She gave up her Chinese nationality and joined a foreign country, but she is the "Chinese athlete" with the best reputation in the hearts of the Chinese people...
In 1999, as a Chinese athlete, Pi Hongyan hurried to the United States to participate in the Open Badminton Championships, and with solid basic skills and exquisite skills, she won the championship she deserved.
I thought that after winning the championship, I could return to China to show my fists and be reused.
But coach Wang Junjie gave her such a notice: You have been fired...
At the same time that Pi Hongyan couldn't believe it, the coach gave a very simple reason, that is, he was too short, and his playing style had no future, which was difficult to reuse.
Under such circumstances, Pi Hongyan, who was originally in the national team, was transferred to the Sichuan provincial team, which is obviously a "dimensionality reduction blow" for a professional athlete.
After coming to the Sichuan provincial team, Pi Hongyan no longer had the glory of a champion, and with it came a situation in which the monthly salary did not exceed 600 yuan, and only one or two games could be played every year.
"Pregnant with great talent, but not reused", and now in life is facing a lot of difficulties, this time let Pi Hongyan depressed for a long time, for this mental aspect of the great problem, suffered from more serious depression, once thought of retiring from the army, away from the feathers.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > a sudden surprise</h1>
It was at this time that a Danish club that had coveted Pi Hongyan for a long time learned of her situation and hurriedly threw out an olive branch and invited Pi Hongyan to play in their club.
Pi Hongyan, who has loved badminton since childhood, knew that when her career in China was coming to an end, she accepted the invitation of the Danish badminton club in 2001 with an attitude of experimentation, left China, and rushed to Denmark to play.
Her walk is really like "a dragon going out to sea".
The exquisite technology engraved in the bones has made Pi Hongyan shine in Denmark and has won many championships in European competitions. It was with such excellent performances that she was noticed by the French badminton national team.
Immediately in order to get better training conditions and improve her skills, Pi Hongyan joined France, and before playing for France in the Athens Olympic Games in 2004, she obtained a French passport and officially became a French Chinese.
In the first few years of european badminton, Pi Hongyan won 11 consecutive championships, starting in 2003 and ending in 2005, in which the Women's Singles Championship of the French Open Badminton Championship was all won by Pi Hongyan.
As a result, she became a "rising star" in the French badminton scene, and the self-proclaimed proud Frenchman was proud of this yellow-skinned "Chinese athlete".
To qualify for the Olympic Games for France, it is conceivable that the technology of the skin is beyond doubt.
However, it is a pity that just before the start of the badminton event of the Olympic Games, Pi Hongyan accidentally sprained his ankle, resulting in being eliminated by the South Korean star in the first round of the event, stopping outside the round of 32.
Speaking of this, some people may feel that Pi Hongyan is just like this! If you really think so, you can only say that you don't understand Pi Hongyan!
< h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" > break into the European badminton world alone</h1>
Since losing the Olympics, Pi Hongyan has proved herself once again in the next step.
After winning three consecutive Editions of the French Open Badminton Women's Singles Title (the first "Frenchman" to win the title in half a century), she won the Women's Singles Championships at the French National Badminton Championships from 2005 to 2010.
The title of champion is increasing, and its world ranking is also improving, and its ranking reaches the second place in the world at the most exaggerated time.
Such results, people dare not imagine, if in 1999 Pi Hongyan went to the United States for china to participate in the competition and won the championship, was reused by the coaching staff, what will be the results of its subsequent competitions? Not surprisingly, it should be higher than her achievements in France!
However, Pi Hongyan's heart has always had a dream: that is, to be able to replace China in international badminton events, and after winning the championship, wearing the national flag and listening to the majestic national anthem resound throughout the arena...
It is precisely because of this idea in her heart that she is very determined, she broke into the European badminton world at the age of 20, hoping that her strength can be recognized, recalled, and played again as a Chinese.
Although she was in France, but with homesickness, she also returned to China many times to participate in the competition, and the Chinese people on the field shouted for her loudly, "Pi Hongyan, come on, Pi Hongyan, come on..."
This scene is really very moving.
No one expected that an athlete who had already joined a foreign country could get such strong support from the Chinese people. The fundamental reason is because these spectators who went to watch the game knew that Pi Hongyan's past experience was very sad, and she was forced to "change her identity".
So this article will take you into the first half of Pi Hongyan's life and get to know Pi Hongyan together.
< h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > has been pursuing dreams</h1>
Born on January 25, 1979 in Wansheng, Chongqing, Pi Hongyan is an authentic Chinese. Affected by the family environment, from the age of eight, Pi Hongyan gradually entered the practice of badminton, because of her talent, coupled with years of hard training.
Just after graduating from primary school, Pi Hongyan was selected to enter the Sichuan provincial team and became a provincial badminton player.
After coming to the provincial team with great masters, the brilliance of the red skin was not drowned out, but became more and more prominent. In 1997, after passing a rigorous test, Pi Hongyan was selected for the first time to enter the second team of China's national badminton team and officially became a member of the national team.
