's volleyball team.
She is Gong Xiangyu, a Chinese women's volleyball team, a rising star in the women's volleyball team.
My only love as a child was volleyball
Gong Xiangyu grew up in a around sports, she was born in 1997 in Lianyungang City, Jiangsu Province, her father is the main center of the Jiangsu Youth Men's Basketball Team, and her mother is a heavy sword fencing team member, it is true that Gong Xiangyu was born in a sports family.
Gong Xiangyu was influenced by his family, and also inherited the excellent genetic blood of his parents and loved sports since childhood. Coupled with the fact that her physical fitness exceeds that of many friends of the same age, all kinds of sports are not a problem for Gong Xiangyu, and the most evaluation of her by people around her at that time was "lively and active, very tall".
When Gong Xiangyu was in elementary school, she often went to the volleyball hall in the school to watch others play volleyball, and she found volleyball very interesting, and the whole person had a very strong interest in volleyball.
The tall Gong Xiangyu showed a very obsessive attitude towards volleyball, and the volleyball coach at the school felt that she was very talented and intended to cultivate her. After some thought, the coach decided to inform Gong Xiangyu's parents, hoping that they would agree to Gong Xiangyu joining the school's volleyball team.
Gong Xiangyu's parents were athletes themselves, and although they later retired from the army and engaged in other jobs, they still loved sports in their hearts. Faced with Gong Xiangyu's liking, they decided to respect their daughter's choice and let her choose their favorite volleyball.
Volleyball training is boring and tedious for many people. Starting from the basic movements of pad ball, serve, and slam ball, the day-to-day training made Gong Xiangyu's arm often blue, and his fingers were often injured. After training every day, the body will be in pain for a long time.
Even after suffering like this, Gong Xiangyu was as willing as a glutton, and she never stopped chasing volleyball. In the face of their daughter's persistent persistence, the parents also gave Gong Xiangyu the greatest encouragement and support.
At the first signs, the "small universe" began to awaken
Gong Xiangyu's rigorous training in elementary school made her a small athlete. In 2009, at the age of 12, she grew to 172cm tall, which is a complete "giant" among her peers.
Gong Xiangyu not only made a breakthrough in height, but her ball skills also improved by leaps and bounds, and she was admitted to jiangsu sports school with excellent results.
After entering the Jiangsu Sports School, the training was more rigorous, and Gong Xiangyu also successfully transformed into a more professional volleyball player. In 2012, Gong Xiangyu was selected for the Chinese Junior Women's Volleyball Team, in the position of second pass, and soon won the Asian U17 Women's Volleyball Championship and the World U18 Women's Volleyball Championship.
These two tournaments opened Gong Xiangyu's eyes, and after playing with senior seniors on the field, she found her own shortcomings and decided to train her skills more diligently.
In 2014, Gong Xiangyu's height grew to 186cm, which is a height with great advantage among volleyball players, and because his height is too top-notch, Gong Xiangyu's position in the second pass has been changed to a receiver. In addition to the height of the bamboo, the ball skills have also improved rapidly, and Gong Xiangyu has successfully been selected for the national youth women's volleyball team without living up to expectations.
In the national youth team, Gong Xiangyu played the main role, only 17 years old. In front of the elderly seniors in the team, Gong Xiangyu's role as the main force made many people feel that she was incompetent and not optimistic about her.
When others were looking forward to her mistakes with the eyes of "watching a good show", Gong Xiangyu did not flinch, cooperated sincerely with his teammates on the field, played steadily, won the Asian Youth Championship, and once again pocketed the championship in the Asian Championship.
In the face of Gong Xiangyu's strength operation, the teammates understood that this young girl was a "fierce character" that should not be underestimated, and had to admit that she was the main force in the team.
Outstanding strength, breaking the national team
In 2016, the curtain opened on the National League, and Gong Xiangyu succeeded Hui Ruoqi as a substitute to play in the National League. Hui Ruoqi could not play because of injury, coach Cai Bin chose to let Gong Xiangyu as a substitute to play, many people are puzzled, and his position is the main receiver in the volleyball team.
The ranking of the national league is crucial for the team, because the national league is a competition for the Chinese women's volleyball team to select reserve players. The senior players in the team thought that it was an unreasonable arrangement to have Gong Xiangyu as a substitute.
