#头条创作挑战赛 #
In competitive sports, there are many sports in the mainland that have always occupied a dominant position in the world. In addition to table tennis and diving, it should be badminton. When it comes to the strong rise of badminton, Li Yongbo is the central figure that cannot be ignored. As an athlete, he won the World Championship 6.
After coaching the national team, he single-handedly created the "dream team" of badminton, winning a total of 92 world championships, which is a legend in the badminton world. Li Yongbo and his wife Xie Ying fell in love for 8 years and finally became dependents, which can be described as a double harvest of career and love.
However, behind the brilliance, the controversy and doubts surrounding Li Yongbo continued to lead to his sad ouster.
After stepping down as a coach, he went into business and once grew durian in Malaysia. In recent years, Li Yongbo has returned to his badminton career, but his figure is obviously blessed, and his sideburns have turned white.
Li Yongbo
After eight years of pursuit, he finally got a good wife
Li Yongbo was born in 1962 in a family of ordinary workers in Dalian, he has shown excellent athletic talent since he was a child, excellent in football and athletics, and once won the first place in Dalian children's sprinting. When he was in the fifth grade of primary school, Li Yongbo was specially recruited to enter the badminton team of Liaoning Province.
Li Yongbo has a distinct personality and plays domineeringly, and after entering the professional team, his results have improved rapidly.
In 1983, Li Yongbo won the National Games and became a member of the national team as he wished. After entering the national team, Li Yongbo partnered Tian Bingyi to focus on doubles.
The golden pair cooperated tacitly and won the world championship for a total of 6 times, ranking among the "four kings" of the men's doubles of badminton in the world. There is no doubt that Li Yongbo is an excellent badminton player. As the saying goes, "children with strong personalities have opinions", which is vividly reflected in Li Yongbo's love history.
Li Yongbo
At the age of 21, Li Yongbo dramatically ushered in his love.
In 1983, because the national team did not have major international competitions, Li Yongbo temporarily returned to Liaoning Sports School for daily training. At that time, many of the programs of Liaoning Sports School shared a compound for training, separated by a row of wooden boards.
In order to avoid disturbing each other, but also to prevent early love, sports schools are not allowed to visit each other, and the wooden board is an insurmountable "three eight" line. However, Li Yongbo did not know that there was such a rule, he only knew that the side of the board was the training ground of the rhythmic gymnastics team.
After a day of training, Li Yongbo crossed the wooden wall with curiosity. He plucked up the courage to push open the door, where three team members were training.
A girl who was packing up her equipment heard the movement and looked back and was looking at Li Yongbo. Li Yongbo was suddenly shocked, and the beautiful girl in front of him was Xie Ying.
Li Yongbo
Li Yongbo has been bold since he was a child, and with a smile on his face, he stepped forward to inquire about Xie Ying's name and age.
Although Xie Ying felt that the visitor was a little abrupt, she still answered politely. When he heard that Xie Ying was born in 1968, Li Yongbo said happily: "I belong to the tiger, 6 years older than you. In this way, the two can be regarded as acquaintances.
When they first met, Xie Ying did not have too deep an impression of Li Yongbo, but regarded him as one of many reckless pick-ups. But Li Yongbo fell in love with Xie Ying at first sight, and he had already decided that Xie Ying was his ideal partner. Be sure to find a way to chase the goddess down.
Soon, Xie Ying found that whether he was eating in the cafeteria or walking on the road, he could always "meet" Li Yongbo. Li Yongbo always took the initiative to come over to say hello and warmly set up.
Once in the cafeteria, Li Yongbo borrowed money from Xie Ying to buy a meal ticket, and said jokingly: "The money sent by my mother has not yet arrived, and I haven't eaten for two days." ”
Li Yongbo and Xie Ying
Another time, the lights in Xie Ying's dormitory did not turn on, and Li Yongbo volunteered to repair the lights. The lamp was naturally not repaired, and while his roommate went to call an electrician, Li Yongbo pestered Xie Ying to play a game of military chess. Xie Ying, who was just beginning to open her emotions, certainly understood Li Yongbo's careful thinking.
But she doesn't have much feeling for Li Yongbo's "cowhide candy" way of pursuit. Li Yongbo also thought that Xie Ying was not close and difficult to chase, but he was not discouraged.
He heard that Xie Ying liked to listen to pop songs, so he brought a large number of tapes from his collection, gave it to Xie Ying, and said to her: "Whose song do you want to listen to?" I'll find it for you. ”
Xie Ying felt that Li Yongbo was a warm-hearted boy, and since then she has a little feeling for him.
