On April 4, Beijing time, the Chinese diving dream team recently carried out a blood change in personnel, and the team leader Zhou Jihong began to make new plans for the Paris Olympic Games. Among the athletes who left, the 30-year-old veteran Shi Tingmao directly chose to retire, no longer continuing his diving career, and entering the coaching field instead.
In the latest recruitment form of the Sports Bureau public institution in Shi Tingmao's hometown of Chongqing, she directly appeared on the list and became one of the people who were admitted, as an Olympic champion who went out in Chongqing, Shi Tingmao chose to return to his hometown to coach after retiring, providing a force for the development of diving in his hometown.
Shi Tingmao is a legend of the Chinese diving team, and the honors are countless, after the Tokyo Olympic Games, Shi Tingmao just completed the women's three-meter board singles doubles event, achieving a dominant achievement. From Rio in 2016 to Tokyo in 2021, Shi Tingmao personally won all the women's 3m springboard championships and won 4 gold medals, an achievement comparable to Guo Jingjing, who is the second most gold medal in the history of the diving team, the first is Chen Ruolin's 5 golds.
In addition to the Olympic results, Shi Tingmao has many honors in the Diving World Cup and the World Championships, including 7 World Championships, 6 World Cup titles, six consecutive FINA Best Female Diver, and throughout his career, Shi Tingmao won 17 world championships. These honors are enough to highlight Shi Tingmao's excellence, the best women's diving 3m board athlete after Guo Jingjing and Wu Minxia, and a legendary athlete who is really fighting. Shi Tingmao's retirement is the end of an era!
After Shi Tingmao left the Chinese diving team, the team leader Zhou Jihong responded by letting the young athletes take the position, 23-year-old Chen Yiwen and 20-year-old Chang Yani played in the women's 3m board competition, and Shi Tingmao's partner Wang Han left. It is clear that Zhou Jihong's team leader intends to make the Dream Team younger in order to prepare for the new Olympic cycle. Other veterans who left are Xie Sibei and Chen Aisen, and the successive ends of the veterans reflect the cruelty of the internal competition of the Chinese diving team, the competition is fierce, too many excellent players are waiting for the opportunity to play, there are new people emerging, and naturally there are old people leaving!
Of course, the Chinese diving team has long been dominant in the women's 3m board event, from Fu Mingxia to Guo Jingjing, and then Wu Minxia and Shi Tingmao, during which they have never been the world champion and Olympic champion of the same event. Therefore, the pressure of the new generation of athletes is not small, and if they do not win the championship, they will encounter controversial pressure, and they need to train well and strive to continue the brilliant achievements of the Chinese diving dream team!
(Lin Xiaoxiang)