In our understanding, what do those athletes who win glory for the country and win championships do after retirement?
Do business like Li Ning, make your name a well-known brand, accept endorsements like Tian Liang, marry beautiful women, enter the entertainment industry, engage in politics like Yao Ming, become the chairman of the basketball association, strategize and have unlimited scenery, or marry into a wealthy family like Guo Jingjing and Fu Mingxia, and live a low-key luxury and connotative life as a person.
But they are all a small group of people who stand at the top of the pyramid of competitive sports, that is, successful people in the secular sense, and if you just look at them, it is easy to give people the illusion that "the world is so beautiful".
Behind their success is the downfall struggle of countless cannon fodder, and most of these failures are merged with that small group of successful people to be the truth of this world.
One will achieve ten thousand bones, and it is rumored that the first war is full of worries. This has been true for ancient times.
Today, we will meet a failed "cannon fodder" - Zhang Shangwu, who was once a gymnastics champion, but actually fell into busking, and his experience subverted our cognition.
Through him, we get a glimpse of the cruelty and injustice of competitive sports.
01
Zhang Shangwu was born in 1983 in Baoding, Hebei.
Zhang's father is the only source of income for the whole family, an ordinary person, and there is no big skill, so Zhang Shangwu's family has a difficult life and spends in a sustainable penniless.
When Zhang Shangwu was 6 years old, his father failed to help people settle accounts, and in a fit of anger, he beat people into serious injuries and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
This is a disaster for a poor family. The top pillar suddenly folded, Zhang Shangwu's mother was disheartened and fled this desperate family after the divorce.
The original complete family was only left with the young Zhang Shangwu and his grandparents who were in their old years.
In order to make ends meet, my grandmother dragged her sick body to the chemical fiber factory to do odd jobs, but the money she earned could only barely maintain the food and clothing of a family of three, so Zhang Shangwu, who had been malnourished for a long time, was shorter than his peers.
Despite this, Zhang Shangwu still showed his sports talents in his childhood. Although he is short in stature but has great strength, classmates who are taller than him and stronger than him can't break his wrists, and this innate talent is seen by the physical education teacher, so he recommended him to the gymnastics school to practice gymnastics.
When he first came into gymnastics, Zhang Shangwu was only 8 years old.
Realizing that he is a good seedling in sports, Zhang Shangwu cherishes it very much, and the desire to get ahead by practicing sports has become stronger and stronger, and Zhang Shangwu has never been slack in training on weekdays, and he has never been sluggish in training, and has never complained of hardship and tiredness.
As a result, his gymnastics skills improved by leaps and bounds, and he soon became a top master in the country.
In 1995, at the age of 12, Zhang Shangwu naturally entered the Chinese national gymnastics team, which all athletes dream of, because of his outstanding strength.
At that time, Zhang Shangwu was only 1.54 meters tall, but with his advantage in strength, Zhang Shangwu became the target of the national team's key cultivation and was known as the star of hope.
Young, proud and promising, Zhang Shangwu has reason to have good fantasies about his career.
02
In 2001, the World University Games were held in Beijing, and Zhang Shangwu ushered in the moment to prove himself.
At that University Games, the Chinese gymnastics team had an uneven lineup, and the absolute main Li Xiaopeng was injured. Zhang Shangwu was ordered to replace Li Xiaopeng in the Universiade.
Zhang Shangwu was 18 years old, had zero experience in international competitions, and belonged to the rookie level.
However, Zhang Shangwu's newborn calf is not afraid of tigers, although he is a rookie, but he shows a calm comparable to a veteran, in addition to winning the men's team championship with Yang Wei, Xing Aowei and other big brothers, he also overwhelmed the crowd in the ring individual competition and won the gold medal.
Two champions in a competition, this is a very dazzling data, which can be described as the peak of debut.
However, what people did not expect was that the Universiade in 01 was Zhang Shangwu's battle of fame and his last glory.
After that, Zhang Shangwu fell at the speed of light, and no one cared. What caused Zhang Shangwu's defeat was his character and the other was his injury.
In the national team, the negative impact of the original family on Zhang Shangwu began to ferment. Seeing his well-born teammates dressed brightly and beautifully, and he was always a poor and sour look, Zhang Shangwu's self-esteem was greatly impacted.
What is more serious is that the habits of the poor family brought to him by the little citizens have become bad habits engraved in his bones. Zhang Shangwu loves to take advantage, often borrowing money but often not paying it back.
Zhang Shangwu borrowed money from his teammates and coaches more than once, and took turns borrowing from people around him, borrowing thousands of yuan at a time, the reason is always that "grandparents are sick and need to be hospitalized."
