The Paper's reporter Chen Jun
Hou Zhihui celebrates winning gold!
"Just do it"! In the iconic roar of Coach Zhang Guozheng, Hou Zhihui lived up to expectations.
On the afternoon of the 24th, in the Olympic women's weightlifting 49 kg competition, China's Hou Zhihui won the gold medal - after waiting for 5 years, she finally regained her honor.
Before the game, Hou Zhihui weighed a little more than she weighed, and then made appropriate weight losses, but this did not affect her state - the first grab, Hou Zhihui lifted 88 kg, the second lift won 92 kg, the third lift got 94 kg! Grab it and break two Olympic records!
Throughout the competition, Hou Zhihui did not change his face at all - in the deadlift competition, Hou Zhihui lifted 109 kg in the first, 114 kg in the second, and 116 kg in the third. The total result of 210 kg set an Olympic record!
Hou Zhihui's play is very stable.
After 5 years, the smiling "little monkey" returned
The Olympics had been so close and so far away from her.
At the 2016 Rio Olympics, Hou Zhihui, who was only 19 years old at the time, was selected for the Chinese Olympic team to prepare for the women's 48 kg weightlifting gold medal. However, just five days before the opening of the Olympic Games, the Chinese weightlifting team suddenly announced a change in the competition: Hou Zhihui in the 48 kg class was replaced by Meng Suping, who was over 75 kg due to a knee injury.
Although he had anticipated his injury, hou Zhihui still cried for a noon after receiving the news. When a large number of members of the weightlifting team set off from São Paulo for Rio, the venue of the game, Hou Zhihui embarked on a flight back to Beijing.
For a young man, such a blow is not insignificant, for a year after the Rio Olympics, Hou Zhihui's state has been at a low ebb, and in the eyes of coaches and teammates, the "little monkey" who loved to laugh in the past has disappeared.
Some media once asked Hou Zhihui why? After a half silence, she asked, "Then what if you are hit?" ”
Fortunately, Hou Zhihui slowly walked out, and at the 2017 Tianjin National Games, she won the gold medal with 93 kg in the snatch, 115 kg in the deadlift, and a total of 208 kg, which was 8 kg more than the champion of the Rio Olympics.
But every time he appeared in the game, Hou Zhihui's expression was always serious and he never smiled once. She bowed to the referee on stage and cheered herself up, but even if she successfully lifted it, the coach on the sideline was already overjoyed, and her expression did not fluctuate at all...
It wasn't until the time of the award, when coach Zhou Jihong gently patted her shoulder, that Hou Zhihui finally smiled.
In an interview at the time, Hou Zhihui mentioned that the National Games gold medal was a compensation for the Rio Olympics a year ago — until then, everyone suddenly realized that she had been holding back a momentum.
The national games gold medal is just the beginning, in Hou Zhihui's heart, the Olympic Games has always been the stage that haunts her dreams, when she said bluntly in front of the media: "My goal is the Tokyo Olympics." ”
Train in a down-to-earth manner and win glory for the country
In the new Olympic cycle, Hou Zhihui has been trying to make herself stronger.
At the 2018 National Women's Weightlifting Championships, she won the 48 kg category; hou Zhihui won the 48 kg world championships in the same year, and won the 93 kg in the 49 kg category, 115 kg in the snatch and 208 kg overall.
In February 2019, at the Weightlifting World Cup and Tokyo Olympic Qualifying Tournament, Hou Zhihui won three championships with a snatch of 94 kg, a deadlift of 116 kg and a total of 210 kg, and broke two world records for snatch and total results in this level.
In September, the 2019 Weightlifting World Championships were held in Pattaya, Thailand, where Hou Zhihui won the snatch championship with 94 kg, the second place in the deadlift with 117 kg, and the runner-up with a total result of 211 kg...
Although still plagued by injuries from time to time, Hou Zhihui has been picking gold and silver, and Zhang Guozheng, the head coach of the women's weightlifting team, witnessed Hou Zhihui's performance and admitted that the child was becoming more mature.
Hou Zhihui roared angrily to cheer himself up.
"On the one hand, the weak lifting is strengthening, and more importantly, her mentality is getting better and better, and she talked to me and said, 'Now I feel that training is a very happy thing, and I start to enjoy the process'."
Coach Zhou Jihong also said in his evaluation of Hou Zhihui that this is a player with a brain, "In terms of strength alone, she is not the most prominent, but she is particularly well coordinated, very good at using her brain, what the coach says, she can think back and think on her own." ”
On April 18, 2021, the Asian Weightlifting Championships were held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, the biggest pre-Olympic competition – in the women's 49 kg competition, Hou Zhihui won the championship with a snatch of 96 kg and a total of 213 kg, and set two new world records.
A series of strong performances made Hou Zhihui selected for the Olympic weightlifting team nailed down, "Doing yourself well is the most critical, down-to-earth training will make you feel stronger in your heart." For the Tokyo Olympics, I hope that I can win the championship and win glory for my country. ”
Hou Zhihui did not break her word, 5 years of waiting is difficult and long, 19 years old regrets missing Rio, 24 years old more mature she waited in Tokyo to come to the most full bloom.
Editor-in-Charge: Ascendas
Proofreader: Zhang Liangliang