▲ Ren Ziwei, a member of the Chinese short track speed skating team (Photo taken by ZTE Axon 40 Ultra)
Ren Ziwei once said, "I am full of hope for our generation of young people, we can give everything for the country and contribute to the country." Now he is preparing for four years later, claiming to be a Buddhist but always maintaining a sense of purpose in short track speed skating, bravely setting goals one by one, and he hopes to surpass himself in the next Winter Olympics, climb higher peaks, and win the ice rink. Because of love, the former "stupid elephant" has long turned into a sharp knife on the ice, flying freely on the ice.
What is the background of contemporary youth? Southern People Weekly and ZTE launched the 2022 Youth Power Special Plan to find the power of youth role models and pay tribute to brave Chinese youth.
Text / Southern People Weekly reporter Xu Mei sent from Beijing
Makeup, dress-ups, flat shots, recording interviews...
"Look here, look here, good, very good!" There are more than a dozen people behind the photographer holding up their mobile phones at the same time, and the expression of Ren Ziwei, the double champion of the Beijing Winter Olympics, is very calm, not excited or irritable.
The van was parked outside the studio, and after the recording of the shooting, he had to rush directly to the next event site.
Ren Ziwei, who once said that he was "still used to being a little transparent", gradually began to get used to the attention under the high light after the Beijing Winter Olympics. He hadn't been home for the Spring Festival in eight years, and after the end of the quarantine after the Winter Olympics, he only stayed a week back in his hometown in Harbin before rushing back to Beijing to attend various events.
"Since I have been concerned and liked by so many people, I will not live up to everyone's love." These should be a kind of encouragement and reward for their hard training! ”
Many people remember the moments when he stood up and roared after winning the men's 1000m final in short track speed skating, but he was exceptionally quiet in life. Because the degree of myopia in both eyes is nearly 1,000 degrees, he trains and competes with a degree of windproof goggles, usually a pair of glasses with huge lenses, which is different from the bravery and mighty on the field, and he is thin and Sven off the field.
When there were many people, he didn't talk much and seemed cold. Mentors reminded him to keep a low profile after winning the championship, "Maybe I'm worried that I've changed." ”
Sit down and chat, the smile has been hanging on the corner of his mouth, behind the glasses is also a pair of eyes with a natural smile, "Walk off the podium I am still me, life I am different from the training ground." ”
He said that he was actually "very good", "in this Olympic cycle to become the core of the team, I will try to do my best!" ”
Playing games and reading novels is the best way for him to relax when he rests, and he is glad that he still has such a self-space, "I am willing to use my influence and the positive energy of sports people to motivate everyone, but I also like quiet daily life." 」 ”
The ice surface is like a fiery chariot, and life is like a quiet sea, Ren Ziwei has become accustomed to such rhythms and transformations. On the day of the interview with this magazine, the scene was captured by three cameras synchronously, and several staff members also watched, keeping the true self and authenticity so that he could quickly adjust to a comfortable state.
"Your mindset can take you far!"
"In fact, I didn't say how far I wanted to go, I wanted to go with the flow."
In our quick Q&A session, Ren Ziwei was particularly relaxed.
"One word to describe your current state?"
He blurted out, "Enjoy! ”
The hardest two years of life
Before this "very comfortable and happy" moment came, he spent one of the most difficult Olympic preparation cycles in his life.
One year, he changed six coaches in succession. Today's competitive sports is already a highly sophisticated system, top athletes are more and more dependent on scientific and accurate training plans, each coach has their own training ideas and operating systems, such frequent changes for athletes is a disaster, Ren Ziwei said that during that time he even "did not even know how to skate."
He was glad he hadn't given up and carried through those confused days. After the coaching team stabilized, the Beijing Winter Olympics were even closer, and the last two years were the "hardest two years so far" of his life. "These two years of life are eating, sleeping, training, for two whole years, I haven't been out of the door."
On the one hand, I feel lucky, "I will not worry about health problems and life problems like foreign athletes", and on the other hand, I also have to face the monotony and tiredness that can never be diluted, "Sometimes I sigh in my heart, it is too difficult!" ”
"When I wake up every morning, my first thought is, I'm not going to train today, I'm going to take a leave of absence!" Relying on perseverance and inertia to get up and touch the training ground, he can always complete the day's training plan.
Completing the plan sounds like it should be, but it's not easy. The amount of training near the competition is an extreme challenge to physical fitness and will.
He has become one of the absolute cores of the Beijing Olympic cycle, and the coach has also developed some targeted training plans for him, which can be said to be the highest intensity of the whole team, "There may be a reason why others can't finish, but I have to complete, every day I train I skate to the last." ”
After working together with his teammates to win the first gold medal of the Beijing Winter Olympics, after the five people put gold medals on each other on the podium together, he wanted to restrain his emotions and treat the subsequent events with a calmer mentality and state, "But when the national anthem sounded and he wanted to sing the national anthem, he cried until he couldn't sing it." After the awards ceremony, there was a group of volunteers about the same age as me who kept singing "Sing the Motherland" until we got in the car. ”
Ren Ziwei finally couldn't help but shed tears and said to the TV camera interviewing him, "I am full of hope for our generation of young people, we can give everything for the country and contribute to the country." "A lot of people broke the defense because of his live interview.
On April 8, at the summary and commendation meeting of the Beijing Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games, Ren Ziwei was awarded the title of "Outstanding Contribution Individual".
▲ In the men's 1000m final of the short track speed skating event at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, China's Ren Ziwei won the championship (Source: Xinhua News Agency)
You can't lose your sense of purpose
"In the next Olympic Games, I will strive to surpass my current self!" When asked about future planning and arrangements, his manifesto was somewhat low-key.
