Source: People's Daily - People's Daily
On April 14, Long Daoyi (front) / Wang Zongyuan in the game. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhang Bowen
Core reading
At the 2023 FINA Diving World Cup in Xi'an, the Chinese team players practiced with competition, constantly polished their skills, and finally ranked first in the medal table with 9 gold and 2 silver, showing a good competitive state. In addition to the competition, the organizers also organized a variety of cultural exhibition and exchange activities, so that more people can feel the cultural heritage and charm of the ancient capital Xi'an.
On April 16, the first leg of the three-day 2023 FINA Diving World Cup was successfully concluded at the Xi'an Olympic Sports Center in Shaanxi Province. A total of more than 60 players from 13 countries and regions participated, and the Chinese team sent 8 players to compete in 9 events, and finally won 9 golds and 2 silvers, ranking first in the medal table.
This year's Diving World Cup is divided into three races, with the second round in Montreal, Canada, in May, and the top two races will have the opportunity to compete in the Super Finals in Berlin, Germany, in August. Before the World Swimming Championships in July, the two World Cup events will become a good opportunity for national and regional teams to train and test their teams.
Outside of competition, we promote each other
"Standing still is equivalent to regression, or continue to strengthen training"
In the women's double 10m platform event, 16-year-old Quan Hongchan and 17-year-old Chen Yuxi joined forces, and their movements were synchronized like "copy and paste", establishing an advantage from the first jump, and finally won the championship with a score of 62.76 points ahead of the second place.
In the women's single 10-meter platform event, Quan Hongchan and Chen Yuxi have the advantage of the overall difficulty of the movements and the high quality of completion. In particular, the 207C (three and a half weeks backwards to hug her knees) not only helped Quan Hongchan make a splash at the Tokyo Olympics, but also laid a solid foundation for Chen Yuxi to win the world championship for consecutive years. This move is rarely controlled by players in the world, so it has become the "hand" of the Chinese team.
In the past two years, Quan Hongchan's 207C action has not been stable, so she often loses to Chen Yuxi. However, Quan Hongchan is honing her technique through training. In the women's 10m platform heats, she performed well in the 207C moves, with 5 of the 7 judges giving 10 points. Under thousands of tempers, Quan Hongchan and Chen Yuxi's technical movements are becoming more and more perfect, and their strength is indistinguishable. Zhou Jihong, the leader of the Chinese diving team, once commented on the two: "They are both very good and hard, and they will see each other in the competition." ”
In this women's 10m platform final, Chen Yuxi won the championship by beating Quan Hongchan with a more stable performance of 7.70 points, and won four consecutive victories after last year's Swimming World Championships, Diving World Cup Berlin and this year's National Diving Championships. After the competition, the two athletes kept reviewing each technical move, and how they could do better than medals and results was their focus.
"Standing still is equivalent to regression, or continue to train and continue to improve in the next game." Chen said. Finding shortcomings and improving them with more assiduous training is the importance of training through competitions, and striving for perfection and climbing the peak is the secret of the continuous improvement of the diving "dream team".
Grow in competition
"I hope we can be strong when we are strong in the game and gradually accumulate self-confidence"
In the men's two-man 3-meter springboard, the new combination of Wang Zongyuan/Long Dao brought surprises. Although they have been partners for less than a month, they have a good rapport in the game. Before each jump on the board, the two will look at each other and nod to confirm the rhythm. Facing the challenge of the British team's strength combination, Wang Zongyuan/Long Daoyi won the championship with a near-perfect performance, 69.99 points ahead of the second place.
The 21-year-old Wang Jongyuan rose to prominence at the 2019 Gwangju Swimming World Championships, winning the men's one-meter springboard gold medal in the non-Olympic event, and then quickly grew up and proved his strength with one gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics and three world championship gold medals in 2022. Facing Long Daoyi, who participated in an international competition for the first time, Wang Zongyuan eased the tension of his teammates with his own participation experience and mature mentality.
In the battle between masters, the experience of the game and the psychology of the competition become the key factors in the decisive victory. In the high-altitude tumbling, the slightest fluctuation in the mentality may cause action deformation and affect the score. In the men's double 10m platform final, the British team briefly narrowed the gap between the Chinese team Lian Junjie / Yang Hao to 12.24 points after the third round. However, Lian Junjie/Yang Hao eventually withstood the pressure and won the championship.
In the new Olympic cycle, Yang Hao and Lian Junjie formed a men's double 10m platform partner, and although they have won successive titles at the 2022 Budapest Swimming World Championships and the Diving World Cup Berlin, they still need to hone their technical details and mentality in the competition. As Lian Junjie said: "I hope we can be strong when we encounter strength in the game and gradually accumulate self-confidence." ”
"Complete every action step with a stable mind, fully play the content of the usual training, and the result will come naturally." In the view of diving Olympic champion Wang Xin, the more difficult the action, the more critical the moment, the more distracting thoughts must be eliminated. "Young athletes must temper their hearts through continuous competition, and only after a hundred temperings can they become steel." She said.
Traditional culture adds to the event
"I look forward to the long-term interplay between diving and traditional Chinese culture"
Before the start of the Diving World Cup, the official website of FINA specially introduced the profound historical heritage of Xi'an, and highlighted the Terracotta Army, Daming Palace, Tang Dynasty Never Sleeps City, Ming City Wall and 159 museums in Xi'an to the world. The Qin cavity performance at the opening ceremony was brilliant, which attracted applause from the contestants and the audience.
At each award ceremony, the plush mascot of the terracotta warriors and horses presented with the medals was also loved by the participating athletes and technical officials. "The mascot is very cute, I love it." Olympic champion Jack Lovel has a love affair with dolls.
During the competition, the organizers also organized a variety of intangible cultural heritage displays and cultural exchange activities, and Chinese traditional cultural elements decorated the hotels, restaurants and venues where the athletes were located, building a cultural platform for participants from all over the world to feel the charm of the ancient capital of thousands of years.
The hotel where the athletes are located is located on the bank of the Bahe River, where the "Folding Willow Farewell" took place. In the evening, many athletes and coaches jogged on the riverbank. At the passage from the hotel gym to the restaurant, a "cultural street" rich in traditional Chinese culture is specially set up, including the Tang costume and Hanfu dressing experience area, Chang'an food interactive experience area, Chang'an market intangible cultural heritage exchange area, Xi'an characteristic cultural and creative display area, etc., athletes can experience Chinese traditional culture.
"We hope that this place will host more competitions in the future, and look forward to the long-term interplay between diving and traditional Chinese culture." Hysús Menner, vice chairman of FIA's Diving Technical Committee, said. People's Daily (Version 15, 18 April 2023)