On the evening of August 7, Chinese teenager Gong Li lost 2-7 to the final in the women's karate karate group of 61 kg at the Tokyo Olympic Games, missing the final, but still won a valuable bronze medal for the Chinese delegation. Before the game, many netizens commented on her - "Obviously you can win by looking good, but you have to fight for strength." "Hurry up and get to know this 22-year-old sister.
Gong Li
Karate's "genius girl" has surged in rankings in half a year
The coach's evaluation of Gong Li is: "The personality is very flamboyant, good at expressing himself, and the execution is very strong." ”
Gong Li's first international competition was in 2018, when she defeated Abdul Aziz 4-0 in the women's 68 kg final of the World Karate Federation K1A Series in Shanghai. She had been practicing karate for only two years! On the field, she was beaten to the elbow dislocation, but still surprisingly won the first place. The coach and teammates were astonished, and no one expected that the newcomer, who had never won the highest podium in the domestic competition, would win the gold medal in this international competition.
Gong Li at the Tokyo Olympic Karate Women's Karate Group Stage Over 61 kg Group Stage According to IC photo
In the following competitions, Gong Li took turns to win the first, second and third places, and her performance was so good that people were stretched.
In May this year, in the last Olympic points race, Gong Li won the gold medal in advance with a score of 10-0 before the competition time, and won the Olympic qualification.
In a year and a half, Gong Li quickly rose from an unknown newcomer with no Olympic points to a strong player in the top three of the women's 68 kg class, known as the "genius girl" of karate.
"Changed careers" from taekwondo to become a dark horse killed halfway
Before becoming a karate player, Gong Li had been playing taekwondo, and the switch to karate was an accident, and before that, Gong Li had never thought of practicing karate.
In 2016, karate became a new sport for the Tokyo Olympics. Meanwhile, Gong Li is practicing taekwondo in Fuzhou City. The coach of the North Sports University who was selected in Fuzhou City looked at this girl with solid legs and flexible body. Then, she followed the team of the Northern Sports University to the national team, only to find that she had joined not taekwondo, but had never practiced karate, and witnessed a karate battle for the first time, which was particularly cool for a moment.
Gong Li and coach picture according to IC photo
Gong Li is 1 meter 73 tall, when practicing taekwondo, she plays under 49 kg, but the smallest karate level is also 50 kg, and the team has a master of 50 and 61 kg below, so Gong Li chose the 68 kg class to practice.
The coach of the Chinese karate team is very optimistic about Gong Li's explosiveness at the venue, believing that she will show the style of a young Chinese athlete at the Tokyo Olympic Games.
Today, Gong Li, standing on the podium, has not lived up to the expectations of the coach.
Red Star News reporter Chen Mou Intern Zhang Liping
Edited by Ou Peng
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