"I'm not talking about it for others, I'm talking about it for myself." Maintaining a sense of purpose is very important to him.
"When I was young, I saw that the big brothers of the provincial team thought they were really handsome and fast, and when they touched the goal of the provincial team, they would want to enter the national team. After coming to the national team, I will want to participate in international competitions through selection..."
The road to the championship is like a game clearance, "different competition championship levels are different, the highest dream of athletes is to win the Olympic Games and realize their 'golden dreams'".
He knows how difficult it is to go all the way, although the Beijing Winter Olympics still have regrets, "My first two competitions were in a particularly good state, and the mental and physical burden was not so great, but maybe after taking the two, I had more ideas, and my body was also a little tired, and then maybe the nerves were too tight." There were some low-level blunders..." But two Olympic gold medals had satisfied him enough.
How to restart a new Olympic cycle after the realization of the "Golden Dream", "I talked to my coach and he said, 'You can't lose your goals, if you lose your goals, you will have less effort'. ”
At this Winter Olympics, a number of top athletes from other countries participated in many competitions, and "comprehensive personal ability" has gradually become the most important technical feature of today's top athletes in the field of short track speed skating. "All-around" is also a big label for Ren Ziwei, in the 2016 Short Track Speed Skating World Youth Championships, Ren Ziwei was the first men's all-around champion from China since the inception of the World Youth Championships.
"I have the strength to compete for the gold medal in every single event." At the Beijing Winter Olympics, Ren Ziwei competed in all categories and was affectionately called "labor model" by ice fans who loved him.
As the "ice knife" of the Chinese Winter Olympic Army, the Chinese national short track speed skating team completed the task well at the Beijing Winter Olympics. However, Ren Ziwei admitted that he and his teammates also saw deficiencies in the game, "The national short track team is not in the best state at present, and it is still in the stage of slow climbing." ”
Entering the new Olympic cycle, he will become an unshirkable leader, "Representing the country is based on its own strength, and there will definitely be young people with excellent physical conditions to impact you." ”
He is recognized as a talented and hard-working athlete in the team, and the blood lactate indicator is the best in the team, which means that his body can withstand heavy loads of training, and at the same time has excellent recovery ability. Taking the best form in training is the "leading role" he understands, "I feel that I still have a lot of room for improvement, I have not reached my peak, I still have a lot of passion to continue to play, I am not protecting, but still continue to go up, this is where my confidence lies." ”
Ren Ziwei admitted that the biggest challenge in his fight for another Olympic Games did not come from the body, "at least the first year of the Milan Olympic cycle will continue to be closed management", he admitted that "the inner fatigue is difficult to avoid". His world opens up a lot these days, he enjoys this extensive connection with the world, cherishes it in his heart, "in the future when the training is boring, these memories are encouragement", and he also hopes to find "a more balanced way".
The world pattern of short track speed skating is changing every year, and European and American athletes are paying more and more attention to this project, and the technology is constantly innovating. "In the first two years of the next Olympic cycle, I will focus on changing the technology and improving the ability of our country's short track speed skaters to compete in an all-round way", the last two years of the Olympic Games are real sprints, "to strengthen the physical muscles and competitive level".
Although the Milano-Cortina dʼAmpezzo Winter Olympics is still four years away, the sense of urgency of the golden horse spreads between the words.
▲ Ren Ziwei in the competition (Source: Xinhua News Agency)
You feel like you should do it, you stand up
That's bravery
Dialogue with Ren Ziwei
Southern People Weekly: Athletes' lives revolve around the Olympics, and it always seems like it's hard to relax. What will you choose to do when you retire in the future? What kind of life do you live?
Ren Ziwei: Yes, life is indeed very simple now. After retiring from the army, I want to start a skating club, my skills are still good, I am willing to teach children, and I hope to make my own contribution to the promotion and development of ice and snow sports in our country. I would also open my own small shop, a coffee shop or a tavern, and I liked the small shops with a nice atmosphere.
There is another thing that must be done, is to take care of the "hair children", my family has two dogs, since I was a child I wanted to open a stray dog adoption center, this time back to my hometown, I also went to an adoption center to see, I have done some donations before, this time on the ground, the difficulties are still a lot, to be honest I think my own ability is not enough to do a good job in a center, but I will still try to do something.
Southern People Weekly: The theme of this magazine 2022 Youth Power is "Brave Chinese Youth", what do you think of bravery?
Ren Ziwei: The bravery I understand is to dare to challenge, not to shrink back in the face of strong goals and difficulties, to always insist on giving up and leaving, and to move forward on the road that I feel is right.
Southern People Weekly: What's the bravest thing you've ever done?
Ren Ziwei: I think it was that I had been on the short track speed skating road for sixteen years, and I never thought of giving up. That is, when you are desperate in a matter, when there is no way back, it is actually a very courageous thing.
Southern People Weekly: Haven't you ever encountered a time when you need to make a just choice?
Ren Ziwei: Yes, there is no chance, and I also want to show my brave side.
Southern People Weekly: A guest asked you, he said that it is particularly cool to see you wearing orange Mandarin duck skates on the ice rink, is there any story behind this?
Ren Ziwei: "Mandarin duck shoes" is because in the process of competition training, I found that the left and right feet of these two kinds of skates are more suitable for me, and the right foot can be stepped on more solidly when turning, and the curve can be smoother. Although the two shoes are different in style, the color is orange. From my first pair of skates, it was orange and kept going. It feels like a belief, a kind of original intention, which has always accompanied me.
epilogue
Young people, the soul of the nation also. Contemporary young people are lovers, bearers, adherents, creators, and even more brave people. Southern People Weekly and ZTE Mobile Launched the 2022 Youth Power Special Plan to find 54 brave Chinese youths and listen to their youth songs with the theme of "bravery".