Yao Li, an elite weightlifter, was once a controversial figure who changed her name to a foreign name. After winning the Olympic championship, he refused to admit that he was a Chinese, and was regarded by many people as "sports traitors" and was criticized countless times.
So, is she a simple shameless betrayal, or is there something else wrong? Let's first understand Yao Li's early life. According to relevant information, she was born in 1985 and her hometown is in Fuxin City, Liaoning Province.
In middle school, she showed strong athletic ability, and with her weightlifting talent, she was quickly favored by the coach in Liaoning and entered the provincial team for training.
The coach, named Zhu Mingwu, later went to Hunan because of the state's arrangement to take charge of local sports training. Coach Zhu Mingwu attaches great importance to Yao Li and specially brings her to the Hunan weightlifting team to continue to cultivate her.
After receiving rigorous training, Yao Li, who already had a strong talent, soon had a stronger weightlifting ability. Later, she was sent by the state to work and trained in Kazakhstan, and as a result, during this period, Yao Li became a citizen of Kazakhstan and changed her name to Maya Maneza.
Nine years ago, Yao Li participated in the London Olympics as a Kazakh and won the year's weightlifting championship with a total score of 245 kilograms.
After the game, the reporters on the field went to interview her as was customary. The Chinese reporter knew Yao Li's past and asked her many questions when she was interviewed, but Yao Li always deliberately pretended not to see.
Later, when a reporter called her Chinese name "Yao Li", she unconsciously looked back and then quickly turned to leave.
Immediately afterward, Yao Li participated in a press conference as a champion. The Chinese journalist who interviewed her at the Asian Games asked Yao Li questions in her native language, but Yao Li immediately protested to the host, asking all reporters to ask her questions in English or Russian.
In the course of the interview, Yao Li insisted that she had nothing to do with China, that she was born in Kyrgyzstan, that she had lived in China with her family for a while in her early years, and that her heart would always represent Kazakhstan.
Because of these remarks, Yao Li, a sports champion with strong weightlifting ability, has become the object of accusations and even scolding by many Chinese people.
So, why did Yao Li, a Chinese expatriate, join Kazakhstan? Doesn't she know that doing these things herself will chill the hearts of the people of her country?
Objectively speaking, the reason why Yao Li changed her nationality has a certain relationship with her family. Yao Li was born into a very ordinary family, and her father and mother were very simple farmers. Her family has about 20 acres of land, and after cutting off the cost of farming and fertilization, she can earn about 20,000 yuan a year.
Such income, not a lot, is difficult to maintain the family's life. Therefore, Yao Li's father also worked part-time as a carpenter, often working for others.
What is helpless is that Yao Li's father, who later unfortunately suffered from diabetes, was physically weak himself, because of the torture of diabetes, which caused many complications.
In order to treat the disease, Yao Li's family spent a lot of money and carried a lot of debt. It was also at this time that Yao Li went to Kazakhstan for training because of the organization's arrangement.
As a public dispatcher, Yao Li, because of her outstanding talent, was quickly highly valued by the Kazakh coach. Not only has the living conditions been significantly improved, but also the warm invitation of Kazakhstan has been received.
At that time, Yao Li earned about $1,000 a month in Kazakhstan, which was equivalent to more than 7,000 yuan at the exchange rate.
This income is very important to Yao Li, and every time she receives a salary, she will find an opportunity to send it to her hometown to help her father treat his illness.
Despite this, the expensive drug costs still caused a great burden to Yao Li's family. Perhaps in order to obtain more resources and wealth, Yao Li accepted the invitation of the Kazakh side, not only to join the nationality of Kazakhstan, but also to give up her Chinese name to participate in international competitions as Meia Maneza.
When registering information, Yao Li will also write that she is a Kazakh. Although Yao Li has changed her identity information, her past experience will not really change like this.
Due to the long-term living in China, there are many people who pay attention to the sports industry and know Yao Li's past. The reporters who interviewed her were also insiders, and they thought that Yao Li would recognize her motherland and be willing to accept interviews even if she participated in the weightlifting competition as a Kazakh.
As a result, Yao Li's reaction was unexpectedly indifferent. Because of this, Yao Li, who won the championship gold medal, not only did not welcome the flowers and applause of the Chinese people, but became a sports traitor in the minds of many compatriots.
To be fair, Yao Li's indifferent performance in the interview is indeed chilling, but from the perspective of the family, she joined Kazakhstan in order to treat her father's illness, which is also forgivable.
To some extent, Yao Li's affair can also be regarded as a wake-up call for the Chinese people. In addition to the sadness, it is necessary to reflect on why domestic athletes frequently change their nationality, preferring to participate in the nationality competition as foreigners rather than win glory for the motherland as a Chinese national.
Among these people who changed their nationality, some of them, like Yao Li, were for the sake of their families, and some of them were for the sake of profit. In short, they change their nationality not on an improvtep basis, but to meet some of their own needs.
Some experts commented that we should take this as an opportunity to reflect and see if there are some problems in the domestic sports field. If we can carry out optimization reforms in terms of personnel selection and welfare protection, we can reduce the worries of athletes. With more opportunities and guarantees, perhaps the exodus of athletes will be greatly reduced.
It should be emphasized that Although Meia Maneza has received a lot of criticism because of what happened before. However, there are also many compatriots in the folk who understand what she has done, after all, she is for the family.
Some sports enthusiasts said that athletes actually eat youth meals, and their peak period is only a few years. If you can't achieve good results, you may not be able to maintain your own life after retiring.
As a result, many athletes cannot control their sanity in the face of the temptation of high salaries. Even if you know your choice, you will be criticized by others, and you can't help but choose the immediate interests. I have to say that this is a rather sad thing, and it is necessary for us to seriously reflect on it and fundamentally solve the ills.