At first, due to their feelings, everyone generously donated to help this younger brother in family difficulties, but after a long time, everyone gradually saw Zhang Shangwu's true face and began to ignore him.
After the relationship and popularity were exhausted, Zhang Shangwu's relationship with his teammates became worse and worse.
Bad luck ensued. In 03, Zhang Shangwu ruptured his Achilles tendon as a result of long-term high-intensity and high-load training.
The injury of an Achilles tendon rupture is a disaster for athletes, Kobe, Cousins, Thompson, Liu Xiang and other sports celebrities, have fallen on the rupture of the Achilles tendon, which can make a superstar at its peak fall instantly and suddenly disappear.
In 03, Zhang Shangwu was returned to the provincial team, and since then he has said goodbye to the national team and basically said goodbye to the opportunity to make a comeback.
In 05, Zhang Shangwu, who had no hope of a comeback, chose to retire with a compensation of 38,000 yuan and left the gymnastics competition that he loved and hated.
03
Injuries caused Zhang Shangwu to retire prematurely, and he did not have the opportunity to win the Olympic championship he dreamed of, but the national team experience unwittingly made him proud.
After retiring, Zhang Shangwu, who prides himself on being a former member of the Chinese gymnastics team, could not look at the work arranged for him by the provincial team, and felt that the work of migrant workers was low and shabby, so he took more than 30,000 compensation as a start-up capital and went to start his own business.
However, reality soon exploded his head. When he was in sports school, the cultural class was very poor, only 1.54 meters tall, and Zhang Shangwu, who was full of injuries, entered the society only to find that he did not have any livelihood skills, and even being a security guard was disliked for being too short.
So Zhang Shangwu began to sit on the mountain, and after the compensation fee of more than 30,000 was squandered, he had no choice but to sell his gold medal.
The gold medal, which condensed all the highlights of his career, was sold by Zhang Shangwu to the antique city for - 100 yuan.
In the end, Zhang Shangwu, who could not even afford to eat, began to steal. In 07, he ran to Beijing Xianngtan Sports School to steal laptops and mobile phones, and after he succeeded, his courage grew bigger and bigger, and later, Fengtai Guangcai Gymnasium, Xicheng Shichahai Sports School, Bayi Engineering Brigade and other places left his footprints of flying off the wall.
How can this kind of life of harming others and licking blood from the knife head last for a long time? Zhang Shangwu was soon caught by the police and sentenced to 4 years and 8 months for theft, and finally reduced his sentence to 3 years and 10 months for his good performance in prison.
The former Chinese gymnast celebrity and the hero who was applauded by thousands of people in the spotlight became a rooster and dog thief in this way, which is really embarrassing to think about.
In the 08 Beijing Olympics, Zhang Shangwu's former teammate Yang Wei led the Chinese gymnastics men's team to shine and won the gold medal of the men's team, Yang Wei won the final men's all-around gold medal, and his personal prestige reached the peak.
Amid the cheers of tens of thousands of spectators, the high-pitched and loud national anthem sounded several times. The members of the Chinese gymnastics team were all proud and full of spirit, and accepted the worship of the audience like heroes.
This kind of high-light grand stage should have had a place for Zhang Shangwu. But at that time, he was undergoing reform in prison, and the water flowed and flowed, and the heavens and the earth.
In April 2011, Zhang Shangwu was released after completing his sentence. After regaining his freedom, he still has no livelihood skills, and the only thing he is proficient in is a variety of difficult gymnastic moves.
So Zhang Shangwu summoned up enough courage to find a piece of land in the crowded street, put a few photos, supported a bowl to collect money, and began to sell art.
04
One night at 8 p.m. in 2012, at Beijing's Wangfujing subway station, a quack artist with a unique skill appeared in the A entrance and exit passage, causing a large number of passengers to watch.
This short, round-waisted and muscular figure dazzled with dazzling and difficult movements such as inverted handstands, Thomas spinning, etc. in full view of the crowd.
Although busking is common, this person has a very special identity: Zhang Shangwu, a former Chinese gymnastics champion who won two gold medals at the 2001 Universiade.
The news caused a huge reaction at the time, and the melon-eating masses were curious, what exactly did the former gymnastics champion experience to this point, is it a distortion of human nature or a decline in morality?
After the Zhang Shangwu incident was reported, it attracted the attention of philanthropist Chen Zhuo, who planned to support this gymnast who had sweated and been injured for the country, so he invited him to serve as the "vice minister of the public welfare and charity department" and "public welfare and love ambassador", with a monthly salary of more than 10,000 yuan.
