Ding Ning ended his 26-year sports career and started a new life course. Photo/Osports
"I came to Peking University to report today!" In the future, it will be peking university freshmen 'learning Ning'. On September 6, 31-year-old Ding Ning announced the end of his 26-year table tennis career and became a graduate student in the Physical Education Department of Peking University, opening a new second half of his life.
When it comes to transformation, Ding Ning said that athletes now have a wider range of choices after retirement, more diversified, and there are more choices to realize their dreams in life. Although leaving the national table tennis team, Ding Ning said that he has always been a table tennis person and a sports person, hoping to integrate years of practical experience and thinking into his new career through studying at Peking University, "Physical education, youth sports, sportsmanship inheritance, and world table tennis development are all directions I want to get involved in." ”
retire
Chose to come to Peking University because my sister is here
At the end of March this year, Ding Ning participated as a coach and player in the preliminary round of the 14th National Games in Chengdu, which was also the last event of her career. Since then, Ding Ning has not participated in the national table tennis team through competition and the Olympic simulation competition, and unexpectedly lost the Tokyo Olympic team. At the end of August, the list of table tennis matches of the National Games was announced, and Ding Ning was not in the list of the Beijing team.
On September 6, Ding Ning announced through social media that he had ended his 26-year table tennis career and became a graduate student in the Physical Education Department of Peking University. "I came to Peking University to report today!" In the future, it will be peking university freshmen 'learning Ning'. Learning the sea is endless, I will continue to refuel! In the future, we hope to continue to contribute to the cause of sports and for everyone. Ding Ning said that making this decision is indeed very difficult for her, but also a huge challenge, "life has a lot of wonderful, there are infinite possibilities, in the future I will work towards new dreams, to challenge new possibilities." ”
As a top institution of learning in China, Peking University also has a good relationship with table tennis, and in 1952, the first national table tennis competition was held at Peking University. At the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, the Peking University Gymnasium (now renamed Qiu Deba Gymnasium) was the venue for the table tennis event.
Ding Ning's attendance at Peking University is not new news. As early as April this year, the Department of Physical Education and Research of Peking University announced the list of candidates to be admitted to the 2021 master's degree enrollment, and Ding Ning was among them. The public list shows that Ding Ning's re-examination score is 89.09 points. "The Peking University Sports And Education Department has taken over the heavy responsibility of continuing to cultivate Ding Ning, and we will work together with Ding Ning." Wu Fei, deputy director of the Physical Education Department of Peking University, said.
Ding Ning is not the first world table tennis champion to come to Peking University to study. In 1999, Liu Wei, the seven-time table tennis world champion, retired from the military and studied at Peking University, where he completed his doctoral studies and is now a professor in the Department of Physical Education of Peking University. In the first week of school, Ding Ning went to the Peking University table tennis team for exchanges, and it was Liu Wei who accompanied her. "I still have a lot of feelings for Peking University, and finally I was able to study at Peking University because I have Sister Liu Wei here, who has set a good example for us in terms of transformation, so that many athletes have more choices for the future."
On September 6, Ding Ning announced through social media that he was a new student at Peking University. Screenshots of the network
transformation
Take on new challenges with an Olympic aura
On September 10, Ding Ning and other freshmen came to the May Fourth playground to attend the opening ceremony of Peking University in 2021. "My relationship with Peking University is very deep, and every time I came before, my identity and feelings were different." During his athlete period, Ding Ning went to Peking University many times to participate in activities.
In October 2019, Ding Ning was invited to Peking University to give a speech, and she told the students about her regrets about the defeat in Moscow and the London Olympics, and told everyone how to look at the failure and adjust their mentality to get back on the road.
Now that he has returned to the campus of Peking University, Ding Ning has two more identities. On September 13, an ordinary Peking University table tennis class was held at the Qiu Deba Gymnasium, which once hosted the Beijing Olympic table tennis competition, and the teacher was Wu Fei, the blue card referee with the highest level of the International Table Tennis Federation, who was also the only Chinese referee in the table tennis event of this year's Tokyo Olympic Games. In this class, it was Ding Ning who served as a teaching assistant. Peking University's official social media also released news that Ding Ning will serve as a table tennis assistant in the new semester.
In the new semester, Peking University has two master-level Plus courses that have been screened, one is "Music and Pop" jointly opened by violin chief Jin Haiyin + top musician Liang Qiaobai, and the other is the Peking University table tennis class jointly opened by Olympic referee Wu Fei + Olympic champion Ding Ning. "Gathering Olympic venues, Olympic referees, and Olympic champions, this immersive Olympic experience table tennis lesson is worth having!" Peking University's official social media wrote.