Li Yongbo and Xie Ying
When he returned home on Saturday, Xie Ying would also secretly bring some dumplings to the sports school for Li Yongbo to eat. Three months later, when Li Yongbo returned to the national team training camp, he wrote to Xie Ying every two days, and the longest letter was 98 pages. Later, when there was a telephone, the two exchanged heartfelt complaints over the phone, and the allowance of the two was basically handed over to the telephone bureau.
Li Yongbo also did a romantic thing, that is, he went to the recording studio to record a tape and sent it to Xie Ying.
The two of them came and went, and gradually deepened their understanding of each other through exchanges.
In order to gain the support of Xie Ying's family, Li Yongbo heard that his future father-in-law likes to watch football. He asked his friend in Shenyang to buy tickets and send them to Xie Ying.
In 1985, when Li Yongbo returned to Shenyang from vacation, Xie Ying took him to his home to meet his parents. The parents-in-law made a plate of chicken feet to test Li Yongbo, and Li Yongbo grabbed it and gnawed it. Xie Ying's parents felt that this young man was more realistic, so they gave the green light to their relationship.
Li Yongbo
In 1987, Xie Ying retired, in order to end the long-distance relationship, she gave up the opportunity to go to Shenyang Sports Institute for paid further study, and chose to study at Beijing Sport University at her own expense.
In 1991, after graduating from university, Xie Ying was assigned to work in the gymnastics sports management center of the General Administration of Sports.
The two lovers finally ended their 8-year love run and entered the marriage hall. After Xie Ying became pregnant, Li Yongbo went to the team to fight for a dormitory of more than 10 square meters and settled the small family.
In 1992, Li Yongbo regretted losing gold in Barcelona, but less than two months after returning to China, his son Li Gen was born, which can be described as mixed.
At this time, Li Yongbo was already in his old age and was riddled with injuries. After careful consideration, Li Yongbo applied to the leader for retirement and transitioned to coaching.
Li Yongbo
A few months later, Li Yongbo was appointed deputy head coach of the national badminton team, because there was no head coach at that time, Li Yongbo became the head of the national badminton team. Together with Cai Zhenhua, Huang Yubin and Zhou Jihong, he is known as the "Four Young Marshals" in Chinese sports.
After becoming a coach, Li Yongbo became even busier, he threw himself on the training ground, leaving early and returning late every day, and there were almost no holidays. Xie Ying silently shouldered all the housework alone, not to distract Li Yongbo. But no matter how busy he is, Li Yongbo will take the time to call his wife to report safety.
On the tenth anniversary of his marriage, Li Yongbo gave his wife 999 roses. The love between the two is still a virtuous circle after marriage.
It can be said that behind Li Yongbo's career success is inseparable from the understanding and support of his wife Xie Ying.
Li Yongbo
Mixed reputation, sad resignation
The national badminton team that Li Yongbo took over was at the trough of youth and yellow, and it was not a top team in the world. Li Yongbo's mission and goal is to make the Chinese badminton team rise to the next level and stand out from the crowd.
Li Yongbo is notoriously strict and serious in training.
He showed up at the training gym every morning at six o'clock and led everyone to training by example. In front of Li Yongbo, the players had to go all out, and did not dare to be lazy and slippery. Under the careful training of Li Yongbo, a large number of young athletes such as Lin Dan and Zhang Ning have grown up.
In order to maintain a high level of training, Li Yongbo invited old friends such as world champion Tian Bingyi and Li Mao back as coaches. After a period of adjustment, the members of the national team have become younger, and the training methods have become more scientific.
The sword blade was sharpened, and the efforts of Li Yongbo and the team members were finally rewarded.
Li Yongbo
In 1995, the Chinese team won the Sudirman Cup; Ge Fei and Jun Gu won the women's doubles title at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
Since then, the Chinese badminton team has begun to step into the fast lane, continuously winning gold and silver in top competitions such as the World Championships, Thomas Cup, Uber Cup, Sudirman Cup and Olympic Games. Gradually, he established his dominance in the world badminton scene.
During Li Yongbo's tenure, he participated in 11 Sudirman Cups and won 10 championships; The women's team has participated in 10 Uber Cups and won 9 times; At the 2012 London Olympics, the Chinese team won all five gold medals, and the opponent exclaimed that it was a "dream team".