This was originally a happy ending, and the lively melon-eating masses could also be withdrawn, but surprisingly, Zhang Shangwu left after only three months, because of his character flaws: unable to get along with colleagues and often conflicted.
After leaving the job, Zhang Shangwu still can't forget his ambition, opened a company, sold pillows, promoted health care products, and even put his bank card number online to collect money from netizens under the gimmick of raising funds for the paralyzed female athlete Ni Lique.
Later, it was clarified by Ni Lique himself that there was no such thing, and Zhang Shangwu, who was already notorious, had another identity: a fraudster.
Such a trick of using netizens' friendship to deceive was naturally ridiculed and scolded by netizens, Zhang Shangwu was helpless, and in a fit of anger, he copied his old line and busking.
That is, this street artist is Zhang Shangwu's only regular business student who is not deceived.
So on the streets of Beijing, squares, subway passages and other crowded places, a quack artist performing handstand once again appeared. That Zhang Shangwu, who used to be proud and self-esteem, could not look at the iron rice bowl in the system and the job with a monthly salary of 10,000, finally realized his dream of relying on his own ability to eat.
It's just that the income brought by this dream is only 50 yuan a day.
05
In April 2020, Zhang Shangwu posted a small essay on social platforms, which was an apology letter, in which he confessed in his heart that he was criminally punished by the Huangpu District People's Court in November 19 for stealing wallets, and was locked up for 8 months.
It turned out that during the period when Zhang Shangwu disappeared, he returned to the prison labor reform, and this small essay reminded netizens that this was his "second entry into the palace".
After being released from prison, Zhang Shangwu can change his past is not known, but it is certain that all Chinese athletes who have been selected for the national team, no matter what the sport, do not do their jobs after retirement, rely on cheating and sneaking, buskings to make a living, and finally mixed up, Zhang Shangwu is the only one.
From Zhang Shangwu's body, we see the story of a young man from a poor family, with strong vanity, sensitivity and fragility, eager to get ahead, full of pride and stride towards his dream, discouraged after failure, unwilling to be an ordinary person, accept ordinary work, and finally be eaten back, step by step become a marginal person in society.
The heart is sensitive and fragile, and the self-esteem is strong. However, tragically, Zhang Shangwu, who has a strong sense of self-esteem, finally had to rely on selling his self-esteem to earn pocket money to survive.
Although Zhang Shangwu's talent and training hard are not necessarily worse than Yang Wei, and he almost crippled his body, competitive sports are too cruel, so cruel that only the top 1% are allowed to succeed.
Is the remaining 99% of "cannon fodder" really only defined by failure? Is it really a supporting role and stepping stone for the top 1%?
Most people will object to this extremely utilitarian view, what is wrong with the ordinary, ordinary? Don't you deserve to live in this world?
However, Zhang Shangwu, who is destined to be ordinary in this life, has to make his life extraordinary.
In May 2022, a new partner was welcomed in Shanghai Prison, Zhang Shangwu. Plus the previous two times, he has already disobeyed three times because of theft.
It's hard to imagine a former gymnastics champion doing bad things over and over again, and despite being punished, he keeps teaching.
Zhang Shangwu's experience, of course, has the factor of his character flaws, but more importantly, it is the cruelty and injustice of competitive sports itself.
In terms of Zhang Shangwu's ability and the training volume of the national team, he may not be much inferior to his successful predecessor Li Ning, and former teammates Yang Wei and Chen Yibing, but the treatment after retirement is a world of difference.
If the country can come up with more money to treat them kindly, treat athletes disabled due to injuries, treat all veterans who have dedicated themselves to defending their homes and the country, and treat all grassroots workers who work hard and carry the weight for others, instead of putting most of their manpower and material resources into star making, gold medal strategies, and various face projects, maybe Zhang Shangwu's life will be a different ending!
epilogue
"If you eat bitterly, you will be a better person." Is this true or not? Is it worth advocating? Should it be promoted as an inspirational quote?
I personally believe that this sentence is a feudal legacy, a dregs and garbage that should have been discarded a long time ago.
What does it mean to be human?
It is the kind of person who bullies others, disciplines others, educates others, and is above others in terms of money and status, and naturally sits on a palanquin and lets others carry him a sedan chair.
This statement itself constitutes a system of oppression with a clear class division, and if the vast majority of the population of a society recognizes this pathological value, then the society will unwittingly shape into a pyramid-shaped social structure.
At the top of this social pyramid, there are 1% of the people who sit on the people, and most of the remaining cannon fodder can only suffer the pain of failure in the struggles and difficulties of life.
Is this different from feudal society?
"Ordinary" and "ordinary" are never lowly. Those strange people who quarrel and be superior, these people must not succeed, and give the world a peaceful peace!