Today, Ding Ning is actively adapting to the university campus life and environment, and will officially start the "Ning Classroom" next semester, "I have now returned to campus from the arena and completed the transformation from athletes to students." Peking University students are very good in academics and sports, and I hope to use my choices and experiences to share experiences for my students and broaden their imagination of the future. ”
Entering Peking University with the aura of 3 Olympic gold medals and 21 world champions, Ding Ning soon felt the enthusiasm of the students of Peking University. Whether in the library or the canteen, as the most well-known freshman at Peking University this year, Ding Ning will be recognized by everyone. In the first week of school, the publicity department of Peking University arranged an interview with Ding Ning, which attracted more than a dozen student journalists to participate, and the scene was no less than a post-match press conference of an international event.
"Many people know you at the same time, but they are also paying attention to your every move, and they need you to do better in all aspects." Ding Ning said that in this case, some academic difficulties, including some challenges in life that may be encountered, need to be slowly balanced by themselves.
In the new semester, Ding Ning will serve as a teaching assistant in the table tennis class at Peking University. Photo/Social Media
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In the future, I also want to work in sports
This is not the first time Ding Ning has entered the university campus to study. In September 2012, Ding Ning enrolled in the Department of Journalism of Shanghai University of Sport and spoke as a representative of new students at the opening ceremony, "Reading books can give me more understanding of table tennis from different perspectives, and can let me learn to think more systematically and comprehensively." ”
In 2017, Ding Ning became a graduate student at the China Table Tennis Academy at the Shanghai University of Sport, and Peking University will pursue her second master's degree. Compared with the two stages of study life at the Shanghai Institute of Sport before retiring from the military, Ding Ning, who is now a full-time graduate student, has truly started his dream student life for a long time.
After the 2016 Rio Olympics, Ding Ning once thought about whether to retreat from the rapids and pursue another life. But out of the needs of the team, Ding Ning, as the captain of the women's table tennis team, is well aware of the responsibility and mission on her body, which makes her finally choose to insist, "In the past 5 years, I have not wasted, let alone regret, I have completed the handover of the women's table tennis baton." ”
In March 2020, after the Tokyo Olympics were postponed for one year, Ding Ning also entered a state of rest. It was also at that time that Ding Ning began to seriously think about his future, "During that time, I felt that my thinking and the way I looked at things had changed a lot, no longer like the previous perspective of a simple athlete, and now it will become more diversified and multi-dimensional." ”
For a long time before, the way out for outstanding athletes after retirement was relatively fixed, or they stayed in the team as coaches, or returned to local administrative work, etc. There were not many people like Ding Ning who returned to school to pursue graduate school after retiring.
"With the development of the times, the life of athletes after retirement is no longer as narrow as the previous choices." Ding Ning said that now the choice of athletes is more diverse, and can even be combined in several aspects, "Originally I may be a pure sports professional, but I hope that I can become an all-rounder in the future, do something in different fields, and make some contributions." ”
After entering school, when communicating with the Peking University table tennis team, Ding Ning said that he has always been a table tennis person, a sports person, and he still hopes to be able to engage in sports-related work in the future, "I hope that through studying at Peking University, I will integrate years of practical experience and thinking into a new career." Physical education, youth sports, sportsmanship inheritance, and the development of world table tennis are all directions I want to set foot in. ”
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Liu Guoliang believed that Ding Ning could turn around gorgeously
The national table tennis team prepared for the late Tokyo Olympic Games, the team has disappeared Ding Ning's figure, and the female table tennis captain quietly faded out. After some deliberation, Ding Ning submitted a retirement application to Liu Guoliang, chairman of the Chinese Table Tennis Association.
"I think Ding Ning went to Peking University to study, continue to enrich himself, enrich himself is a particularly good choice." Because through the systematic learning of some theoretical knowledge, combined with her own practice, I believe that she can usher in a gorgeous turn. Liu Guoliang said that Ding Ning has achieved very good results as an athlete, but then as a table tennis player, the real table tennis career has just begun.
