"This time with 71 athletes to win this honor, I feel both glorious and pressured, as a young athlete, I want to walk in the same direction with the new era, strive to be the first on the track of youth, and repay the motherland!" Li Bingjie, an Olympic champion from Hebei who won the "Chinese Youth May Fourth Medal", just finished training when she received a call from reporters, and she said that the most she thought of was to continue to repay the country's cultivation of her with hard work and struggle.
In the past 2021, Li Bingjie has achieved impressive results. In July 2021, she worked with three teammates Zhang Yufei, Tang Muhan and Yang Junxuan at the Tokyo Olympic Games to win the gold medal in the women's 4X200m freestyle relay, becoming the coveted Olympic champion of countless athletes; in September, she won three consecutive gold medals at the Shaanxi National Games, the biggest winner of the middle and long distance women's freestyle event; in December, she won two consecutive gold medals at the World Championships of Short Pool Swimming in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, where she continued to refresh her personal best with hard work.
Li Bingjie, 20 years old this year, lives up to Shaohua on the track of youth. Image from Xinhua News Agency
1
Growing up soaking in water, I planted my Olympic dream as a child
Born in 2002 in Baoding, Hebei Province, Li Bingjie's father Li Jian was a national champion in the men's 1500-meter freestyle event, and her mother Wang Wei was also a women's middle and long distance freestyle player, who worked as a swimming coach after retiring. Born in a swimming family, Li Bingjie grew up "growing up" by the pool. For swimming, Li Bingjie had talent and self-confidence when she was a child, and as she grew up, she began to have dreams and goals: one day, she would stand on the highest podium of the Olympic Games, win glory for the country, raise the national flag, and play the national anthem! Mother Wang Wei said: "Influenced by the family, Li Bingjie grew up soaking in water. When she couldn't speak, we often took our children to the pool to play, and she was very fond of water. When I was four or five years old, I put her in the water and I could play with herself. ”
In 2014, in a swimming seedling training organized in Hebei Province, Li Bingjie was selected for her excellent physical condition and began her own dream pursuit. Soon, Li Bingjie's swimming talent made her stand out at the World Series. At the age of 15, she shined at the 2017 Swimming World Championships in Budapest, winning 2 silver and 1 bronze; a few months later, she won 4 gold medals at the Tianjin National Games; and she won 2 gold medals at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta. Li Bingjie feels that she is getting closer and closer to her childhood Olympic dream.
At the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, Li Bingjie won the championship. Image from Xinhua News Agency
2
Rising up in setbacks Tempering makes people grow
No one would have thought that in the nearly three years from 2018 to 2020, the famous Li Bingjie suffered a low point in her swimming career. Especially at the 2019 World Swimming Championships, Li Bingjie failed to reach the final in her two main events, the women's 400m freestyle and the 800m freestyle. Li Bingjie recalled that in those three years, her psychological state had problems, she said: "Just after the results, I fell into a trough, maybe my mind was not mature and strong enough at that time, I also had the idea of gradually turning myself from medium and long distance to medium distance and giving up long distance, negative mentality affected the state of my training, the results did not improve, and the future was very slim." ”
As the Tokyo Olympics draw closer, the dream of standing on the Olympic podium inspires Li Bingjie, who is determined to cheer up with the encouragement of her parents and coaches. When she started winter training, she had to do 10,000 or even 20,000 meters of swimming training every day, and sometimes in order to save time, she even lay on the edge of the pool when eating, and continued to swim after eating. During physical training, often from morning to noon, Li Bingjie sometimes got too tired to bear it, and she felt too bitter when she ran, and she cried. But every time she thinks about the Olympic dream that is getting closer and closer, she still forces herself to complete the training plan, and if it doesn't work, she will make up for it. Finally, with the persistent belief that "all suffering will not be in vain", Li Bingjie announced her return with her results in the National Swimming Championships held in January 2021, and won the Olympic "tickets" for the women's 200 meters, 400 meters, 800 meters, 1500 meters freestyle and relay events in the subsequent Olympic qualification competitions, and was successfully selected for the List of Chinese Swimming Teams for the Tokyo Olympic Games.
Li Bingjie announced her return with her results at the National Swimming Championships held in January 2021. Image from Li Bingjie's personal Weibo
3
Back to the top 2022 is looking forward to another breakthrough
At the Tokyo Olympic Games, Li Bingjie and teammates Yang Junxuan, Tang Muhan and Zhang Yufei joined forces to win the gold medal in the women's 4X200-meter freestyle relay and broke the world record, standing on the championship podium together, realizing the dream of learning to swim as a child - winning the Olympic Championship.
After five months, li Bingjie still feels excited when she thinks back to that dream moment, "The Tokyo Olympics have made me more convinced of the saying 'no difficulty is invincible', and those who can't defeat you will eventually make you stronger." After the Olympic Games, Li Bingjie continued to maintain her good form, first winning three gold medals at the Shaanxi National Games and then winning two gold medals at the Abu Dhabi Short Pool Swimming World Championships. However, in Li Bingjie's view, 2021 is only the beginning of her impact towards a higher competitive goal. "In 2022, I hope to continue to break through myself, swim faster, win more gold medals at the Hangzhou Asian Games, strive to win gold at the Swimming World Championships, and interpret the phrase 'no struggle, no youth' with practical actions!"
In 2022, Li Bingjie hopes to continue to break through herself and swim out to better results. Image from Xinhua News Agency
Source: Ji Yun
————————————————————————
Organizer: Hebei Provincial Sports Bureau
Producer: Guo Lijun
Editor's proofreading: He Wanxuan
、