More than a month ago, in the article "Protecting Quan Hong Chan", we talked about how Quan Hong Chan became Quan Hong Chan, talked about the movement rules and cruelty of diving, talked about the fate of generations of diving athletes, talked about what Quan Hong Chan will face in the future, and at the end of all these problems, we decided to give two coaches, Guo Yi and He Weiyi, a certain amount of space to make them one of the protagonists of this story.
In this note, we decided to tell the story of those coaches in competitive sports again. Because, we believe, the story of competitive sports should not and cannot be limited to competition, it should be about people, about the fate and emotions of individuals, about the complex and fascinating relationship between individuals and individuals.
Wen | Lubeka
Edited | Golden Stone
1
After receiving this topic from Quan Hongchan, I first went to her hometown - for various reasons, this is a report that cannot interview the protagonist, and all I can do is find the person who knows her best, the closest to her, to answer questions about her. Like many people, the first thing I thought of was her parents and went to her house the first time.
But in her home, there are almost no traces of her life. There are two jackfruit trees in her yard, but her father said that she does not like to eat jackfruit, and he also learned through the interview video that Quan Hong chan likes to eat spicy sticks. At that time, the Internet was full of discussions and interpretations of Quan Hongchan, his father and brother were exhausted because of the crowd of people, for Quan Hongchan's family, at least at that moment, the trouble had exceeded happiness. The Olympic victory was too grand for them.
This is a situation that often occurs in hot events: when the core characters are already in a "overloaded" situation, it becomes necessary to change their thinking and direction.
Besides the parents, who else really knows about Quan Hong Chan? "Coach" is the obvious answer, and it can even be said that for a child who left her parents at the age of 7 to go diving in sports school and can only return home once or twice a year, the coach may be someone who knows her better than her parents. In addition, the coaches' understanding of the sport of diving can also better help us to foresee the obstacles that Quan Hong Chan will face in the future.
I went to quanhong chan's sports school. During the interview, I met two local sports journalists in Zhanjiang, one of whom was named Zhou Zhanyang, and we talked about his long-term experience of interviewing at the local grassroots sports school. Zhanjiang has a strong sports culture, not only diving, but also football. Zhou Zhanyang said that he watched these children who were sent to sports school grow up little by little, saw their growth, and also saw their lack of growth, especially the lack of family education. In the local area, many children who are sent to sports schools are not well-off, and most of their parents are still busy coping with the pressure of survival, in such a situation, children rely on only coaches on a daily basis, coaches not only to teach motor skills, but also to teach people.
Although he is a journalist by profession, Zhou Zhanyang has always had a desire to be a teacher, and he has also taken the teacher qualification certificate, so he also pays special attention to the issue of education. When interviewing at sports schools, he would go out of his way to observe how the coach treated the students. Zhou Zhanyang said that among these coaches, Guo Yi, the coach of Quan Hongchan, made him very moved. Guo Yi is very gentle when taking the child, there is no severe scolding, all encouragement, doing not doing well is just telling you what you should do, and every detail is patiently and slowly corrected. He said he could feel that Guo Yi really loved his students.
This feeling was confirmed when I met Guo Yi. We chatted by the plunge pool, the children ran over and over again under various banners to watch, from the beginning to the end, Guo Yi did not show any impatience, the same words were said over and over again, each time very gentle and patient.
Quan Hong Chan Sports School coach Guo Yi and the children picture source Visual China
The growth process of athletes is also a relay process of one coach after another. In the interview, Guo Yi also mentioned Quan Hongchan's head coach in the provincial team, He Weiyi, who said that Coach He paid a lot for Quan Hongchan and "became a father and a mother".
Two days later, at the land training hall of the Guangdong Provincial Diving Team, I met He Weiyi. In the nearly 4 hours of conversation, we talked about all kinds of things about Quan Hong Chan and the cruelty of the sport of diving. In the whole conversation, what impressed me the most was that when talking about Quan Hongchan, He Weiyi's tone did not have the arrogance of a coach at all, and he regarded the other party as an equal to himself, they had their own strengths, supported each other, and no one had absolute authority. He Weiyi said that in training, he completely trusted Quan Hongchan because she had a super perception of her body, and she knew best how well an action was practiced, so in their cooperation, as long as Quan Hongchan said that she had "learned" and "practiced well", He Weiyi would believe her.