Within two years, an important turning point in life was ushered in, and as stated at the beginning of the article, in 1999, the 20-year-old Pi Hongyan went to the United States to compete and achieved the first place.
But after returning to China, her coach Wang Junjie said: "Your height is only 1.64 meters, and your playing style has no future..."
In this way, with the grievance of not being recognized by the coach, she followed the advice of the coaching team and came to the Sichuan provincial team discouraged. What happened after that, everyone should have heard about it.
The invitation of the Danish club made Pi Hongyan see hope again, there was no way, she had to firmly grasp this "life-saving straw", because she had started playing since she was a child, and her studies were basically delayed.
"If I don't play, I really don't know what to do, and I guess life will be difficult to maintain," Pi Hongyan said in a later interview.
After two years in Denmark, two years of career through five international competitions, four championship results, Pi Hongyan's world ranking soared, directly into the world's top 20.
This gave her great encouragement, until after France proposed the condition that "you can learn and play at the same time", Pi Hongyan accepted this request and came to France.
Life in France is very fulfilling, and every day in addition to playing ball is to study, which greatly makes up for Pi Hongyan's original weak cultural foundation.
With continuous efforts, during the game in France, Pi Hongyan's career reached its peak, ranking second in the world. The match that impressed Chinese the most about him was in 2008.
The 2008 Beijing Olympics received special attention from the Chinese people, (after all, it was held on the doorstep), and Pi Hongyan participated in the Olympic Games as a French citizen. In the quarter-finals of the women's singles, Zhang Ning, a veteran of China and also the defending champion, unfortunately met, and finally lost.
But she gained support, so that many Chinese recognized her, no one scolded her, basically all people were touched by the tenacious fighting mental state revealed by Pi Hongyan.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > harvest love</h1>
While living in France for a long time, Pi Hongyan harvested her own love and found the other half of her life. Her husband's name is Nikolai, and he is also an athlete. When the two met, Nicolas was a famous French windsurfer (the historical ranking had reached the first place in the world).
Speaking of the two of them meeting, knowing each other, and then falling in love, the time has to go back to 2005.
At the party held between the clubs, Nikolai was deeply attracted to the Chongqing girl, and immediately went forward to talk, and after the first conversation, both sides left a very good impression on each other.
Not surprisingly, they fell in love very quickly!
Nikolai's appearance may have really brought comfort to Pi Hongyan's spirit. Nikolai really treats Pi Hongyan and takes care of this uprooted girl very thoughtfully...
After eight years in love, they finally got married in 2013. In the same year, Pi Hongyan gave birth to a son, a family of three, full of happiness.
During this period, there were a lot of small episodes, which is also very interesting! After the birth of their son, Pi Hongyan's parents in Chongqing immediately rushed to France to take care of their grandson, and the old couple did not have much culture, and the language was naturally not comprehensible.
So after arriving in France, life was quite unaccustomed. Sometimes the old couple goes out to find someone to talk to, which is a luxury. Because in the area where they live, there are not many Chinese.
But just like that, as an athlete couple, they still work hard to run the family well, and the family atmosphere is extremely harmonious, which later became Pi Hongyan's proudest point.
In fact, when it comes to this, it is inevitable that people will feel that the experience of Pi Hongyan gives people a feeling of "nirvana rebirth", which should be correct, right? Career success, family harmony, what is the good and sad about this energy? Inevitably, people will have some doubts!
But in fact, the reason why Pi Hongyan won the support of the Chinese people is because she is really very patriotic, in 2015, Pi Hongyan's daughter was born, named "Meiling", she once said to the children: "Chongqing is the mother's eternal home..."
I often have time to take my children back to their hometown in Chongqing to live and visit relatives and friends who have been separated for a long time.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > biggest regret</h1>
After Pi Hongyan's performance abroad became more and more excellent, the cameras of major media gathered on her. In many interviews, Pi Hongyan said frankly: "My biggest dream is to hope that one day I can return to the Chinese national team and play for the country."
She thought that when she won the championship as a Chinese athlete, she could stand on the podium and wear a five-star red flag, and she could hear China's national anthem ringing in her ears...
However, this became the biggest regret of her career, until she retired in 2012, she did not wait for the news of the re-recall of china's badminton national team.
This is perhaps the biggest regret of her life!
Time has passed for a long time, even if Pi Hongyan has retired, she is still exerting her residual heat, and she has seen many athletes in China who have opened their own sports training venues after retiring.
Pi Hongyan also returned to a small town in France and used the abandoned garage to set up a badminton training hall. She wants to use this to promote cultural exchanges between China and France in sports and culture.
To be honest, Pi Hongyan's experience and the career of "table tennis legend" Deng Yaping have some similarities and some differences.
The same height is not optimistic, the difference is that the blow to Pi Hongyan is greater. She was forced to go to Europe at the age of 20, alone, far from home.
Whenever she talked about her experience over the years and was asked whether she could return to China, she always seemed to not know what to say, and her eyes revealed a bitterness that made people feel particularly distressed.
For Pi Hongyan:
Fortunately, she succeeded later; unfortunately she did not succeed...