Yang Xiuqiong photo
She was hailed as a legend at a young age when she won four swimming events at a sports event, and she was the first female Olympic athlete, an honor in the sports world, but also a victim of the social era.
She is Yang Xiuqiong, the most sought after "southern mermaid" in the Republic of China.
Yang Xiuqiong, who was born in Dongguan, Guangdong Province, may have been more talented with her father, and she was better at swimming than other siblings.
Yang Xiuqiong's father, Yang Zhunan, was a very famous swimming coach in the local area at that time, and his daughter's proficiency in swimming was a normal performance for him.
But Yang Xiuqiong's rapid learning and mastery of swimming skills still shocked him, yang Xiuqiong's talent seems to be born for this sport.
At that time, women's swimming was not something that could win glory for the country, and it was only a small event in some areas that wanted to participate in the competition, but Yang Zhunan still intentionally or unintentionally trained her daughter.
He thought that since his daughter liked and was good at it, it would be good to help her cultivate into a hobby, so after that, every time Yang Xiuqiong swam in the water, Yang Zhunan would praise her.
At that time, swimming in Yang Xiuqiong's eyes was a toy to play with her brothers and sisters, and it was also a prop praised by her father.
Swimming brought her childhood a very happy time, but it also became a sharp weapon to silence her later.
In 1928, Yang Washunan was hired as a swimming coach by the Hong Kong South China Swimming Association. Yang Xiuqiong's family also moved to Hong Kong with Yang Zhunan.
Photo of Yang Xiuqiong practicing gymnastics
She was only ten years old at that time, and she was extremely talented in sports, and in addition to studying at Zunde Girls' School, extracurricular sports were also abundant.
Playing football and gymnastics are all sports that she is good at, but her favorite thing is swimming.
She likes to swim freely in the water, likes the satisfactory results obtained after accelerating, and likes the feeling of being praised.
So after school break, she would come to the South China Sports Association to practice swimming, along with her sister Yang Xiuzhen and younger brother Yang Changhua.
Yang Zhunan will also give them some help in training. This time and two, Yang Xiuqiong's swimming speed is getting faster and faster, and her skills are getting better and better.
This had to make Yang Zhunan start to consider finding her a chance to prove her strength.
Photo of Yang Xiuqiong in the magazine
So Yang Xiuqiong, who had been training hard for two years, participated in the Hong Kong Open Swimming Championship held at the Victoria Swimming Hall in Hong Kong in 1930.
Yang Xiuqiong, who was only 12 years old, won the 50m and 100m freestyle championships in one fell swoop.
The defeat of Australian athletes in the 100-meter freestyle shocked the entire Hong Kong swimming scene, when as long as there were foreign figures in swimming competitions, Chinese there was no chance of winning.
But Yang Xiuqiong broke people's inherent cognition, and also broke the absurd statement that the yellow race people could not win the swimming championship at that time.
The Hong Kong media began to report in many ways, and also gave her a nickname of "Southern Mermaid".
Even if such an achievement is put into the present, it can become the glory of a person's life, but this is only the beginning of Yang Xiuqiong's life.
In the second year of her swimming career, she remained steady, and she won the championship again in the Hong Kong-Kowloon Sea Crossing Competition.
Later, in 1931, he won the Hong Kong Swimming Competition for the second time in the 50m and 100m freestyle competitions.
At that time, she was only 14 years old, because of many awards, so she was famous in the sports circle, and australian sports clubs invited her to participate in the swimming performance in Victoria.
Then Yang Xiuqiong ushered in the highlight moment of her life, she and her sister Yang Xiuzhen wanted to represent the Hong Kong team to participate in the Fifth National Games held in Nanjing.
Yang Xiuqiong and sister Yang Xiuzhen
Because this is the first time that the women's swimming event has been listed as a national competition, female swimmers from all over the world will come to participate, and the event is very exciting.
Also because it is a national event, there are also many domestic and foreign media reporters present, Yang Xiuqiong and her sister looked at the audience when they went to the game together, and there was no anxiety but excitement in their hearts.
