"I'm sorry to tell you that you have nose cancer."
Hearing the other side say this, Li Zongwei's face darkened.
He is an athlete and having cancer not only means threatening his life, but also means he will lose his dreams.
Nearly twenty years of career, do you have to give up like this?
1. Joining the team is not valued, and after hard work, it becomes the first
In 1993, Li Zongwei's talent in badminton was seen by the coach of the sports school at that time, which began his legend in the badminton industry.
From the beginning of learning to hold a racket, to entering the Malaysian youth team, Li Zongwei only spent three years.
However, after entering the youth team, there were many talents, and good seedlings like Li Zongwei were quickly ignored.
Three years passed in a flash, and when 17-year-old Li Zongwei thought it would be wasted, Malaysia's national team head coach Forrester discovered his talent and recommended him to the national team.
In 1999, Li Zongwei finally had the opportunity to come to the stage of his dreams, the Malaysian National Championships, and became famous and won the championship.
But at that time, Malaysia's badminton "first brother" was still Huang Zonghan, and everyone did not pay too much attention to Li Zongwei.
Li Zongwei, who was less than twenty years old at the time, had secretly made up his mind to surpass Huang Zonghan within five years and become Malaysia's men's singles "brother".
Li Zongwei knows that he is very late to learn badminton compared to others, so he must continue to work hard to make others respect him as a fierce enemy.
His efforts have not been in vain, and since 2004, he has won the Malaysian Open Championship, the world badminton championship men's singles third place, and the Chinese Taipei Open men's singles champion.
By 2005, Li Zongwei had indeed surpassed Huang Zonghan as he had set himself to become Malaysia's men's singles "brother".
In 2006, Li Zongwei's world ranking became the world's first.
It is also the third men's singles athlete in Malaysia to rank first in the world since 1980.
Malaysians attach the importance to badminton equivalent to Chinese love for table tennis.
Yes, Lee Chung Wai has become the focus of attention of many Malaysians.
In 2009, Li Zongwei occupied the world number one in the men's singles for 349 weeks, setting a record for the highest in badminton, which no one has been able to break so far.
However, the man who is at the top of the list has never won a world-class championship of his own.
2. Unwilling to win the championship, his wife burst into tears after suffering from cancer
Malaysians are not willing, and Li Zongwei is also unwilling.
Li Zongwei once told the media: "China has won too many gold medals, and I can't understand the pressure I am facing."
Lee Has described that every time he loses, malaysia's badminton association will hold a meeting to spread out his losses and achievements.
Li Zongwei sat on the spot, like a prisoner who had been publicly executed.
He knew he had to carry the weight forward.
Because Malaysia has produced a badminton genius, he must bear the glory of Malaysia's badminton.
Some badminton enthusiasts once said, "Li Zongwei alone fought against three generations of Chinese national feathers."
This not only reflects the abundance of talents in China's badminton industry, but also reflects the bitterness and helplessness of Li Zongwei's resistance to pressure.
But no matter how hard he tried, Li Zongwei was always "close to the end of the world" from that position.
In particular, in the ten-year confrontation between Li Zongwei and Lin Dan, he lost to the north many times, and even won the title of "Millennium Old Second".
In the decade of confrontation from 2006 to 2016, Li Zongwei never gave up the hope of winning the championship, and also left a strong mark on the feathering altar.
All badminton lovers, when mentioning the "Lin Li War", are relishing it.
This is a showdown between the strong and the strong, and even if Li Zongwei is a loser, he deserves respect.
However, the weather is unpredictable, Li Zongwei's body is gradually unable to withstand such high pressure, he was diagnosed with respiratory diseases in 2018.
At that time, no one realized that this would be the beginning of Li Zongwei's fading out of the feather altar.
Not long after Li Zongwei withdrew from the World Championships due to illness, malaysia's badminton association issued an official statement, confirming that the so-called "respiratory disease" is actually - nose cancer.