Guo Yi said that as a coach, in addition to caring for the athletes' bodies, she must also take care of their confidence, and He Weiyi gave Quan Hongchan the freedom and trust, to some extent, also made her more confident.
These also allowed me to find a new dimension of understanding Quan Hong chan. I went back to watch her diving video, the last jump of the Olympic final, the confident relaxation of Quan Hongchan standing on the diving platform, the second of the jump, not only the sum of talent and luck, but also the blessing of personality - from the age of 7 to 14, the love and education given to her by the two coaches together achieved this gold medal.
He Weiyi and Quan Hongchan Picture source documentary "Expedition"
2
In the article "Protecting Quan Hong Chan", we talked about how Quan Hong Chan became Quan Hong Chan, talked about the movement law and cruelty of diving, talked about the fate of generations of diving athletes, talked about what Quan Hong Chan will face in the future, and at the end of all these problems, we decided to give Guo Yi and He Weiyi a certain space to make them one of the protagonists of this story.
In the past, in many sports reports, especially those of top athletes, coaches usually appeared as "peripheral interview subjects" to provide a perspective on the athlete – they were never the protagonists, whether on the podium or in interviews, everything they did seemed to be to make the athlete more eye-catching. But in fact, the coach is the real shaper, a good coach teaches not only the technology, but also the personality, and what kind of person an athlete will become often depends on what kind of coach he meets.
In Gao Min's autobiography, the person who is most mentioned is her supervisor coach Xu Yiming. The former head coach of the Chinese diving team is known as the "father of modern diving technology". When an athlete, Xu Yiming used the money to buy movie tickets, learned diving action through the movie "Spring and Autumn on the Water", when he was a coach, the national team still did not have a metal springboard "diving dwarf", but Xu Yiming, who had studied carpentry and liked to repair radio, taught himself the "Principle of Mechanical Drawing", designed and drafted himself, created and innovated a number of diving equipment such as bullet nets, protective belts, half-meter boards, etc., and also invented a number of training methods, and the Chinese diving team has also become the "dream team" step by step.
Gao Min's first time in the closed training before the Olympic Games, Xu Yiming was injured in the shoulder, but in order to give Gao Min a protective belt to assist in training, he found a rope and tied the protective belt to his hand. He said to Gao Min, "This is good, if my shoulder hurts too much and loses strength, I will use my weight to pull you, and I don't want my arm." After winning the Olympics, the overwhelmed Gao Min once wanted to give up diving, and it was Xu Yiming who finally helped her find the meaning of diving.
Gao Min and coach Xu Yiming. Graph source network
At the recently concluded National Games, the tears of two athletes were impressive.
One is the men's 10-meter platform Olympic champion Chen Aisen. After winning the team championship on behalf of the Guangdong team, Chen Aisen, who stood on the championship podium, choked back tears several times, and some viewers wondered why a National Games champion provoked Chen Aisen to be so excited. Afterwards, in an interview, Chen Aisen said that standing on the podium, he thought of his mentor Coach Wu Guocun.
Coach Wu Guocun is the head coach of the Guangdong Provincial Diving Team and the head coach of Chen Aisen in the provincial team. In June, Wu Guocun, a Guangdong athlete who was supervising the national team, died of a sudden illness, just one month before the Tokyo Olympics. With great grief, Chen Aisen went to Tokyo, and in interviews with the Olympic Games and the National Games, he twice mentioned that Wu Guocun helped him until the last moment of his life, "Master taught me not only diving, but also many life principles, he has always accompanied me to grow up." 」
As for what kind of person is Coach Wu Guocun? In the Internet world, there is very little information, and one of the few stories appeared in an article about the diving world champion Tan Shuping - when Shu Ping won the world championship for the second time, her head coach Wu Guocun cried in public. Wu Guocun said in an interview at the time, "This year, in order to control her pain, I sought medical treatment everywhere, but when training, the requirements for her were still very strict. Watching her endure the pain and grit her teeth and practice so bitterly, my heart is really not a taste."