She has never had the concept of failure when she was praised, she has this proud strength, as long as she goes all out, the champion will be hers.
Yang Xiuqiong, who has been accustomed to being watched since she was a child, is not afraid at all even in large competitions, her eyes are firm, she only wants to work hard for victory and live up to the cultivation of her family.
Photos of Yang Xiuqiong's competition
So in this national sports event, she still played steadily, living up to expectations and successfully winning all the gold medals in the women's event.
At that time, Yang Xiuqiong was only 15 years old to have such an achievement, and this achievement has not been broken until now, which shows how strong Yang Xiuqiong's strength was at that time.
Song Meiling at the scene of the competition was even more amazed by her achievements, and accepted her as a dry daughter on the spot, and also gave her an American Zizhu brand car.
This competition made Yang Xiuqiong's name resound all over the country, and reports about her were flying all over the world, and photos could be seen everywhere.
For her "southern mermaid", people can only praise and admire, as if she really became a mermaid in the water.
Yang Xiuqiong (second from right) competition photo
Many people scrambled to get to know her and get to know her, and tabloid reporters always followed her and asked her all sorts of ambiguous, intimate questions.
The young and simple Yang Xiuqiong only enjoys the pursuit of everyone, but she does not know that this pursuit will hurt people more than knives and guns in the future.
Every day, reporters will report around her, and people will know More and more about Yang Xiuqiong in various newspapers, and they will increasingly expect her to achieve higher achievements and make people feel glorious together.
This feeling is almost the same as the effect of short videos now, using a person's highest achievements to tell people who have just met her, so that people's expectations of her are getting higher and higher.
Once it does not meet the expectations of people, it will be exchanged for endless insults and insults.
The more glorious people are behind this endless killing, but at that time, Yang Xiuqiong was not affected by social opinion, and she still trained her skills very hard every day.
At this time, swimming has become an inseparable part of her life, and she only wants to achieve more achievements every day of training.
The national honor award has been collected by her, and her goal now has become a farther world project award.
And this opportunity also came quickly, the style of the last national competition has not completely dissipated, Yang Xiuqiong ushered in a new peak moment in life.
The 10th Far Eastern Games, held in Manila, Philippines, in May 1934 began.
Yang Xiuqiong
Because of the blessing of the social background, many people have paid attention to this Far East Games, and the nature of the competition has also changed due to political factors.
Leaders and tycoons from all walks of life have donated generously, donating a large amount of money, and Song Meiling has personally deployed it, just to be able to force Japan in terms of advantageous projects.
But at that time, athletes in Japan and the Philippines were strong rivals in the water sports, and many foreign media did not believe that Chinese athletes could achieve good results.
Yang Xiuqiong and her party are still relatively young and beautiful, so some foreign journalists use their looks to attack the athletes sent by China.
Foreign journalists' articles satirize China's athletes for choosing by looks, not skills.
But as the saying goes, a proud soldier will lose. Yang Xiuqiong punched the foreigner in the face with 3 single gold medals, 1 single silver medal, and 1 relay gold medal.
There was a dramatic scene in the relay competition, at the beginning of the game, the first three players were gradually widened by the Japanese team, and the audience felt that the chances of winning were very small.
But yang Xiuqiong, who scored the last bat, did not want to give up, the encouragement and mobilization of many people before the game gave her motivation, she never lost in the water, and she firmly believed that as long as she worked hard, the champion must be hers.
So after entering the water, Yang Xiuqiong did not buffer, clenched her teeth and directly accelerated the speed.
Under the expression of disbelief from the audience, Yang Xiuqiong directly overtook the Japanese team that has been far ahead, and miraculously succeeded in winning the gold medal.
Welcome photos of Yang Xiuqiong winning the competition and returning home
All the Chinese present at the scene were cheering for their victory, and Yang Xiuqiong was also happy for her efforts.
At this moment, she felt that she was not ashamed of her father's teachings over the years, and at the same time, she was more determined to fight for the motherland to swim.