Li Zongwei was a little scared, not because he was afraid that he would die of cancer, but because he was two years away from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, and it was reasonable to say that he should have entered the training period in advance.
Prior to this, Li Zongwei participated in four Olympic Games and won the runner-up three times, just a little bit away from the position of that dream.
Li Zongwei is also 36 years old, and if he misses the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, it means that he will never have a chance to win the championship.
Li Zongwei also understands this, so he actively accepts treatment and hopes to recover as soon as possible and participate in the competition.
Fortunately, nose cancer is still in its early stages and there is still a lot of room for treatment.
But the whole process is not so easy.
Afterwards, When Li Zongwei and his wife Huang Miaozhu were interviewed and analyzed the mental journey at that time, Huang Miaozhu said, "The moment I got the bad news, I burst into tears and my whole body trembled."
Li Zongwei's throat was already festering, and his skin was already scorched black during the treatment.
The doctor also said that the most challenging thing in the whole process is the problem of eating.
The doctor will spray Li Zongwei with some anesthetics, but it only makes the swallowing process less uncomfortable, and Li Zongwei will still feel pain.
Huang Miaozhu has always accompanied Li Zongwei, and she is very aware of Li Zongwei's pain.
And she can only endure silently, giving Li Zongwei the most positive side, and she secretly cries behind her back.
After 9 months, Li Zongwei experienced some pain and finally succeeded in fighting cancer.
The first thing he did was pick up the badminton racket again.
3. After successful treatment, I still want to fight in the Olympic Games, and I choose to retire due to physical difficulties
In January 2019, Li Zongwei decided to compete in the 2020 Olympic Games again.
This was his last chance in life, and he had to take advantage of it.
The news of Li Zongwei's return to the field came out, his appearance was much thinner than before, and the doctor also suggested that he first undergo light training.
After a few days of light training, Li Zongwei felt that his body was recovering well, so he wanted to increase the amount of training and consulted a doctor.
The doctor was not sure if it was possible, so he suggested that Li Zongwei have a scan.
Just after Li Zongwei waited nervously for the scan results to come out, the doctor told him a bad news:
With Li Zongwei's current physical condition, if he continues to train, it will cause a recurrence of his condition.
When Huang Miaozhu heard this, her first reaction was to cry bitterly.
She was sad that she knew Li Zongwei's personality too well!
With Li Zongwei's obsession with "the last Olympic opportunity", he will continue to train regardless of his physical condition.
On Li Zongwei's side, he was also very dazed.
Nearly 20 years of playing career, there are too many unwilling and regretful.
His most admired opponent was Lin Dan, and every time Lin Dan's posture after victory, he also wanted to taste it himself.
Saying that you want to put down badminton is definitely not something that can be accepted overnight.
After hearing the doctor's advice, Li Zongwei returned home in frustration.
He was greeted by his two young sons, Li Jiaqian and Li Kaijie, who quarreled to play with their father.
Li Zongwei's lost heart was instantly filled with love.
During this period of recuperation, the Malaysian Badminton Association also tried to let Li Zongwei train again to see if he could continue to play, but the result was again and again.
During this period, Li Zongwei mainly accompanied his son.
Watching his sons read, write, play, and teach them to play badminton, he felt as if he had gradually let go.
Perhaps immersed in the pursuit of victory before, Li Zongwei gradually neglected his children and wife.
This recuperation made Li Zongwei re-emphasize his family and understand that he could not be so selfish.
On June 13, 2019, Li Zongwei held a press conference.
At the press conference, Li Zongwei showed that his body could not load training, so he officially retired.
Mentioning the retirement, Li Zongwei's eyes suddenly turned red and he couldn't help but shed tears.
This is a career he has insisted on for 20 years, and he has no second way but to give up.
But it's not just bad news.
On the same day that Li Zongwei announced his retirement, the Malaysian Ministry of Sports also announced that Li Zongwei would become the head of Malaysia's delegation to the Tokyo Olympic Games, and he would use another identity to set foot on the territory he wanted to go to.
