Oscar Figueroa: Twelve years to sharpen a sword
The Olympic Games, as the most famous sports event in the world, attracts the attention of people all over the world every time it is held, and in the 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil, there was an athlete who received everyone's attention, and his sports career is enough to be described as legendary.
Oscar Figueroa, a weightlifter from Colombia who won the gold medal at the 2016 Olympics in Brazil, may not arouse any interest in you, but if you dig deeper, you will find that he won the championship at the age of 33.
The golden age for normal weightlifters is 20-26 years old.
Oscar is a native of Colombia, and when Oscar was a child, his parents worked hard in the local gold mines to make a living, and his family was very poor. As a young man, he once said, "I don't want to live like this anymore, it's not the life I want." ”
At the age of 15, he ushered in a turning point in his life, in order to maintain the family's livelihood Oscar was sent by his parents to the local gym to practice, weightlifting hopes to help the family reduce financial pressure by joining the national team.
During training, because his family was too poor, he had a heavy training plan but could only eat one meal a day. But he didn't talk about giving up, he knew that if he couldn't hold on, he would have to go back to the small mountain village and walk the path his parents had walked again.
On the first day of training, Oscar learned all the tricks, which few people have done, and his coach praised him: "Oscar is really a genius." ”
Oscar has an obsession, that is, no matter what he does, he must sit in the first row even if he goes out to play and take the car, the environment and conditions at that time are not favorable to him, but he never said that he gave up training and gave up this only chance to turn over because of external conditions.
His obsession with success was too deep, too deep to be desperate. Finally, through day-to-day training, Oscar lived up to expectations and entered the national sports team and became a professional athlete.
Oscar first competed in the Olympic Games in 2004, and at the age of 21, he stepped into a foreign land and achieved a good result of fifth place for the first time, which was a very good result for the fledgling, and his eyes were full of hopes for a better future
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After returning home, he began training harder in the hope of hitting the championship at the 2008 Olympics. At this time, he was upright and young, and the age of 20-26 was also the golden age of his weightlifter career. But things don't always go smoothly, and God always likes to joke with people. Three days before the start of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, he suddenly felt unwell and had severe pain in his back.
He then explained the situation to the coach, and the accompanying team doctor concluded after examination that Oscar's body was not in any abnormal condition.
It was this accident that led to a sharp outbreak of conflict between him and the coach who did not have a good relationship, and his coach even said that he wanted to escape from the battle, scolding him for deserting, not only did not care about his body to do a deeper examination, but instead aggravated the training, and he insisted until the day of the game.
But the scene on the day of the game became a nightmare he could never forget, losing three times in a row when lifting weights. When he had to regret leaving the field to look off the field, on the contrary, he had not given up, but his coach had long disappeared.
Leaving the weightlift he leaned against the wall under the field and wept at a post-match news conference where his coach also reprimanded Oscar for saying he had failed to live up to Colombian expectations.
Before leaving his homeland to participate in the competition, he was a hero in everyone's heart, and when he returned to his homeland, it seemed that there was nothing left, and people spit that he had failed everyone's expectations and no one believed him.
At that time, the domestic media and the masses were on the side of Coach Oscar, frantically attacking him. Saying he was a spy didn't even think about winning the championship for the country, but only Oscar himself knew that no one wanted to stand on the top podium of the Olympics more than he did.
Oscar said after the game: "In the eyes of the coach he has no value anymore, in the game he simply abandoned me, very simply left me." ”
Fortunately, Oscar was not wronged all the time, but after returning home, he got the help of a coach who said that he may have a problem with his spine and was eventually diagnosed.
Oscar's illness was very serious at the time, and the doctors advised him to give up his career and continue to persist that it might lead to paralysis, but Oscar did not have the slightest intention of giving up, and immediately returned to the training ground after a struggle of ideas while treating.
He never gave up his obsession, he didn't want to appoint, and fast forward to 2012, when he came to London to regain his footing
On the field of the Games. This time he got the silver medal and was one step closer to his dream.
He was not ready to give up, but continued to devote himself to training. Next time, he must win the championship, if he does not win the championship, then the next time, the next time he does not win the championship, then the next time, do not take the championship and never stop.
After returning to Colombia, no one still believed him, this time not because of public opinion, but because Oscar was too old to continue training sports. Many people still chose to give up on him, but there was one person who always stood by Oscar's side, and that person was himself.
Oscar's condition recurred, and when he did not train, his back hurt, and he couldn't sleep. By the time Oscar knew he could no longer hide his condition to the doctor, he already had two herniated discs, as well as arthritis.
He was tormented by injuries, but he did not give up, he never let go of his obsession, the obsession of winning the championship.
He asked the doctor to schedule surgery for him again. It's January when the surgery is over, and it's august when the game is over. Oscar did not slack off in half a year's game, continued to train against injuries, and trained before the wounds were healed.
Everyone was not optimistic about him, except himself. Finally, in 2016, he completed the most important weightlifting of his life. This time without getting out of hand, without accidents, he succeeded.
After finishing the weightlifting, he cried out, this time not because the grievances were not because he was not understood, but because he cried with joy, twelve years of hard work, the persistence of the four Olympic Games was not in vain, put down the weight lever, he took off his shoes to show that he was retiring tonight.
He fulfilled his promise and nothing could stop him from winning the championship for the country. No matter how much difficulty he faced, no matter how much grievance he had, he never gave up. At the age of 33, he has finally proved himself, as long as he can complete his dream, how long will he wait?