Unlike Ding Ning, Liu Guoliang directly stayed in the national table tennis team as a coach after retiring, and then grew into the head coach of the national table tennis team, the chairman of the Chinese Table Tennis Association, the chairman of the Council of the World Table Tennis Professional League, and a model for the successful transformation of outstanding athletes. Now watching Ding Ning choose a path of study, Liu Guoliang also sent blessings, hoping that she can continue to improve, light herself, illuminate others, "At that time, I told Ding Ning that I hoped that she could do a good job in transformation after retiring, and bring the sunshine and positive energy of her body to her study and life after transformation. ”
For athletes, entering college after retirement is a huge challenge. As a person who came over, her sister Zhang Yining gave her a lot of advice. When he came to Beijing from Daqing at the age of 10, Ding Ning has been playing behind Zhang Yining, and the two are like sisters. After learning the news of Ding Ning's retirement, Zhang Yining bluntly said that he felt that he was far away from table tennis.
However, watching the little master sister enter Peking University as desired, Zhang Yining was quite pleased, "The transformation of athletes is a very difficult level, but Ding Ning is very well connected." Zhang Yining said that she was happy that Ding Ning was about to start her study life, but at the same time, she also advised her that studying is hard reading, not an easy task, "For us, learning and playing are two forces, after all, our foundation is not thick, which requires Ding Ning to pay more, I want to say cheer to her." I also hope that Ding Ning can tap his greater potential in different fields in the future. ”
Like Zhang Yining, women's table tennis head coach Li Falcon also watched Ding Ning grow up step by step. In 1997, Li Falcon met Ding Ning when he led the team to Daqing for training. Talking about Ding Ning going to Peking University to study, Li Falcon hopes that she can carry forward the spirit of persistence in her studies and achieve early academic success like when she was an athlete, "and I also wish her to find her other half in this process and have a richer and more complete life." ”
Liu Shiwen enrolled in the postgraduate champion class of Beijing Sports University in 2019 and spoke as a representative of new students. Photo/Osports
trend
The national table tennis coaches are all highly educated
During the Tokyo Olympics, there was a passage on the Internet: "Who is the biggest opponent of the Japanese table tennis team?" It's Shanghai Jiao Tong University! This is because Liu Guoliang, Ma Long, Xu Xin, Sun Yingsha, Wang Manyu and others are all students of Shanghai Jiao Tong University.
After retiring in 2002, Liu Guoliang stayed in the team to become the head coach of men's table tennis. In 2003, Liu Guoliang officially became an undergraduate student at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, majoring in human resource management, and stayed on to pursue on-the-job graduate studies after graduation.
Talking about the gains during the university, Liu Guoliang said that he used to rely on experience and professional knowledge to manage the team, and at Shanghai Jiaotong University, he could systematically learn from the theory, thereby strengthening his management level, "Our group of athletes attacked the profession relatively early, the cultural foundation is thin, and many courses must be learned from scratch. And now the situation is different from our previous years, and if we don't learn, we will fall behind. ”
Speaking of transformation, Liu Guoliang said that athletes cannot carry the racket for a lifetime, and need to be prepared for transformation early. In the national table tennis team, many athletes and coaches have high academic qualifications. Deng Yaping, the "first generation of the Great Devil", graduated from Tsinghua University with a bachelor's degree, and then obtained a master's degree and a doctorate from the University of Nottingham and the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom. Zhang Yining, the "Great Devil", is a graduate of the graduate champion class of Beijing Sport University.
Among the active members of the national table tennis team, Ma Long, Xu Xin and others graduated from Shanghai Jiao Tong University. "Little Devil" Sun Yingsha and Wang Manyu became undergraduate freshmen of Shanghai Jiao Tong University in 2019, majoring in human resource management.
Liu Shiwen graduated from South China University of Technology with a bachelor's degree in business administration, and then enrolled in the beijing sports university graduate school champion class in 2019, and she was also admitted to Xu Jiayu, Jin Boyang, Xiang Yanmei and other outstanding athletes. Chen Meng, who just won two gold medals at the Tokyo Olympics this year, graduated from the Normal College of Shenzhen University, and she is also a 2017 student of the champion class of Beijing Sports University. In the Table Tennis Super League last year, Chen Meng helped the Shenzhen University team win the championship.
In addition, the men's team Lin Gaoyuan and Wang Chuqin studied at Shanghai University of Sport and Beijing Sport University respectively. In the women's team, Sichuan girl Zhu Yuling graduated from Xihua University, and youngster Chen Xingtong is studying for a master's degree at the Shanghai University of Sport.
Sun Haiguang, chief reporter of the Beijing News
Edited by Han Shuangming, proofread by Zhai Yongjun