In July 1996, at the Atlanta Olympic Games, the highest "stage" in the sports world, the 28-year-old Li Donghua won the gold medal in gymnastics pommel horse at this Olympic Games with his perfect skills.
However, as a native Chinese, Li Donghua finally brought this high honor to Switzerland.
You know, at that time, in gymnastics, Switzerland was a very unpopular country, and before Li Donghua, no one thought they would win the gold medal.
Therefore, Li Donghua's gold medal brings Switzerland not only honor, but also improves the country's status in gymnastics and the morale of the people in gymnastics.
28 years old is almost 29 years old, this age is not young for sports athletes, and even a little old.
So why is Li Donghua, who was once taught on Chinese soil, still standing on the stage of the Olympic Games at this age, and still fighting for other countries?
Many people are even more puzzled why Li Donghua won the championship for other countries after being expelled from the mainland national team, and now he is still so praised by the Chinese people?
In fact, these questions have long been answered in what he has done.
01
In 1974, Li Donghua, who had just turned 7 years old, won the all-around championship of the Chengdu Children's Gymnastics Competition with his strong athletic talent.
In the context of that era, such a child was enough to be called a genius.
Because Li Donghua's family was not rich, and unlike now, children would be allowed to participate in various talent or sports training courses.
Therefore, Li Donghua can get such results at the age of 7, almost all rely on talent.
Fortunately, Li Donghua's parents are extremely enlightened people, and they do not believe that only by studying well can they become talents.
So taking this opportunity, Father Li sent him to Chengdu Junior Amateur Sports School to practice gymnastics, and at that time Father Li said something to him that impressed him deeply:
"Now that you've chosen the path you like, do it well"
In Li Donghua's memory, his father always supported him and his younger brother Li Dongjian to do what they liked, even if it was not a serious business in the eyes of outsiders, his father believed that they could do it as always.
With the support and encouragement of his family, Li Donghua won many gymnastics championships in the four years of junior amateur sports school.
In 1978, Li Donghua was selected by Sichuan Sports Technology College and began formal training because of his extraordinary talent and excellent results.
Since then, Li Donghua has regarded gymnastics as the most important thing in life, and his love of gymnastics is inseparable from gymnastics.
After 6 years of formal training, Li Donghua finally entered the coveted national team.
But what he didn't expect was that the starting point of this dream almost cost him his life.
In his second year with the national team, Li Donghua had an accident during a training session, when Li Donghua was training on vault as usual, but he obviously felt a little dizzy when he got up that morning.
It may be the reason for the recent excessive exercise and a little cold, but Li Donghua still insists on training.
Running from 26 meters away, the speed was very fast, and when he reached the end, he felt that something was wrong, but it was too late to "brake", Li Donghua directly hit the horse's head, under such speed and force, Li Donghua was hit by the impact and rebounded to the ground and could not get up, and he fell into a coma on the spot.
After seeing it, the coach quickly called the medical staff and ran to Li Donghua's side to call him, but Li Donghua, who was in a coma, did not respond, and the coach had a bad premonition at that time.
After being sent to the hospital for examination, the doctor found that Li Donghua's spleen and kidneys were cracked by a strong impact, and they must be removed, otherwise Li Donghua is likely to lose his life.
In the end, at the cost of removing his left kidney and spleen, Li Donghua successfully survived.
After the successful operation, the doctor said something to the coach:
"Li Donghua's current physical condition may no longer be able to engage in gymnastics"
Not only doctors think so, but many people think that Li Donghua can't train intensively after being injured, let alone go to competitions.
But how could Li Donghua, who has loved gymnastics since he was a child, give up, he said, after I recover for a while, I can continue to train.
After more than a year of recovery, Li Donghua really returned to high-intensity training.
In his third year with the national team, Li Donghua made a mistake during a backflip during a floor exercise competition, causing both Achilles tendons to rupture at the same time.
