"I am Zheng Enlai, a Chinese male hockey player, and wearing the Chinese team's jersey to the Olympic arena is my dream since I was a child, and it is also the mission of the family. My sister has represented the motherland on the field of the Tokyo Olympic Games, and I have also represented China in the Beijing Winter Olympics, and I am very excited in my heart. ”
From a small dream, the mission of the family, Zheng Enlai, who was born and raised in Canada, did not hesitate to give up his Canadian citizenship and chose to continue the family tradition to serve the country.
Zheng Enlai grew up in a sports family, his grandmother Zheng Fengrong was a high jumper and the first Chinese to break the world record in athletics. Grandpa Duan Qiyan was the first national games men's high jump champion in 1950, and his mother Duan Li was also a high jumper. His father was a German-Canadian.
Zheng Eun came to grandpa and grandma
Zheng Fengrong said: "The sports career is related to our family's life, we are because he and my children went to Canada to study, where they got married and had children. As soon as these two children were born, my wife and I passed. ”
Zheng Enlai, whose original name was Zheng Tai, was born on March 5, 1997, on the same birthday as Premier Zhou. In 1957, grandma Zheng Fengrong bravely broke the world record under the encouragement of Premier Zhou, with such a special fate, and out of respect for Premier Zhou, Zheng Fengrong suggested that Zheng Tai change his name to Zheng Enlai: "Zheng Tai later changed my name to Zheng Enlai, because he was also born on March 5th, because the spirit of the premier has always supported me, I simply named Zheng Enlai, and he also likes to love Premier Zhou." ”
He started skating at the age of 3, played hockey at the age of 5, and entered the Canadian Pro League at the age of 16. Zheng Enlai has never forgotten his dream of serving the country. Zheng Enlai decided to renounce his Canadian citizenship to represent China at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. Zheng En said: "This is the first time I have represented China, and it is already the honor of my life to wear this dress and stand on the Olympic field." ”
Zheng Enlai's sister Zheng Ninali represented China in the heptathlon competition of the Tokyo Olympic Games in the summer of 2021, finishing tenth, creating the best result of Chinese athletes in the Olympic Event. Grandma's regret of not being able to participate in the Olympic Games was fulfilled by her grandson and granddaughter. Zheng Fengrong said: "These two children are very good, both of them said that they must choose to represent China, they said that I came to participate in the competition is to realize my grandmother's dream, my grandmother she did not participate in the Olympic Games, so we must use practical actions to improve the performance to represent China in the Olympic Games to achieve my grandmother's regret of not participating in the Olympic Games for many years." As an 81-year-old veteran athlete I watched my children hand over to the country, I trained them for 21 years without talking about any conditions, I want to hand over to the country, he wants to become a sports talent, the kind of talent that the motherland needs. ”
On November 17, 1957, Zheng Fengrong broke the women's high jump world record with a score of 1.77 meters, so Zheng Fengrong chose the number 77 for his grandson Zheng Enlai. Zheng Enlai is more accustomed to calling Zheng Fengrong a grandmother, and Zheng En said: "Now I am wearing my grandmother's name, and I am really happy to be able to represent her in the competition." ”
Zheng Enlai's English name is Tiger, Tiger. Before each game, Zheng Fengrong would contact Zheng Enlai to encourage and encourage the little tiger: "Tiger, don't forget that you are a real tiger, don't forget." Not a fake tiger, not a paper tiger. ”
Zheng Enlai always gets encouragement and advice from his family: "I have to ask them how they feel about me playing today, they watched the game, I have to listen to what they say." 」 They usually don't say anything more, they usually say that our team can play our skills, can stand on the field to play their own ability, they are happy. They didn't know much about hockey either, they just saw me play hockey a lot of times. They just want to see us fight and show our abilities. ”
Zheng Enlai, who did not receive a phone call from his sister on the day of the match against germany, was a little disappointed: "My sister did not contact me today, which made me a little disappointed, I know she is busy. My grandmother called me every day to get me to cheer up. ”
The Chinese men's ice hockey team played a total of four games at the Beijing Winter Olympics, and for the first time to participate in the Winter Olympics, each step is making history. Although they did not win the match, they scored four goals against strong opponents such as the United States, Canada and Germany. The performance of daring to fight and dare to grab in the game was not expected to be inferior, and it also gave the most powerful response to those who did not look at them before the game. The last game was lost 2-7 to Canada, Zheng En said: "I think we played really well today, 7:2 does not represent our strength today. In the first quarter I thought we should all be ahead, but the goalkeeper was injured at the end of the first quarter, and sometimes that's the case with sports. ”
Zheng Enlai wrote on social media: After years of preparation, the whole team finally stepped into the coveted Winter Olympic Ice Rink. But unfortunately, it is going to stop here. In four games, we had highlights and there were also failures. But we worked hard every minute and never gave up. The Winter Olympics are over, but the future of hockey is even more worth looking forward to here. I hope that more people can pay attention to ice hockey, fall in love with ice hockey, and feel the joy that ice hockey brings us. My career is still very long and I will still do my best. Whether it's Milan in 2026 or beyond, I'm always ready to play for the national team again. Thanks to everyone's support, the road is still very long, we continue to move forward!!