The athletes have not yet returned to China, the news of the victory has been reported and praised by various media, Yang Xiuqiong is like a national hero, after returning to China, he is also welcomed by relatives and friends, raising the flag and shouting congratulations.
Girls bare-chested bare legs to learn to swim will be a rare thing in the era, Yang Xiuqiong won the championship abroad so that more people feel that this is a big event to Yang Continental.
Especially at that time, the situation was tense, and Yang Xiuqiong's performance in the relay made many people see the hope of national rejuvenation.
Good Friend Magazine's Top Ten Women's Standard Report
Her reversal of defeat and victory made Japan less difficult to surpass, which greatly improved the social atmosphere at that time.
Therefore, at that time, "Good Friend Magazine" included this little girl who was only 16 years old in the top ten female standards, and the picture was also placed in the most eye-catching position.
Song Meiling and Ding Ling, who are among the top ten standard women in the Republic of China, have been overshadowed by her young age.
"Listening to the drama should listen to Mei Lanfang, watching the ball should see Li Huitang, swimming to see the mermaid" became the most popular saying in the mouths of the people at that time.
After Yang Xiuqiong returned to China, people's pursuit of Yang Xiuqiong was a little crazy at the beginning of her foreign gold medal, and everyone wanted to see the style of this swimming diva.
Her social status is even more favored by the upper class, and many high-level social parties have thrown invitations to her.
Yang Xiuqiong swimsuit photo
At first, Yang Xiuqiong could still refuse one or two on the grounds of training, but later with the praise of everyone, Some self-satisfied Yang Xiuqiong began to circumvent various activities.
Later, more and more invitations were made, and the identity of the invitees became higher and higher, and she did not even have the right to refuse, so she could only keep running around with her fate.
Every time she returned home after socializing, Yang Xiuqiong would be too tired to be tired, and she would have no better training time and opportunity to attend the banquet every day.
In this way, she ushered in the last moment of her life. In 1935, the Sixth National Games were held in Shanghai.
Although there were two championships in the 100-meter freestyle and backstroke, Yang Xiuqiong lost to Liu Guizhen of the Guangdong team due to lack of physical strength.
At the age of 17, she failed for the first time after becoming famous, and across the distant stands, people's noisy voices rose and fell, and sporadic harsh taunts stung Yang Xiuqiong's proud heart a little.
Yang Xiuqiong knew that this failure was due to her own body, because she herself did not work hard to strengthen her training after the game.
But the sneers of the people around her were even more incomprehensible to her, and she had obviously supported people who liked her before, why could she say such ugly words in the blink of an eye.
Yang Xiuqiong did not know that after she became famous, she could no longer return to her original position, and the people had already regarded her as the pride of the swimming world.
The definition of killing is also in this, she can't make a mistake.
She is like a god on the altar, once she falls off the altar by mistake, people's slander and insult will make her ruined.
This time, Yang Xiuqiong understood that communication can not help her, it will only harm her, if she does not want to be crushed by social opinion, she can only surpass and become a better self.
But not all efforts will be rewarded, and the mermaid's ending will also turn into a bubble.
In August 1936, the 11th Olympic Games held in Berlin, Germany, still pulled her off the altar, and it made her socially die.
The government sent 76 runners to participate, and Yang Xiuqiong was the only female player on the swimming team, which showed the government's expectations and trust in her.
As a result, due to the discomfort of seventeen days of sea navigation, although she broke the new national record in the audition, she was still not comparable with the world's masters, and she was not even shortlisted for the final.
After Yang Xiuqiong returned to China, she ushered in the national slander and irony, and Lu Shaofei's comic "The Fashion of eggs" was painted with her heavy makeup holding a big duck egg sitting by the pool in a daze, which was extremely insulting.
The people who used to pile her up with all kinds of flowery words are now mocking her and orchestrating her in various ways.
Some say that she has a bad temper, and some say that she eats a lot, can eat and get fatter and fatter, and she has instantly changed from a national hero of the year to a sinner of the times.