Another person who shed tears at the National Games was female swimmer Fu Yuanhui.
It was the Mid-Autumn Festival, and Fu Yuanhui won a bronze medal in the women's 100m backstroke competition. After an interview in the mixed area, Fu Yuanhui still had a big grin and cheerful look, she said, "Today is the Mid-Autumn Festival, I hope this bronze medal can give some comfort to my seriously ill coach." Talking about the coach's condition, she tried her best to say in the most relaxed tone, "He is so bad, and leukemia, liver cancer, and stomach cancer..." Subsequently, Fu Yuanhui turned around twice, wiped a few handfuls of her hands on her face, turned around, and she laughed and joked with the reporter that she was old, "I think if I can win the championship this time, it is to give him a comfort, but I really am..."
Fu Yuanhui talked about coaching in a post-match interview
Fu Yuanhui's coach, Li Xuegang, was diagnosed with leukemia in 2014. Fu Yuanhui's father said in a previous interview that at that time, Coach Li Xuegang was training while chemotherapy. After chemotherapy, I went to the pool to guide the training, fainted, and after recovering, I began to coach again. After that, Fu Yuanhui also became the "most sensible" athlete in the swimming pool, she would complete all the training plans and try not to worry about the coach. Li Xuegang also accompanied Fu Yuanhui to the last moment, even on the eve of the operation, he also made a training plan for Fu Yuanhui in his hospital bed.
Fu Yuanhui has a similar experience is male swimmer Xu Jiayu. In the national swimming team, xu Jiayu and Ye Shiwen's head coaches are Xu Guoyi, a coach known for his strictness who once smashed two of Xu Jiayu's computers because of his obsession with computer games, but in life, he is the "Xu Daddy" who boils ejiao for athletes every day.
On July 19, 2019, Xu Guoyi died of a recurrence of cancer. Subsequently, Xu Guoyi's wife Lou Xia succeeded her husband and became Xu Jiayu's supervisor coach. In July 2021, Xu Jiayu went to Tokyo with the silver bracelet that Xu Guoyi gave him before his death. After winning the silver medal in the 4× 100m medley relay, Xu Jiayu put the medal on Lou Xia's neck. In an interview, Lou Xia burst into tears, she said: "It's really not easy, I think he (Xu Guoyi) should be very happy."
In her memoirs, the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, the last stop of Gao Min's diving career, she wrote that at the end of the competition, she did not dare to look at Xu Yiming more, because she was afraid of seeing Xu Yiming's tired face and a wrinkled smile on his face.
The reason why competitive sports are exciting is not only those inspirational and surging competitive moments, but also in the deep affection between competitions, in the process of challenging human limits, one individual and another individual, more importantly, this affection, derived from competition, but has long surpassed competition.
Xu Jiayu and coach Xu Guoyi Image source Xu Jiayu Weibo Xu Jiayu and coach Xu Guoyi Image source Xu Jiayu Weibo
3
In this era of personal expression and personal will, the story of athletes and coaches has become more complex – when athletes are no longer simple training machines, when their self-awareness awakens sooner and later, their personalities become more and more distinct, and coaches face pain and change.
Among them, the most representative figure is Sun Yang's former coach Zhu Zhigen.
As a coach, Zhu Zhigen believes in "strict master out of high apprentice", in the Chinese swimming team, he is also known for being strict, sometimes angry, will play athletes in public, but also beat Sun Yang, but he ignored the changes of the times, generations of athletes have different growth environments, for his way of discipline, there will be different reactions.
After "opposing sun yang", in an interview, coach Zhu Zhigen, who has always been tough, shed tears, he still called Sun Yang a "child", he said, "Children don't understand me... My door is always open to children..." At the same time, he also began to reflect, "The management of the post-80s and post-90s really needs different models."
In the years that followed, the three words "Zhu Zhigen" rarely appeared in the news, and he still trained with groups of athletes by the pool. The three words have once again attracted attention at this year's Tokyo Olympics, where his disciple Wang Shun won the gold medal in the men's 200m medley – so far, the only two coaches in China to have won the Men's Olympic Championships in men's swimming, zhu Zhigen.
