At 10 a.m. on April 5, 2013, at the Babao Shandong Auditorium in Beijing, a solemn farewell ceremony was quietly underway.
Lang Ping, Chen Zhonghe, Zhou Xiaolan and other famous figures in the Chinese volleyball industry all appeared at the ceremony, and several people gathered around an old man, looking sad, as if listening to what the old man whispered.
The old man was Lang Pingren's former coach: Yuan Weimin, who muttered: "I used to be very strict with her." ”
As soon as the words fell, the audience burst into tears, and Lang Ping and everyone lowered their heads to wipe their tears.
Yuan Weimin sighed, tried to calm down, stood up from the wheelchair with difficulty, and said sonorously and lowly: "Don't fall behind, keep up, don't cry!" ”
Later, with the help of the staff, Yuan Weimin walked to the body, followed the people who came to see him off, laid flowers and bowed in turn, and sent his former beloved disciple on the last journey.
Volleyball national player Chen Zhaodi, who made everyone rush to see off, died of cancer in Beijing on April 1 at the age of 58.
First, the last moments of life
"I can't close my eyes and rest at all, I can't accept the doctor's sentence on me at all, you are so strong, so unwilling to accept defeat, I know you will not lose, your will will definitely overcome the disease, mom come on, even if this is the last time, I believe that miracles will happen to you I am here."
This passage is excerpted from Chen Zhaodi's daughter Guo Chen's Weibo.
In February 2013, volleyball player Chen Zhaodi, accompanied by her family, entered the General Hospital of the People's Liberation Army of Chinese.
At that time, Chen Zhaodi's physical condition was very poor, and her life could be in danger at any time.
In this case, it is not only Chen Zhaodi who is tested and tormented, but also the relatives who love her the most.
It is rumored that Chen Zhaodi suffered from rectal cancer on the grounds that both of Chen Zhaodi's parents died of this disease.
Rectal cancer is not an incurable disease, and early detection can be treated by resection, but because rectal cancer is in a low position, it is difficult to completely remove, so the recurrence rate after surgery is high.
Before being admitted to the hospital, Chen Zhaodi had undergone two treatments, and her symptoms were basically controlled.
Unexpectedly, she suddenly relapsed in February 2013, and her condition was menacing, which was unexpected.
During the hospitalization, Chen Zhaodi's daughter Guo Chen has always been by her mother's side.
Since Chen Zhaodi was admitted to the hospital, she has been in pain every day, and looking at her mother who is struggling on the line of life and death, Guo Chen naturally will not feel better in her heart.
Guo Chen once said on Weibo: "I no longer insist, as long as you are not uncomfortable, see you are uncomfortable, I feel more distressed than anyone."
Distressed that his mother was suffering, and unwilling to let his mother leave, Guo Chen could only sign the hospital's rescue application again and again, constantly praying that his mother could turn the corner.
It may be that the heavens heard Guo Chen's expectations, and were infected by her sadness and reluctance, and after a period of treatment in the hospital, Chen Zhaodi's body improved.
When she woke up, her pain was significantly reduced, and she was able to lie on the pillow for a while with the help of help.
Most importantly, she finally had the energy to talk to her family, talk to her, and appease her struggling family.
Guo Chen cried non-stop, Chen Zhaodi grabbed her hand, and smiled helplessly: "I will be 26 years old soon, how can I still be like a child." ”
Knowing that her reaction scared her, Chen Zhaodi did not blame, and teased Guo Chen to answer: "It's almost my birthday, what gift do you want for this year's birthday?" ”
Guo Chen replied: "It's good that my mother is healthy. ”
Chen Zhaodi nodded and promised her daughter, assuring her daughter that she would accompany her daughter to her birthday, and would actively cooperate with the treatment and strive for an early recovery.
Unfortunately, Chen Zhaodi's promise was not fulfilled, and two months after being admitted to the hospital, Chen Zhaodi's condition suddenly deteriorated and she was pushed into the emergency room again.
Guo Chen waited anxiously outside the operating room, praying constantly, Chen Zhaodi was rescued for several hours, and Guo Chen waited for several hours outside the operating room.
At 3 p.m. on April 1, Chen Zhaodi died at the age of 58.
Chen Zhaodi's sudden death shocked the volleyball world and left many volleyball fans at a loss.
Second, the difficult road to winning the championship
On the evening of November 16, 1981, the city of Beijing, which had been silent in the middle of the night, suddenly became noisy.
In the streets and alleys, you can see people running and roaring.
Everyone had excited and happy expressions on their faces, as if something great had happened.
On this day, the Chinese women's volleyball team won the championship in the third World Cup volleyball tournament, which was the first world championship of the women's volleyball team and the first world champion in China's "three big balls" project.
After this night, the "women's volleyball spirit" became a symbol of the spirit of the times, and the female volleyball players led by Lang Ping also became heroic girls in people's eyes.
The victory of the team is not the merit of one person, it is the joint efforts of all personnel, Chen Zhaodi is not the best one among them, but it is definitely the most diligent and difficult one.
In 1955, Chen Zhaodi was born in an ordinary family in Hangzhou, Zhejiang.
At that time, a name with a special meaning like "Zhaodi" seemed to indicate that Chen Zhaodi's childhood life would not be too warm and happy.
Although not valued by her parents and family, Chen Zhaodi is a very strong person who refuses to fall behind in everything.
Because she often helps her family with housework, Chen Zhaodi has been relatively strong since she was a child, and after puberty began to develop, her height soared to more than one meter and seven meters.
