It's another graduation season, and among the many students who have walked out of campus, there are many outstanding athletes.
On July 5, the 2023 Graduate Graduation Ceremony and Degree Conferral Ceremony of Peking University was held at the Qiu Teck Puat Gymnasium. Table tennis Olympic champion Ding Ning spoke on stage as a representative of the graduates. She shared the hardships and glory of her career as an athlete and her experience and feelings of studying at Peking University, "Only by bravely facing defeat can we win better."
Ding Ning graduated from Peking University
Start again in the land of dreams
"Khoo Teck Puat Gymnasium is where my dream began and where my connection with Peking University began." Back in time to the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Ding Ning, who was only 18 years old at the time, witnessed three five-star red flags being raised at the same time in this stadium.
"When the audience sang the national anthem loudly, that moment, I think I will never forget it in my life. At that time, my heart beat faster than the pace of table tennis on that court. Because it was the heartbeat of everyone on and off the stage, it was the place where my dream began, and it was also the place where I started with Peking University. Ding Ning looked up at the words "Beijing 2008" above his head and said emotionally.
Infographic: The Chinese table tennis team and the youth group of the Macau table tennis training team of China held an exchange activity at the Macao Athlete Training and Training Center in Taipa. Ding Ning at the exchange event.
Born in 1990, Ding Ning began to practice table tennis at the age of 6, entered the national first team in 2005, won the first world championship of his career in 2009, and is the sixth "Grand Slam" player in China's table tennis to win the Olympic Games, World Table Tennis Championships, World Cup and National Games. However, behind this glorious glory lies countless setbacks and failures.
Ding Ning said frankly that only those who have experienced the darkest moment know that the championships and glory along the way are obtained after constantly failing and constantly standing up.
In the 50th World Table Tennis Championships in 2010, the national table tennis women's team suffered the worst defeat in nearly 30 years in Moscow, losing to the Singapore team and missing the championship, and Ding Ning, who was only 20 years old at the time, suffered a reversal in a 2-0 situation. In the women's singles final of the 2012 London Olympics, Ding Ning lost to teammate Li Xiaoxia and lost the title. These two losses made her want to back down many times.
"But I told myself that you can only win better if you are brave enough to face the loss. It is also this persistence and grinding that has given me a mature heart, allowing me to dare to challenge, go against the wind, and see the clouds. ”
Continue to pursue your dreams in the sports industry
In September 2021, Ding Ning announced through social media that she would end her table tennis career and become a graduate student in the Department of Physical Education and Research of Peking University, specializing in sports industry and general health, which is also her second master's degree.
Ding Ning revealed that in fact, when she entered Peking University for further study, her heart was more apprehensive than expectation. I am afraid that I will not be able to adapt to the identity change from athlete to student, and I am afraid that I will not be able to keep up with the footsteps of the "top students" around me.
However, under the open and inclusive study style, diversified and rich curriculum, and careful teaching of teachers at Peking University, she has become more and more confident, and she is also aware that the calmness of winning and losing is also applicable to academic pressure.
At the same time, she also played her strengths, served as a table tennis class teaching assistant, and met classmates who had watched her play, "In them, I saw what youth should look like, I saw that although competition is the tip of the pyramid in the sports industry, it is cruel, but the starting point for more people to contact sports is from love, and I am the same." ”
Ding Ning is passing the torch.
On June 10, at the launching ceremony of the torch relay of the 31st Summer Universiade in Chengdu held at Peking University, Ding Ning served as the torchbearer to relay the Universiade torch. After retiring, her love for sports did not disappear, but passed on this love and persistence in other ways.
In the two years at Peking University, Ding Ning has learned and understood sports from more dimensions, and gained not only knowledge, but also the best integration of theory and practice.
During her time at Peking University, Ding Ning has given her sufficient confidence, firm courage and lofty ambition, so that she can face the waves, not be afraid of stormy waves, and forge ahead.
Ding Ning sincerely wished the teachers and students present, "From Yanyuan to all over the world, I hope that you and I will never stop chasing, chasing dreams, chasing light, and living up to the times." ”
For the future, Ding Ning said that "I don't want to have restrictions", mass sports, campus sports, sports rehabilitation, national fitness and other fields are interested, hoping to apply what they have learned, continue to pursue dreams in the sports industry they love the most, and let more people gain courage and strength from sports.
【Writing】South + trainee reporter Xu Yi South + reporter Bloomberg
【Image】Xinhua News Agency, network screenshot
【Author】 Xu Yi; Bloomberg
【Source】 Southern Press Media Group South + client