According to statistics, Li Yongbo led the Chinese badminton team to win a total of 92 world championships, including 18 Olympic gold medals. The Chinese team has become the hegemon of the world badminton, and Li Yongbo's prestige is also sky-high, becoming a veritable "godfather of national badminton", and the limelight is unlimited for a while.
Li Yongbo
As the saying goes, the extremes of things must be reversed, and on the other side of brilliant achievements, the voices of doubt and criticism have always accompanied Li Yongbo.
And his high-profile and domineering style has also caused him great controversy. The combination of these negative factors finally led to Li Yongbo's dismissal from class, leaving the team he built, ending his 24-year coaching career.
In 1996, the Atlanta Olympics prize money incident was a big rage. At that time, the Chinese badminton team achieved a breakthrough of zero Olympic gold medals, and after returning to China, the General Administration of Sports and sponsors issued a large amount of money to the national team.
However, the bonus was not distributed for a long time, and everyone suspected that the money had been stolen, but because of Li Yongbo's strong position, no one dared to ask for money in person. Therefore, Li Mao, Li Lingwei and others united with almost all the coaches of the national team to jointly report Li Yongbo's corruption to the Table Feather Management Center.
Li Yongbo
Although after the investigation by the superiors, it was confirmed that Li Yongbo did not swallow the bonus alone, the contradiction between Li Yongbo and the coaches became public, and his prestige has plummeted.
Before the incident completely subsided, Li Yongbo suddenly introduced the reform of the head coach appointment system within the national team, and some of the coaches who reported him at that time were laid off.
Li Mao was forced to leave Malaysia and South Korea, and Li Lingwei became the deputy director of the Olympic Committee, and the spearhead of public opinion was pointed at Li Yongbo.
Although the impeachment turmoil has subsided and the results of the Chinese badminton team have returned to the right track, the questioning of Li Yongbo has never been interrupted. The main problems focus on the following aspects: First of all, the most influential is the "handicap" and "match-fixing" turmoil.
At the 2004 Athens Olympics, Li Yongbo forced Zhou Mi to concede the ball to Zhang Ning in the semifinals, and Zhou Mi missed the Olympic gold medal and was forced to leave the national team.
Li Yongbo
At the London 2012 Olympics, Yu Yang/Wang Xiaoli played against South Korean players in a quarter match, and the two sides engaged in negative matches. It was investigated by the International Olympic Committee. Li Yongbo can be described as "losing his wife and breaking the army."
Secondly, during Li Yongbo's administration, the excessive commercialization of the national team was also criticized. After the national team improved, Li Yongbo became a celebrity. He began to appear frequently in various entertainment and business occasions.
Li Yongbo has endorsed advertisements for many well-known brands. Li Yongbo made MVs, sang with stars, and also played a badminton coach in the Korean movie "Pen Immortal II".
Some of Li Yongbo's disciples also went up and down, taking advantage of their fame to make money everywhere. Li Yongbo organized the "Badminton Star Team" to let the players play with stars in the entertainment industry to increase popularity.
The training ground of the national team can no longer see the hot scenes of the past.
Li Yongbo
Li Yongbo's cronyism, domineering, and assertive style has also attracted a lot of criticism. He likes to reuse and rely on the old players he has trained, and uses the gold medal as the only criterion for measuring talent, thus neglecting the cultivation of new talents, which also lays hidden dangers for the national team to enter the trough again.
Third, Li Yongbo single-handedly pulled his son Li Gen into the national team, and also planned to let him partner Fu Haifeng in the Rio Olympics. Later, because it provoked the anger of the people, it was stopped.
Li Yongbo
"Three feet of ice, not a day's cold". The management of the Chinese badminton team tends to be chaotic, full of hidden worries, and the results are slowly going downhill. In 2016, the Chinese badminton team won only two gold medals in men's singles and men's doubles at the Rio Olympics, which was far from the goal set before the competition, and was criticized by the General Administration of Sports.
This defeat became the last straw that overwhelmed Li Yongbo. Voices from all walks of life demanding a change of coach are rising one after another.
In April 2017, the 55-year-old Li Yongbo announced his resignation as the head coach of the Chinese badminton team and became the vice chairman of the 5th Chinese Badminton Association.
In January 2019, Li Yongbo was elected as the new vice president of the badminton association, and since then he has completely withdrawn from the management industry of the national team, and the "Li Yongbo era" has drawn an unsatisfactory end.