In an interview after winning the championship, Wang Shun told reporters that the day before the final, in order to let him rest well, Zhu Zhizhi has been standing outside his door, telling the athletes who returned late, lighter, lighter. Wang Shun described this picture, but did not say much, this is the most subtle and most wonderful moment of human emotion, that moment, Wang Shun in the room heard Zhu Zhigen's "lighter" guarding the door, he heard, remembered, this is more shocking than any language.
Wang Shun won the championship of the game, his brother, has retired swimming star Wu Peng is in Migu's studio as a commentator, later, Wu Peng sent a short video, recording his excitement at the time, at the end of the video, he specially posted a screenshot, that is Wang Shun's game in the stands, Wu Peng deliberately circled the crowd of inconspicuous Coach Zhu Zhigen, and then attached a line: Thank you for our mentor Coach Zhu Zhigen, you who have white hair in the crowd.
In the small video, Wu Peng deliberately circled Coach Zhu Zhigen
Chen Bin, the head coach of table tennis Grand Slam winner Ding Ning, has also experienced similar "labor pains".
Their cooperation began in 2011, when Ding Ning, as the main force, had just experienced the defeat of the Chinese women's table tennis soldiers in Moscow, and then the national team changed the coach for Ding Ning, hoping that the offensive style of Chen Bin could help Ding Ning "speed up".
They vary greatly in personality. Ding Ning is a northerner, loves to speak, direct, likes to make everything clear, Chen Bin is a southerner, introverted, reserved, feel that everything should save face for each other. Chen Bin used "noisy and noisy" to describe his relationship with Ding Ning at that time. Chen Bin did not understand why Ding Ning was so stubborn, "Many times it is just the brain that it is not right and does not listen." Many years later, Ding Ning told the truth in an interview with "People", because she did not perform well at the Moscow World Table Tennis Championships, and the coach who had taken her for 5 years was transferred to the second team, and she was very guilty about it, "So at the beginning I didn't want to accept Chen's guidance in my heart, I didn't want to listen to him, and I didn't want to listen to him."
What finally made the two reach an understanding was also a moment. It was the end of 2014, and seeing that the Rio Olympics were getting closer and closer, Chen Bin decided to talk to Ding Ning, and they spent two days and talked several times. That was the first time Chen Bin confessed his feelings, "Ding Ning, I think it's hard to take you, it's really too difficult." Ding Ning said that she always remembered the moment when Chen Bin said "it is difficult," "At that time, I suddenly felt that Director Chen seemed to be much older."
In the women's table tennis singles final of the 2016 Rio Olympics, Ding Ning met Li Xiaoxia again. In the stands, Chen Bin sat in his own "lucky seat", and on the day Ding Ning won the semi-finals, he sat in that position. After 7 sets of bitter battles, Ding Ning defeated Li Xiaoxia. After the game, she went around a big circle to find Chen Bin, stretched out her arms and hugged each other, which was also the first hug in their nearly 5 years of cooperation.
Chen Bin regarded this as a "gift" given to him by Ding Ning. Later in his diary, he wrote: "After 4 years, I waited for this moment. She finally came and repaid the hug she owed me, and I was satisfied!"
In February 2019, Chen Bin left the national table tennis team, and in a later interview, Chen Bin said that he and Ding Ning have worked together for many years, they are mentors and apprentices, relatives, and friends - this is almost the most ideal relationship between coaches and athletes, they are close but not sticky, they support each other and are equal to each other, they are two independent individuals, but the understanding between each other is deep and solid.
2013 Straight to the Paris Table Tennis World Championships Women's Table Tennis Trials, Ding Ning and coach Chen Bin. Image source Visual China
4
This time in Zhanjiang, I also met Zhong Quansheng, the coach of Chikan Sports School, who brought out two Olympic champions, He Chong and Lau Lishi. We met at three o'clock in the afternoon one weekday, and he came to give lessons to the students in his slippers and an electric car. He has retired and has been rehired back as a diving coach at a grassroots sports school. Originally, he brought out two Olympic champions, and he also got the opportunity to be promoted to be the vice principal of the diving school, but he was not happy, he felt that he "couldn't do that", or it was better to be a coach, so he continued what he had done in the past few decades - rushing to school in the afternoon, stuffing some tobacco into the cigarette pot, smoking a few sips, and starting to guide the group of ten-year-old children in front of him to train.