After treatment, Li Donghua could only live in a wheelchair for a long time.
Even so, he didn't give up, and as long as I could stand up, I would still go back to gymnastics training.
I have to say that Li Donghua really loves gymnastics too much, even beyond life, or this is not just a job, a love for him is so simple, but has risen to the spiritual level, is a sustenance, a faith and fearless professionalism.
Many people today lack such a spirit, they choose to lie flat, choose to "swing rotten", and will eventually be eliminated.
On the other hand, Li Donghua has experienced so many tribulations, and he has never chosen to give up, so his later success has also set an example for many people who choose to be comfortable.
02
Li Donghua, who got out of the wheelchair and stood up again, did not break his word, and he came to the training ground again.
Little by little, he regained the feeling he once felt, maybe his body was not as good as before, but this love only increased, but fortunately, his efforts were not in vain.
In 1987, Li Donghua came to the competition in the best condition and won the gymnastics pommel horse championship at the Chinese Championships that year.
But what Li Donghua did not expect was that fate always tempered him again and again.
In January 1988, during a parallel bar training, Li Donghua fell off his head because his feet were not hooked, resulting in severe cervical spine compression and thoracic spine misalignment.
This injury brought not only physical devastation, but also saddened him even more, it made him miss the next Seoul Olympics.
He had been preparing for a long time, but his eyes were broken by this painful blow.
He had no way but to cultivate his body first.
It was precisely because of this injury that he laid the groundwork for his trip to Sweden.
After the injury, Li Donghua was dull at home for a long time, in order to break this life, and also to prevent himself from thinking about those sad things, Li Donghua decided to learn English to pass the time.
After about five months of study, Li Donghua's mentality finally relaxed a little.
In June of this year, one day Li Donghua came to hang out near Beijing's Tiananmen Square, when suddenly a foreign girl came over to him to ask for directions, and it happened that Li Donghua understood English, so the two sat down and chatted for a while.
The girl's name is Esperantha Lee, from Sweden, and she is a very lively and smiling girl.
During Li Donghua's chat with her, Esperantha Li always had a bright smile on her face, and Li Donghua felt that chatting with her could quickly forget her troubles and also had a good impression of her.
After chatting that day, the two left each other's contact information.
After returning home, Li Donghua tossed and turned, how could not sleep well, full of thoughts about the smiling face of the girl during the day, although there was only one side, but Li Donghua could not linger and missed it.
So the next day Li Donghua took the initiative to invite Esperantha Li, saying that he wanted to take her to visit the attractions in Beijing, the girl did not refuse, but agreed very happily, perhaps Li Donghua left a good impression on her.
The two walked around Beijing for a long time that day, and Li Donghua also told her his story, and Esperantha Li was moved by his story, reassuring him not to give up, and one day everyone will remember your name.
The two gradually liked each other in getting to know each other.
December 10, 1988 is Li Donghua's 21st birthday, and on December 12, the third day after his birthday, Li Donghua and Esperantha Li held a wedding in Chengdu.
It is worth mentioning that the two gave birth to a daughter, Yasmin Lee, after 8 years of marriage, and her birthday was also on December 10.
I have to say that fate is difficult to explain, and it can't be blocked when it comes.
After a period of time, Li Donghua reported the news of his marriage to the gymnastics team, but the national team is very strict about the love and marriage of the team members, and the team members are not allowed to fall in love with each other, and major events such as marriage need to be reported in advance.
Li Donghua's approach made the gymnastics team very dissatisfied, so the leader asked him to choose between career and love.
At that time, Li Donghua had just gotten married, how could he say that he would let go, after all, the other party came to China not far away and married here, Li Donghua did not want to be the negative person, so he chose love.
And his choice also buried his path to gymnastics in China, and the gymnastics team dismissed him.
Then Li Donghua followed his wife to Switzerland.
At that time, Esperantha Lee never imagined that she would bring back not only a husband, but also bring back honor to her country.
