In the early spring of 2023, Jiaodaokou, Dongcheng District, Beijing, woke up from the silence of winter.
With its many hutongs and dense old houses, it is the most old Beijing flavor and attracts countless tourists.
In the North Toutiao Hutong of Jiaodaokou, there is a courtyard courtyard, which is a little crowded compared to the quaint and prosperous outside the courtyard.
Early in the morning, the door of a room on the north side of the courtyard opened, and out came a woman about 40 years old, short in stature and simple in clothes, who could see that the days were not very prosperous. With her dental kit in hand, she hurriedly washed by the pool.
Another door opened, and an older aunt also went to the pool to wash.
"Yueyue, so early, do you still have to go to work?"
"Hmm." The woman did not look up and answered vaguely.
"Your waist and legs are not very good, you run so far to work every day, it's so hard Oh, listen to your mother, the salary is not high, if you can't change a job." Auntie muttered vaguely while hooking her head to wash.
The one called Yueyue did not match, but a tight frown, revealing her disgust. After hurriedly washing, she turned and walked back to her cabin.
She doesn't like to be disturbed, and she doesn't like to let the aunts judge her. If she doesn't go out, she stays in the house. The quiet is a little sluggish, like the unknown green plant in the corner of the yard, quietly waiting for the sunrise and the moonset, the wind and rain.
Who knew that this ordinary downcast woman in front of her was Bai Chunyue, a gymnastics champion who had won 8 world-class gold medals?
The choice of decommissioning, right or wrong
Every athlete, no matter how brilliant and dazzling he was, will eventually leave the field and choose to retire. Each person's different choices after retirement may affect the comfort and happiness of the rest of life.
Until today, Bai Chunyue does not know whether it is right or wrong to choose to retire at the beginning, and then choose to study journalism at Peking University.
That day, the team announced the list of team members who participated in the Sydney Olympics, and the moment she saw the list, Bai Chunyue was stunned, she didn't expect that she would lose.
An athlete who does not want to participate in the Olympics must not be a good athlete. After coming to the national team, Bai Chunyue gradually understood the meaning of the Olympic Games. Winning a medal at the Olympics is the ultimate goal of almost all athletes. So Bai Chunyue has always had an Olympic dream in her heart.
She knew she was missing a certain amount of talent compared to other athletes. Because she is only 1.32 meters tall, although petite size is an advantage for gymnasts, she is also too short compared to her peers.
It turned out that when she was in the Beijing team, coach Wang Liming disliked her, saying that she was "generally talented, her height and body proportion are also average, so she is not gymnastics material!" ”
It is also because of the height problem that affects the referee's vision on the field and affects Bai Chunyue's refereeing edge. The referee's impression score is so important to an athlete, if she does not play particularly well, it will be difficult for her to get a medal.
The talent is average, the referee's relationship is not very good, Bai Chunyue knows that if you want to win the championship and win the gold medal, you must put in more effort than others.
Therefore, since coming to the national team, Bai Chunyue has almost grown up in the training ground, and even his old coach Wang Liming admires: "This kid, how can he practice so much!" ”
It is precisely because of this dedication that Bai Chunyue is now ranked third in the women's team and fully qualified for the Olympic Games.
The greater the hope, the deeper the pain of disappointment. Bai Chunyue, who was defeated, hid in the corner outside the training ground, shedding tears of grievances and sadness alone.
The old coach Wang Liming also came, and he encouraged his proud protégé: "Life, sometimes it is cruel, competitive sports are even more cruel, but this is also its charm." You're young, not this one, and the 2004 Athens Olympics. ”
Director Wang's persuasion made Bai Chunyue gradually calm her inner unwillingness and resentment, and she turned around and walked towards the training ground. It's just that since then, Bai Chunyue, who has always been calm and restrained, has been even less silent.
In 2001, at the 21st World University Games, Bai Chunyue went out again and played steadily, stabilizing the military spirit for the Chinese team's competition. But after participating in the 9th National Games, Bai Chunyue suddenly announced her retirement.
What do you do after you retire? Bai Chunyue faced a new choice.
Since she began to practice gymnastics at the age of six, almost all year round in the training ground, Bai Chunyue felt that her cultural foundation was too thin, and she hoped to learn more culture and recharge herself. After retiring, Bai Chunyue chose to study at Peking University.
In the arena that year, Bai Chunyue was very envious of sports journalists, feeling that they did not have the hard work of athletes, but they could experience the light of the sports field like athletes, and she had long thought many times that she would become a sports reporter after retiring, so she chose Peking University's journalism major.