Although everyone was dissatisfied with the arrangement, Gong Xiangyu was not distracted by this, and still played super stable and performed well in the game. After a few games, Gong Xiangyu scored 368 points, not losing to other veteran players at all.
Next to the field, the eyes of coach Lang Ping of the Chinese women's volleyball team have been deeply attracted by Gong Xiangyu, and this young girl is not only full of vitality but also strength.
Sure enough, 19-year-old Gong Xiangyu was successfully selected for the national team.
According to the system of selecting people for the national team at that time, Gong Xiangyu, who was still young, would not have entered the national team so early. However, Lang Ping took a fancy to Gong Xiangyu's strength beyond his age, and was admitted to the national team.
Entering the national team can be said to be the dream of every professional athlete, which is also Gong Xiangyu's goal all along, she often said to her mother when she was a child:
"I must enter the national team in the future and win glory for my country in the Olympic arena."
If the previous training is harsh, then the training of the national team belongs to the devil's training, not only the strength of the teammates, but also the training standards formulated by Coach Lang Ping are difficult to achieve. As a result, Gong Xiangyu's ball skills have improved rapidly in just a few months.
At the same time, the national team is lining up for the Rio Olympics and formulating a list of players to play. Zeng Chunlei, who has always been the main recipient of the women's volleyball team, could not compete in the Rio Olympics because of physical injuries, coach Lang Ping looked at the players in the team and was distressed about who should take over.
After thinking about it for a long time, Lang Ping chose Gong Xiangyu. In this way, Gong Xiangyu's name appeared on the list of women's volleyball players at the Rio Olympics.
The "little universe" broke out and won the Olympic championship
The young Gong Xiangyu came to the Rio Olympics with the team, saying that it was definitely false to say that she was not nervous, and she was afraid that her unstable performance would affect the team's honor. The players in her company know that she is nervous as a newcomer, and they all pass on their experience on the Olympic field to her, hoping that she can play with peace of mind on the field without tension.
Gong Xiangyu's mother called her at this time, and she said:
"Coach Lang Ping chose you because he believes in your strength, you don't think too much, and you have more things to communicate with your teammates."
This phone call from his mother is no less than a reassuring pill, Gong Xiangyu did not think too much, and stepped onto the field with a stable mentality.
In the field, the Chinese team's first game was the Netherlands, and it had an unfavorable start and lost several games in a row. Gong Xiangyu was so anxious that tears flowed down, and Coach Lang Ping saw it and said to her: "Do you think the coaching staff should not bring you here?" ”
Gong Xiangyu wiped his tears, shook his head and said, "No, I feel that I have not contributed to the team. ”
Lang Ping knew in her heart that Gong Xiangyu was completely blaming herself, and she comforted Gong Xiangyu that as long as the follow-up play was good, there was a possibility of victory.
After in-depth communication with Coach Lang Ping, the Chinese women's volleyball team did not give up, and in the follow-up competition, it was humiliated and successfully won the championship of the Rio Olympic Games.
Throughout the Rio Olympic games, Gong Xiangyu participated in 7 games in 8 games, a total of 40 points, in the semi-final against the Netherlands, Gong Xiangyu single-handedly scored a high score of 8 points, so that the Chinese women's volleyball team successfully advanced to the final.
After that game, Gong Xiangyu and Lang Ping hugged each other deeply and cried with joy, and the Chinese women's volleyball team successfully ascended to the throne of the Rio Olympic Champion.
The youngest champion in the history of the women's volleyball team is ready to go
At the age of 19, she became the youngest Olympic champion in the team and the smallest volleyball Olympic champion in Chinese history. Such a special honor can only be worthy of Gong Xiangyu's strength, and it is just like this, Gong Xiangyu became famous in one battle, she was well known by people at a young age, and fans affectionately called her "small universe".
Today's Gong Xiangyu is only 24 years old, which is the golden age of active on the field, and won the runner-up of the women's volleyball team in the 14th National Games in September 2021.
We believe that in the future volleyball career, Gong Xiangyu will definitely create more brilliant results. We also wish her a long way on the road of volleyball, and look forward to her wonderful performance at the Paris Olympics!