03
After arriving in Switzerland, Li Donghua's life was not easy, because in this country that does not value gymnastics, it is very difficult to earn money from gymnastics.
The important thing is that at that time, if Li Donghua wanted to naturalize Switzerland, he had to stay in the local area for 5 years, which means that Li Donghua could not participate in international competitions for 5 years.
This is undoubtedly a heavy blow to a person who has been engaged in gymnastics since childhood.
But Li Donghua didn't want to be a "soft rice man" and rely on his wife to earn a living, so he found a simple job as a part-time job or parts maintenance in the local area.
The main thing is that Li Donghua has been engaged in gymnastics and has no work experience, and he had to do this in order to reduce the burden on his wife.
Although he did not participate in any sporting events during this time, in order to maintain his previous skills, Li Donghua still set aside two or three hours a day to train gymnastics.
Later, he also joined a gymnastics club, as long as there is a competition Li Donghua will play, and can get good results every time, so Li Donghua is very popular in the club.
At that time, his friends encouraged him to wait for his good results when he became a Swiss citizen.
Five years have passed in a flash, this is for others, for Li Donghua, these five years may be a little difficult, but in the end he survived.
With less than a year to go before the Atlanta Olympics, the 28-year-old knew how important this opportunity was, so he had to do his best no matter what.
In order to maintain the best condition, he will insist on training every day, a movement to train dozens or hundreds of times, because there is no good coach, he will take a camera to take a video of the training, train again and again, and practice the flawed movements a few times.
After repeated practice, Li Donghua finally came to the Atlanta Olympic Games.
On that day, we saw that Li Donghua was not an injured person who experienced scars all over his body, but a confident and inspirational athlete, his efforts were not disappointed, and his faith was not erased.
On this day, Li Donghua won a beautiful and great award, and he won the Olympic gold medal in gymnastics pommel horse, which was the first gold medal in Swiss gymnastics in 45 years.
He brought this honor to Switzerland and was cheered on by the Swiss people.
In November of that year, the International Olympic Museum permanently collected Li Donghua's training pommel horses and competition equipment, such a person who does not abandon and does not give up, he deserves these honors.
The reason why he is still praised by the Chinese people today is not only because of this.
After Li Donghua won the championship in 1996, he returned to China, and this is not the first time he has returned to China, because Li Donghua later began to do business, investing in a pharmaceutical factory in his hometown to make medicine affordable to the poor people in his hometown.
And in order to repay the grace of the national team, he used his influence to help the Chinese gymnastics team as much as he could, solicited sponsorship for them, and encouraged the new generation of gymnasts.
Remember what Olympic champion Li Xiaopeng once said:
"Li Donghua has always been frustrated, but he has never given up, this spirit has always inspired me and is worth learning"
Later, Switzerland established an investment fund, and Li Donghua began to run around to choose some cooperation for Chinese enterprises, and Li Donghua's reputation in Switzerland was very loud at that time.
So when I heard that it was Li Donghua, they were very trusting, and for this reason many Chinese companies received investment from Swiss foundations.
After his success, Li Donghua did not forget his roots, nor did he forget his original intention.
Winning the championship for other countries is his love for gymnastics, but after success, he helps his hometown, the return to the national team, and the help of Chinese enterprises is because he has always had a patriotic heart.
In the face of the praise of the countrymen, Li Donghua did not say anything, but his silent contribution, no matter where he is, no matter what status, he has never forgotten that he was once a Chinese, and his patriotic heart has never changed.
This is why Li Donghua won the gold medal in other countries, but he will still be so praised by our countrymen.
When facing tribulations, pains or changes, many people don't know how to face it, some people want to give up, some people want to "lie flat", but when we see Li Donghua, he taught us what is not to abandon and not to give up, what is love, and what is not to forget the original intention.
He is a gymnastics superstar, an inspirational role model in life, and an example for us to learn from his strong spirit.