But when she really became a sports reporter, she knew that her weak foundation and the hardship of writing manuscripts were no less than when she was an athlete.
She often misses the joy of the training ground, recalling the scene of spinning and soaring on the uneven bars and balance beams, when she was like a flying bird, although there were injuries and hardships, but also the sacredness and glory of medals hanging on her chest.
"Gymnastics elves" that shine in the arena
As a gymnast, Bai Chunyue does lack some talent. But she relied on that hard work, and won eight gold medals in the national gymnastics women's team.
Bai Chunyue, who was born in February 1983, entered a gymnastics school when she was still in kindergarten and began to practice gymnastics. Two years later, she joined the Beijing team and became a full-fledged gymnast.
Bai Chunyue is a resolute child, able to endure hardships and not afraid of fatigue, so, on the training ground, she has always worked hard, and her results in the Beijing team are quite good.
Coach Wang Liming came to Beijing in 1994 to coach, and when he first met Bai Chunyue, he was a little unoptimistic about her. This kid is too short, his body proportion is not very good, he lacks some talent for gymnastics, and it is difficult to get good results.
But over time, Wang Liming found that this was a tough and stubborn little girl. She is a bit stupid and has mastered a movement essentials that needs to be practiced repeatedly. But she worked hard and never played lazy like other children. As long as the teacher does not say that she passes, she can practice tirelessly over and over again in the training ground.
Diligent can make up for weakness, this sentence is not false at all. The little girl's efforts soon paid off.
In 1995, Bai Chunyue began to emerge at that year's City Games. Two years later, she represented the Beijing gymnastics team in the 8th Games and won the runner-up in the women's gymnastics team. Bai Chunyue stood out in the Beijing team.
When coach Wang Liming was selected to be transferred to the national gymnastics team as a coach, it was precisely because he appreciated her hard work and perseverance and believed that she still had hope, so he brought Bai Chunyue to the national team.
The teammates of the national team, seeing Bai Chunyue for the first time, suddenly liked this little girl. The 15-year-old little girl, only 132 cm tall, does not seem to have grown yet, but a cute baby face, thick and cute, and singer Dong Wenhua has seven or eight points of similarity, so everyone affectionately calls her "Little Dong Wenhua".
The clever Bai Chunyue clearly knew in her heart that being able to enter the Beijing team this time was completely taken care of by the coach, and he brought himself over. Therefore, she is extremely grateful to Director Wang, and she especially cherishes this rare opportunity to train more seriously, rigorously and hard.
Bai Chunyue is not talented enough and is not suitable for difficult techniques, but she is hard working and stable, and coach Wang Liming teaches according to her aptitude and has made a set of tailor-made plans for her to reduce the difficulty factor and enhance stability and success rate. Under the guidance of the coach, Bai Chunyue practiced over and over again, striving for precise movements and stable performance.
Heaven rewards hard work, Bai Chunyue quickly stood out in the national team and was the first to be selected into the first team. With one game after another, her practical experience has been continuously enriched, and the whole person has continued to grow and mature. Her efforts soon paid off in a game.
In 1998, she and her teammates performed well at the National Gymnastics Championships, finishing second in the women's gymnastics team. At the National Gymnastics Championships the following year, she won the runner-up in the women's gymnastics all-around.
Like a flower blooming, the small white spring moon ushered in the spring of her sports career. She gradually gained a foothold in the national team, became the main member of the Chinese women's gymnastics team, and also got more opportunities to participate on a bigger stage.
At the 10th French Bomenier Gymnastics Arena, Bai Chunyue was like a "little elf" flying on the field, marveling at the entire arena. This diminutive Chinese girl won gold medals in the individual all-around, balance beam, uneven bars championship, and won the women's gymnastics team competition with her teammates.
In 2001, at the 25th International Gymnastics Championships held in Germany, Bai Chunyue won the balance beam championship. Later, at the East Asian Games that year, she successfully won three medals: uneven bars championship, individual all-around runner-up and team championship.
In two years, he won 8 gold medals, making the world remember the name "Bai Chunyue" and the girl who showed the strength and beauty of gymnastics like a "little elf" in the arena.
She entered the highlight of her career, thinking that she had a special hope of entering the Sydney Olympics, but unfortunately it did not happen. Perhaps heartbroken by this defeat, the stubborn little girl resolutely chose to retire.