Li Yongbo
Going to the sea to do business, things are not people
After retiring from the busy and beautiful frontline, Li Yongbo was a little uncomfortable, his mood was very lost, and his style of acting was much more low-key.
His son Li Gen set up Badminton-related Ridge Sports Co., Ltd. a few years ago. When Li Gen's company holds events, Li Yongbo will also go to the platform to help. What makes Li Yongbo happy is that he finally has time to make up for the debt he has owed for more than 30 years and can accompany his wife at home.
Xie Ying was already holding important positions in the Chinese Gymnastics Association at this time. Li Yongbo contracted the family's big and small affairs, so that his wife could work with peace of mind.
On February 21, 2019, the first International Rhythmic Gymnastics Club Grand Prix was held in Shenyang. Xie Ying was the deputy secretary-general of the Chinese Gymnastics Association at the time and was the main organizer of the competition. Li Yongbo invited Olympic champions such as Tian Bingyi, Zhang Ning and Sun Fuming to help in order to increase the impact of the competition.
Li Yongbo
However, being a "housewife" is not Li Yongbo's ambition. During a trip to Malaysia to discuss cooperation, he was attracted by the local "Musang King" durian, which has small multi-core meat, golden color, melts in the mouth, and tastes very delicious.
Li Yongbo saw the huge business opportunities of durian and decided to invest in growing durian in Malaysia.
With the help of his friends, Li Yongbo quickly completed the relevant procedures. The durian garden is located in Kelantan, Malaysia, covering an area of more than 200 acres, and about 1400 durian trees are planted.
Li Yongbo is confident in this investment, and his durian is mainly sold in China after production. After Li Yongbo retired, many countries invited him to coach the badminton team, but he always adhered to the principle of "not coaching badminton teams outside China".
Li Yongbo
Although he had many friends in the badminton world in Malaysia, he never agreed to become the head coach of the country.
In 2020, Li Yongbo returned to the familiar badminton industry, and he established the "Li Yongbo Badminton Club" to engage in youth badminton training and event operation.
On the opening day, former disciples Lin Dan, Chen Long and others came to congratulate one after another.
After two years of operation, a large domestic express delivery company invested in the cooperation, invested in the establishment of China's largest badminton development platform, and established clubs throughout the country to promote badminton. Li Yongbo assumed the position of president and was fully responsible for the planning and operation of the platform.
In October 2022, "Li Yongbo International Badminton Club" opened in Shenyang, and CCTV Sports News carried a special report. Li Yongbo, who is a senior flower armor, attended the opening ceremony.
Li Yongbo
Li Yongbo, who has not appeared in public for a long time, is obviously blessed, his big belly and double chin are very eye-catching, and his sideburns are already white hair. However, Li Yongbo's mental state is good, his eyebrows are full of joy, and he still talks and laughs with the people around him.
A reporter asked him if he considered returning to the national team to coach, Li Yongbo smiled slightly and did not respond.
However, when talking about the development prospects of the club, Li Yongbo was eyebrows, he said: "I will stick to my original intention, develop the club, and discover and cultivate more talents for the national badminton cause." My goal is to fulfill my long-cherished dream of producing 100 world champions! ”
It seems that Li Yongbo is still difficult to give up his feelings for badminton, and perhaps in the near future, he will complete his second entrepreneurship and successfully transform from a "gold medal coach" to a "domineering president".
Li Yongbo
To be fair, Li Yongbo's professional ability in badminton is beyond doubt. He has been in charge of the national team for 24 years, creating the most glorious era of Chinese badminton and making indelible contributions to the sport of badminton in the mainland.
However, after the success of his career, his desire also swelled, forgetting his original intention in the face of fame and fortune, and becoming the target of verbal criticism from all sides.
Li Yongbo's high-profile and domineering personality magnified his problems exponentially, putting him on the cusp of public opinion, and finally encountered the "Waterloo" of his career, which made people sigh.
Luckily, he has an empathetic and unwavering wife, giving him a chance to make a comeback. From this perspective, Li Yongbo should thank himself for his courage to climb over that wooden wall 40 years ago.
Resources
Ma Cheng, "Li Yongbo: Create a new mechanism for youth training and climb a new peak in badminton", Shenyang Daily, November 15, 2022;
Cao Hongfang, "Li Yongbo apologizes, netizens still question", Shandong Business Daily, August 3, 2012;
Zhang Wei, "Li Yongbo, head coach of the Chinese badminton team: Give his wife a sweet dream", Xinmin Weekly, July 6, 2011.