Without the blessing of social status, the once banquet invitations have disappeared, only because she did not win the competition this time, Yang Xiuqiong was abandoned by the times.
Men who had been in contact with her before were rumored to have had a leg with her, Chu Minyi's pick-up and play was said to be an unusual relationship, and Wang Jingwei's previous reception also said that there was an ambiguous relationship.
Rumors spread that later Wang Jingwei's wife Chen Bijun had a big fight with him after she found out, and it was rumored that Wang Jingwei's wife slapped Wang Jingwei several times, and her face was scratched.
Just because of the failure once by all kinds of slander, Yang Xiuqiong is both aggrieved and helpless, she once said in the face of reporters: "I failed to come back, the words naturally have to be spoken by them, because the mouth is theirs." ”
But a defeat will not wear down Yang Xiuqiong's will, and this Olympic experience has allowed her to fully realize the gap between herself and foreign players.
Although she was insulted and slandered by everyone, she still proposed to the government at the time that if she wanted to be humiliated, she should gather the best players in the country and ask foreign coaches to personally guide the training.
Yang Xiuqiong and Tao Boling
But when the War of Resistance Against Japan broke out next, her suggestions were not to mention implemented, and they were directly ignored and forgotten by everyone, and Yang Xiuqiong could only return to Hong Kong with the label of a loser.
After less than ten years of glory, Yang Xiuqiong officially withdrew from the Chinese swimming world.
Also in the second year after the Berlin Olympics, at the age of 19, she married Tao Boling, a famous jockey of the Jockey Club.
After marriage, Yang Xiuqiong and her husband are considered to be small and famous people, so wherever they go, there will be people who will look at them, and reporters will secretly take pictures from time to time, but she has also counted a period of happiness.
She also had a son and a daughter with her husband Tao Boling, and if the two had been like this, life would have actually been okay.
Yang Xiuqiong and the child
However, after the birth of the child, the trivial matters in the family were complicated, and various quarrels of opinions began to appear between Tao Boling and Yang Xiuqiong, and finally even evolved into domestic violence.
As long as Tao Boling is not happy, he will vent his emotions and punch and kick Yang Xiuqiong, and the most serious one is to directly beat Yang Xiuqiong into the hospital.
After many years of marriage, it has become like this, and Yang Xiuqiong really can't stand her husband's endless behavior.
In the end, divorce proceedings had to be filed with the court, and since then the two have officially separated, Tao Boling went to Guilin to do business, and Yang Xiuqiong also returned to Shanghai with her two children to develop.
Yang Xiuqiong in Shanghai was still a journalist in Shanghai for a period of time because of her good writing, and finally after several turns, she officially divorced Tao Boling in 1947.
It was also during this period that there were rumors that Yang Xiuqiong and Tao Boling were forced to divorce and turn around and marry the Sichuan warlord Fan Shaozeng.
Various reports are that Fan Shaozeng took a fancy to her, forced Tao Boling to divorce her, and married her as an eighteen-room aunt himself.
Yang Xiuqiong, who fell off the altar, no one cared about the glory of the past, how many people supported her back then, and how much they liked to gossip about her private affairs now.
Yang Xiuqiong once again felt the horror of public opinion arrangement, fled back to Hong Kong with her child, and later married Chen Zhenguang, an overseas Chinese businessman.
After remarriage, Yang Xiuqiong also helps her husband take care of business affairs, and will also take the initiative to promote some sports activities and charity projects.
After the death of Yang Xiuqiong's parents, Yang Xiuqiong immigrated to Vancouver, Canada with her husband, and completely faded out of the vision of people in China.
In 1982, Yang Xiuqiong, who had been retired for many years, died of illness in Vancouver, a foreign country, and many newspapers and magazines also reported on the news.
But many people only remember the rumors about her, and no one cares about the glory of her once swimming diva.
As a pioneer in the mainland sports world, Yang Xiuqiong should have been admired by the world in glory, but in the end, what was left to her was only this ending, which could not help but make people feel sorry.
The sports power created by today's prosperous world may be the best reward for modern people's dedication to her sports career!