When it comes to the "Iron Lady" in China's diving industry, many people will think of Zhou Jihong, the current leader of the national diving team. Zhou Jihong won the 1984 Olympic Games in a stunning way, achieving a breakthrough for the national team in jumping water. After she retired from the country, she entered the national team as a coach and even a team leader, and her coaching results were very eye-catching, but she was also controversial because of her inhumanity, and even made the decision to dismiss the diving star Tian Liang, which is a veritable "iron fist".
In addition to Zhou Jihong, there is also an "Iron Lady" in the Chinese diving industry, she is Yu Fen, who single-handedly brought out diving celebrities such as Fu Mingxia and Guo Jingjing. Yu Fen, like Zhou Jihong, is from Hubei, but her own sports career is very short, and soon after entering the national team, she officially bid farewell to the stage due to retinal problems. At only 18 years old, after a period of confusion, she embarked on the road of coaching.
In her tenth year as a diving coach in Hubei, her apprentices Fu Mingxia and Sun Shuwei won the Canadian and American Grand Prix respectively. Fu Mingxia, who is extremely talented, has successfully reached the top in a series of international competitions such as the Perth World Championships and the Barcelona Olympic Games, and Yu Fen has also been officially promoted to the coach of the national team. The following year, Guo Jingjing was selected for the national team and became a student of Yu Fen. In the Chinese diving team, Yu Fen's harshness is well known, and her excessive strictness has also caused the rebellious psychology of her disciples, and in 1996, Fu Mingxia was slapped by her in public for bumping into Yu Fen.
Yu Fen's slap caused a lot of controversy in the diving team at that time. Later, she also mentioned this matter in her book, saying that she was indeed a little angry, and the weight of the shot frightened her. After the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Yu Fen left the national team to coach the Tsinghua diving team. In 1998, the Chinese diving team was reorganized, and Zhou Jihong took over as the ruler.
Although he left the national team, he still could not hide Yu Fen's coaching talent. In the Tsinghua diving team, she has dedicated herself to cultivating a large number of diving celebrities such as Lau Lishi, Zhou Luxin, Wang Xin, Lin Yue and so on. However, due to policy adjustments, athletes are not allowed to register double, which means that the members of the Tsinghua diving team can no longer participate in the national competition, which leads to the exodus of the team members.
With an understanding of the students' tactical characteristics and potential abilities, they can further enhance their competitiveness, and with the Beijing Olympic Games about to be held, in 2007, Yu Finland publicly announced that he wanted to return to the national team. After 10 days, the aquatics center issued a statement rejecting it. Not to be outdone, Yu Fen continued to "fire" through the media for more than twenty days, and even directly targeted Zhou Jihong. Yu Fen was aggressive, and Zhou Jihong could not sit still and held a press conference to respond.
Yu Fen was dismissive of Zhou Jihong's public refusal, and after half a month of silence, she reported Zhou Jihong to the Discipline Inspection Commission, accusing her of embezzling millions of bonuses, which quickly caused an uproar. Coordinated by the Supervision Bureau, the Aquatics Center verified the distribution of bonuses, and the results of the verification showed that there was no problem of Zhou Jihong's personal encroachment on the bonuses. The feud between Yu Fenzhou and Jihong lasted for more than ten years, and finally it was over. Zhou Jihong continued to serve as the head of the national diving team, and Yu Fen eventually returned to the national team.
Yu Fen is still the coach of the Tsinghua diving team, and although she has not been able to return to the national team as she wished, the mentor-apprentice relationship between her and Fu Mingxia is particularly moving. Every time Yu Fen leads the team to Hong Kong to compete, she will get together with Fu Mingxia to talk about life and life. From the cusp of public opinion, it is slowly returning to calm, and such a state may be more precious for Yu Fen.