The real life of a retired champion
Bai Chunyue used to be so brilliant and dazzling, so in the eyes of many people, her current life is really unsatisfactory. But after experiencing various setbacks in life, Bai Chunyue likes this kind of peace and quiet.
In her senior year, she became an intern reporter for China Sports News, and also got an opportunity to interview the women's volleyball team, although she didn't do much work, she was still very happy to see the signature of "trainee reporter Bai Chunyue" in front of the article.
Reality is never as full as ideals, and soon she discovered that journalists are not so good at being a reporter, and it is really too difficult to write. If you don't do it well, you will never fill up indiscriminately, and she chose to retreat for the second time and disappear from everyone's field of vision.
Until May 2017, Zhang Shangwu, a former gymnast and Internet celebrity, exposed Bai Chunyue's news on Weibo, and the "elf" of the former gymnastics team returned to the public's field of vision again with a downcast image full of pain, depression and embarrassment.
Bai Chunyue, who has always been restrained, does not like to be noticed like this.
More than ten years after retiring, although her life is a chicken feather, all kinds of unsatisfactory, even her family does not understand her, and often talks about her past and present, but she likes her current life. Although the income is not high, but can eat enough, no longer have the constant tossing, running and choosing when he was young, there is no desire or want, and he can live his small life quietly.
Therefore, she deliberately evaded the tracking of the network and rarely accepted help from the outside world, which also made Zhang Shangwu's Weibo sink into the sea like a stone, and did not see more news about Bai Chunyue's recent situation.
Recently, with the help of enthusiastic netizens, we finally learned the real situation of Bai Chunyue.
The former gymnastics champion used to live in Beitoutiao Hutong, Jiaodaokou, Dongcheng District, which is her hometown, where she has lived for decades.
Bai Chunyue, who is 40 years old in 2023, is slightly taller than on the field of the competition that year, and has already shown signs of happiness, with obvious traces of years on her face, and can no longer find the shadow of the warm and flexible "little elf" of the past, "Little Dong Wenhua", who has reached middle age.
Now Bai Chunyue is a coach at the Dongcheng District Sports School in Beijing.
After her dream of being a sports reporter was broken, she successively looked for some jobs, but she was not very satisfied, and later after being introduced by a friend, she came to this sports school.
In the twelve or three years of training ground, the high-intensity training left her waist and crotch with pain, and some movement demonstrations could not be done, and she could only guide on the side, so the salary given by the sports school was not high. Moreover, the sports school is a bit far from home, and it takes a long time to go back and forth to work every day.
Despite this, she still loves this job, there is a training ground she is familiar with, and seeing those energetic little girls every day is like seeing her own shadow. Only then would she smile with relief.
Wages are low, housing prices are high, and she can't afford to buy a house, so when the family moved out one by one, this once crowded cottage belonged to her.
Hard work, she is not afraid, after all, after so many years of practicing gymnastics, she has not suffered anything. What she is most afraid of is the discussion and evaluation of those around her.
You see, Bai Chunyue got off work this day, and heard several aunts in the alley swinging the dragon gate array.
"Hey, did you see it, Guo Jingjing gave birth to three more children, married into a wealthy family, and had both children, this girl has a good life."
"Wang Nan's daughter has started to play, very strong in Wang Nan's face, this child, can't be wrong."
"Don't say it, Sunland is still disabled, people, peers have different lives."
"Isn't there one here, it is said that he graduated from Peking University, why don't he have a good job?"
……
Bai Chunyue passed by expressionlessly, as if she hadn't heard anything.
She returned to her cabin, closed the door, and shut all the noise out of the door, leaving herself in peace.
Bai Chunyue, who lacks talent, has a small body and releases huge energy, she is a "elf" who soars in the arena, not only fighting for the honor of the country, but also showing personal strength, leaving a glorious page in her life history.
From the flying of the arena, to the silence of the small courtyard, from the glorious podium, to the messy life of chicken feathers, I have seen the flowers, but also experienced sadness and loss, life is the same as the sports field, sometimes it is so cruel. Regarding Bai Chunyue's experience, I don't know what you think.
Resources:
1. "Chinese gymnastics team elf, 1 meter 3 tall won 8 gold medals, the recent situation of the fall has been exposed and attracted attention" - Global Network
2, "Bai Chunyue: Farewell to Gymnastics"--New Sports--CNKI--author A Jiu
3, ""Xiao Dong Wenhua" Bai Chunyue's First Interview Ignoring Gymnastics" --- <新浪体育>Sina.com - Writer / Chenxi
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Author: Li Li
EDIT: As it is