When I was in Guangzhou, I also went to Coach He Weiyi's dormitory. His dormitory was on the same floor as the student dormitory, and inside was a bunk bed with things on the top bunk, and he slept on the bottom bunk, except for the wardrobe and desk, and there was only two or three people left in the dormitory to stand. These make up his daily routine as a coach. Before the interview, another coach joked with me that before the Olympic trials, He Weiyi had just bought a new car, but he hadn't driven much until the Olympics.
In the world of competitive sports, the championship podium creates all kinds of ups and downs, but behind this, coaches, especially grassroots coaches, have always been the most stable existence, they have always been there, living their most ordinary lives, doing the most basic and important work, ushering in a batch of children, whether they are mortals or geniuses.
In this note, we want to tell the story of these coaches again, first, we want the spotlight to shine on everyone, especially those who are not seen outside the aura— which is the writing creed that People always believes in and strives to pursue; second, we believe that the story of competitive sports should not and cannot be limited to the scope of competition, it should be about people, about individual experiences and emotions, about the complex and fascinating relationship between individuals.
After the National Games, "People" also contacted Coach He Weiyi again, and in a simple conversation, we learned that after the end of the quarantine period, Quan Hongchan returned to Guangzhou, and He Weiyi personally went to the airport to pick her up. After two months, when they met again, he saw at a glance that Quan Hong chan had grown tall again, "at least two or three centimeters."
During the entire National Games, He Weiyi followed Quan Hongchan almost inseparably, helping her answer the media questions that she would not answer, reminding her to say hello to the audience at the scene. After winning the National Games, He Weiyi stood on the podium with Quan Hongchan - this is also the most commendable part of the National Games, and the coach will take the stage with the athletes to receive the award. That day, when he heard the radio shouting Quan Hongchan's name, He Weiyi raised Quan Hongchan's hand high.
After winning the National Games, He Weiyi stood on the podium with Quan Hongchan. Image source Visual China
The day before "People" talked to He Weiyi, he just accompanied Quan Hongchan to the playground and watched the big circus, "She was very happy." Talking about the present and future Quan Hong chan again, He Weiyi mentioned the word "grow up" again and again, and there was expectation in her words, but also a little reluctance-
"She will grow up slowly, in fact, just by looking at her signature, she used to be a stroke and a painting, and after she recently signed thousands of names, you can see that she has begun to have a stroke." 」
She sometimes looks at the media, the traffic is so high, there are so many fans, she is very happy, but also want to always perform the best side for everyone to see, but also become a little more restrained, not as ignorant as before, now grow into a teenager.
At the National Games, when she was with her teammates, she always hung on to others, because she was small, everyone took care of her more, and this kind of scene would become less and less, because slowly she would grow up.
In the few days since she returned, she has also obviously grown. At the National Games, she also lost a doll in the Quanyun Village, but recently she went out to pack her bags, and she packed them neatly.
After the next time I return to the national team, I may not see her until half a year later, or a year later. When the time comes, she will grow taller, will change a lot, and become a big girl.
I put a lot of effort into her, and I think I'm also very lucky, and it's actually my luck to be able to cultivate such a good seedling in such a short period of time."
After a short vacation in Guangdong, Quan Hongchan will return to the diving national team, and she will have her own new head coach. He Weiyi will also return to the training hall of the Guangdong Provincial Diving Team and become the coach of a new group of athletes, starting from the most basic techniques, pulling protective belts, cutting movements, and staring at physical training, day after day.
This is also the story of generations of athletes and coaches, just like the small video taken by CCTV reporter Zhang Chaoyang during the National Games - after winning the National Games, Quan Hongchan was signing his own photos, He Weiyi sat aside, she signed one and handed it over, He Weiyi took the photo and gently fanned it up and down, drying those names a little bit...
In the signature of the full red Chan and fanned photos of He Weiyi