Before the Olympic Games, Li Zongwei stayed at home and received many blessings from friends every day, which made Li Zongwei feel very happy.
Li Zongwei also began to gradually move towards a "retired" life, starting a leisurely life that he had never had.
4, now the health is better to continue to recuperate, and then the endorsement does not worry about the use of life
Since the middle of 2019, Li Zongwei has taken his wife to start a variety of lives.
He went to Singapore to watch the ball, went to the dessert house to make cake tarts, took his son to the Games, participated in the enthronement ceremony of the Malaysian head of state...
In the second half of 2019, Li Zongwei began to travel around the world with his wife, strolling on the beach and seeing the prosperity of the world, just to make up for her care and protection for herself for many years.
At the same time, Li Zongwei is not idle, and continues to participate in various endorsements and commercial performances.
In fact, these "side jobs" he has been involved in for a long time, and this time it is only "re-engaging in the old business".
In fact, in addition to advertiser performances, Li Zongwei also has real estate and automobile sales agency business, he owns a comprehensive stadium in Malaysia, and has slowly expanded his business territory.
As early as 2016, in the athlete wealth list, Li Zongwei's wealth has been disclosed to be more than 500 million yuan, even if he retires, he still eats and wears.
This once poor teenager finally became an independent man with his own efforts.
In January 2020, Li Zongwei had his first wax statue in his life.
At Madame Tussauds Hong Kong, Li Zongwei received the "Wax Custom Service" for the first time, which felt very fresh.
Although due to the impact of the epidemic, Li Zongwei had to give up the beautiful vision of traveling around the world, but in the first half of 2020, he spent two consecutive birthdays of his dear family members, which also gave Li Zongwei a very great spiritual strength.
Perhaps because the epidemic has been controlled at home for too long, Li Zongwei has begun to miss the time when he used to play.
In August 2020, when he was cleaning at home, he found a pair of sneakers he wore in 2008, and the memories came to mind.
At that time, he competed in the Beijing Olympic Games and almost won the championship.
And this pair of sneakers personally witnessed his unwillingness and regret.
As if to confirm this loneliness, two months later, Li Zongwei received the jersey for the 2020 Olympic Games.
Although he has retired, although the Olympic Games have been postponed, but the moment he saw the jersey, Li Zongwei still felt a lot of emotions.
In 2021, the postponed Tokyo Olympics began.
This is a good time to fill Li Zongwei's regrets, but Li Zongwei said that he would not go to Tokyo.
The most anticipated and regrettable place is close at hand, why would Li Zongwei give up on such a persistent and hard worker?
Originally, the doctor said that with the current epidemic situation and Li Zongwei's health, there was a great risk in going to Tokyo.
He voluntarily gave up this opportunity, making people marvel that he was not as obsessed with badminton as he once was.
But there are also many people who are curious about the whereabouts of this badminton legend:
Even if he can't get on the field, will Li Zongwei serve as a coach?
In an interview in April 2022, Li Zongwei said that there are indeed many Asian countries that have thrown an olive branch at him, but Li Zongwei has no idea of becoming a coach for the time being, and will still stay in his hometown malaysia.
Obviously, the disease made Li Zongwei look down on everything he had chased, even in the face of those past failures, he was only emotional and would not cling to it.
Because Li Zongwei has a family who accompanies him, Li Zongwei understands that the most important thing in the world is protection and love.
Li Zongwei dedicated the most youthful twenty years of his life to sports, and although he had regrets, he was still a brilliant badminton career.
Even though Li Zongwei has never won a world championship, he has become a respected object for Malaysians and even the whole world with hard work and hard work.
Li Zongwei, who has now washed away his lead, will face life with a new look, which may be the best choice for him.
Resources:
Sin Chew Daily. "Li Zongwei: I don't want to be a coach for the time being, I will stay in Malaysia"
Interface News. ""Character" Li Zongwei: Loser, No Regrets"
China News Network. "Li Zongwei will not go to the Olympic Games for health reasons"