In addition, she is extremely talented in sports, and after school, teachers focus on developing her sports skills.
With the help of her teacher, Chen Zhaodi won the championship of the Hangzhou Middle School Student Games.
In 1970, Chen Zhaodi was 15 years old and was in junior high school.
After watching Chen Zhaodi's match, the Zhejiang women's volleyball team was very satisfied with this tough little girl and took the initiative to throw an olive branch to her, and Chen Zhaodi readily agreed.
This was Chen Zhaodi's first step into the Chinese women's volleyball team, and she did not know that she would contribute her life to the Chinese volleyball industry.
Chen Zhaodi, who joined the Zhejiang women's volleyball team, practiced harder and spent almost all her free time training.
Talented and hardworking, Chen Zhaodi naturally quickly stood out among the players of her age, and was selected into the Bayi women's volleyball team and the national women's volleyball team.
At that time, the "head" of the Chinese women's volleyball team was Yuan Weiping.
Because China had just broken free from the turbulent years at that time, many aspects needed to recover, Chinese volleyball underwent a restructuring, and a series of problems such as unstable personnel, irregular training, fragmented training, and insufficient player experience were in front of people's eyes.
Participating in the World Volleyball competition, compared to strong opponents, there is no room to fight back.
Under such an unfavorable situation, the women's volleyball team members carried out a series of training to challenge their physical limits with determination not to give up without winning results.
Chen Zhaodi is the oldest of the girls in the middle grade, and the players respect her and silently regard her as a big sister.
Chen Zhaodi also gave full play to her exemplary role, insisting on picking up the last ball every day, never falling behind in training, and even working harder than other young players.
Yuan Weiping also had high hopes for Chen Zhaodi, both of whom were extremely demanding and gave her more training tasks than others.
But Chen Zhaodi never complained, and every day she had to overcomplete her training tasks.
However, the human body's ability to withstand is limited after all, and in such an overloaded exercise, Chen Zhaodi's various functions of the body have problems, and there are different degrees of damage on her arms and waist.
When the third World Cup volleyball tournament was held in 1981, Chen Zhaodi was 26 years old and was no longer suitable for the court.
Helplessly, there is no substitute behind her, no one can replace her position and role, Chen Zhaodi can only withstand the pain.
On November 16, the Chinese women's volleyball team played against the Japanese women's volleyball team, which attracted the attention of the people of the whole country.
At that time, China's economy was not developed, television was not yet widespread, and there might only be one or two televisions in a village.
In order to watch the heroic posture of the women's volleyball girls, people gathered together to watch the game in the open space against the cold wind.
The game process is extremely difficult, the volleyball competition adopts a "single round-robin" format, and the Chinese women's volleyball team has to play seven rounds and 28 games to win the championship.
Before the match with Japanese volleyball, the Chinese women's volleyball team won all the way, which means that as long as we can win two games in Japan, the championship can be included in our pockets.
It may be that both China and Japan regard this match as the last battle of the championship, attach great importance to it, and the two sides fought fiercely for two hours before the Chinese side finally won the victory with difficulty.
In the third game, Chen Zhaodi suffered a recurrence of her old injury and could not stand up straight from her back pain, but she still stuck to the field and faced the enemy's attack after attack.
At the end of the game, it was her teammates who carried her on stage to receive the award, and people learned about her physical condition.
It was also because of injuries that after helping Chinese volleyball win two championships, Chen Zhaodi had to give up her beloved volleyball career and retire.
But even if she left the arena, Chen Zhaodi never left the Chinese women's volleyball team.
As a coach and team leader, she did her best to exert her residual enthusiasm for the Chinese women's volleyball team and pass on the spirit of excellent women's volleyball team endlessly.
3. A life dedicated to football
In 1986, Chen Zhaodi became the head coach of the Chinese youth women's volleyball team, tired of being selected as a member of the Chinese women's volleyball team.
With the retirement of veteran players, the Chinese women's volleyball team fell into a short period of silence, and people pinned their hopes on youth selection.
Chen Zhaodi withstood the pressure of all parties and cultivated outstanding athletes such as Lai Yawen and Li Yunwu, which effectively alleviated the decline of the Chinese women's volleyball team and did not provide a guarantee and foundation for the future rise of the Chinese women's volleyball team.
In 1988, Chen Zhaodi was diagnosed with rectal cancer and had to temporarily leave her job and be hospitalized.
If you want to treat cancer, either cutting or chemotherapy, no matter which way the damage to the human body is very severe, after getting off the operating table, Chen Zhaodi has no way to continue to engage in the coaching industry.
But she was not discouraged, but found a different way and became the leader of the women's volleyball girls.
Compared to the coach, the task of this position is much easier, but for Chen Zhaodi, it is still a little too reluctant.
Not long after, Chen Zhaodi stepped down as the leader of the women's volleyball team and returned to work in the General Political Culture and Sports Bureau.
Until her death, she was still the vice president and advisor of the Chinese Volleyball Association, paying close attention to the experience and development of volleyball in the motherland.
Nowadays, TVs that are more advanced than "color TVs" have entered thousands of households, and people can turn on the TV to watch a game anytime, anywhere.
The volleyball girls did not live up to the expectations of the motherland and fans, and after a short period of silence and disconnection, they finally waited for Lang Ping to return and the team ushered in a rebirth.
Looking back on Chen Zhaodi's life, her brave struggle is awe-inspiring; Her selflessness and fearlessness are humiliating; Her ideals and pursuits are inspiring and moving.
She has dedicated her life to volleyball, and the field she loves will definitely give her a new face.