When it comes to Chinese badminton players, the first name that comes to mind is Lin Dan.
But in fact, in addition to Lin Dan, there are many outstanding athletes in the badminton industry on the mainland, and Zhang Nan, who I want to talk about today, is one of them.
Doubles Grand Slam player
Lin Dan focuses on men's singles, while Zhang Nan focuses on doubles, and the two fight in different fields, but they have achieved good results.
Zhang Nan was born in Beijing in 1990 and although he has now retired, his outstanding achievements on the court should not be forgotten.
He is thin, one meter eighty-five meters tall, weighs 73 kilograms, has small facial features, a small flat head, looks inconspicuous, but actually has full explosive power.
He has won many events including the Olympic Games, Asian Games, World Championships, Asian Championships and other events, and is a Grand Slam player.
In the eyes of his teammates, Zhang Nan really does not look like a "normal" post-90s, usually when they go out to play, shopping, or play games, he does not participate much, only knows to bury his head in training, after completing the basic training tasks, but also to train himself.
Looking at Zhang Nan's life like this, it is actually a bit boring, because he seems to always only know how to switch back and forth between the training ground and the dormitory.
However, it is precisely his hard work that allowed him to finally be able to stand high in the team and achieve very outstanding results.
Zhang Nan will train so hard, which is also related to his own character. He is somewhat introverted, dull, and has been a stuffy gourd since he was a child.
In life, he doesn't seem to be very interested in anything, but when it comes to playing badminton, he will be very real and even a little stubborn.
When the coach is guiding him, he is not as dull as usual. Generally, others are coaches who do whatever they say, he is different, often arguing with the coach, chasing the coach like a cannon to ask questions.
He likes to discuss tactics with his coach because it's about his performance on the pitch and it's about the final result.
When the coach encounters such a "shaft" child, his face is very helpless, and he is secretly happy in his heart, because this shows that he has the ability to think independently and can become a great player in the future.
After Zhang Nan joined the Beijing team for a year, he had to choose whether to specialize in singles or doubles in the future.
At that time, the competition in men's singles was fierce, and Zhang Nan's characteristics were more suitable for doubles, so the coach transferred him to the doubles group to train, but I didn't expect that such an adjustment really helped Zhang Nan to create a bloody road in the highly competitive men's badminton circle.
Zhang Nan is tall and talented, not long after entering the doubles group, his technical level improved by leaps and bounds, and he was soon transferred by the national team and entered the second team of the national team.
When he first entered the doubles group, Zhang Nan was still a little reluctant. He has a better personality, is more willing to challenge singles, and is a little reluctant to train in the doubles team.
Unexpectedly, even in such a reluctant training state, his technical level has also improved rapidly.
In 2008, he and Lu Lu formed a duo and went to Pune, India to participate in the World Junior Badminton Championships, and finally won the mixed doubles runner-up with a score of 0:2.
After that, the two won the championship at the badminton gold grand prix in the Philippines, and Zhang Nan also successfully entered the national first team.
At first, Zhang Nan was just a sparring partner in the first team, but within a year, he was selected for the 2010 Thomas Cup, helping the Chinese team win the trophy, which was his first world championship honor.
Champion couples
He and Zhao Yunlei formed a relationship at the 2010 Japan Open Badminton.
At that time, the two kissed and fell in love, attracting the attention of many people, and everyone was paying attention to and looking forward to the future direction of this badminton couple.
Many people have also become their CP fans, thinking that they will definitely enter the palace of marriage. No one expected that the two who were so compatible and super sweet would finally break up.
Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei are brothers and sisters, Zhang Nan is 4 years old Zhao Yunlei, but he knows how to take care of girls and is a very intimate boyfriend.
After they were together, they also formed a mixed doubles combination to play matches, and they also won the mixed doubles championship at the London Olympics, and often ranked first in the BWF rankings.
Zhao Yunlei is a native of Yichang, Hubei Province, and her height of one meter seventy-two is relatively tall among girls.
Her parents are both sports workers, so she has an innate advantage in practicing sports.
The little girl only entered the badminton team training in Hubei Province at the age of 10, but improved quickly and entered the national team in 2003.
Sibling love is still relatively popular in the badminton team, in addition to her and Zhang Nan, Lin Dan and Xie Xingfang, Wang Jingming and Jiang Yanjiao are also brothers and sisters.
Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei broke up at the 2016 Rio Olympics, just six years after they were together.
At that time, Zhang Nan and teammate Fu Haifeng had just won the men's doubles championship, and Zhao Yunlei officially announced the news of their breakup on Weibo.
People have speculated about what exactly caused their breakup. Did someone cheat? Or does the mistress intervene?
Especially after Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei's best friend Tian Qing received the certificate, many people felt that this marriage was simply a junior, which was too bloody and ruined the three views.
Zhang Nan, as a little milk dog, fell in love with her sister, so rashly left her sister behind and hugged another relationship, which was really inappropriate, and she didn't think about how sad Zhao Yunlei would be.
In 2018, he also officially announced the news of his marriage to Tian Qing, promising to protect Tian Qing for the rest of his life.
He wrote online: "For the rest of your life, the wind and snow will be you, and the plain will be you!" The words were so earnest, it seemed to identify Tian Qing.
After he released this news, Tian Qing also made a positive interaction, sending two red hearts to indicate that the two people are close to each other.
After that, Zhang Nan also posted a family photo of himself and Tian Qing on Weibo, Zhao Yunlei must be a little sad when she sees her former boyfriend and girlfriend so loving.
In fact, Tian Qing is the same age as Zhao Yunlei, both born in 1986.
She is a native of Yiyang, Hunan Province, an authentic Xiang girl, in addition to being a badminton player, she is also a member of the 13th CPPCC in Hunan Province.
In terms of appearance, the Hunan Provincial Sports Bureau has evaluated her on its official website, calling her a beauty and a team flower, with a breath of aura in Juanxiu's appearance.
There is no shortage of beauties in the national team, and Tian Qing is a very personal one in it, which is probably why she can attract Zhang Nan.
Looking at Tian Qing like this, she should be a sensible and measured person, and in the end, she will ignore the sisterhood and resolutely choose to be with her best friend's ex-boyfriend, which shows that she has also undergone a lot of psychological struggle and mental preparation.
Before Zhang Nan, Tian Qing also fell in love with another men's doubles athlete, he was Shen Ye.
In April 2009, the two posted a group photo on Weibo, Tian Qing leaned on Shen Ye's shoulder, looking like a bird, and the two showed a sweet smile to the camera, and the relationship was quite close.
However, the relationship did not last long either.
In 2012, when Tian Qing was interviewed by reporters, he said that he had returned to singleness and now had no boyfriend.
From their respective hearts to the eventual coming together, Zhang Nan and Tian Qing have experienced various twists and turns on their own love road, and they must be more rational in their feelings.
Nowadays, no matter how the outside world views their feelings, it is still not easy for them to firmly hold hands and choose to get married, and we should give them a little more blessing.
After all, running a marriage is a big science, and I hope they can run their small home comfortably and comfortably.
After starting a family
Zhang Nan, who got married and started a family, did not continue to stay in the national team.
On August 20 last year, the sixth anniversary of his gold medal in men's doubles badminton at the Rio Olympics, he chose to quit.
In May this year, the Chinese Badminton Association held another retirement ceremony for him.
However, this does not mean that his badminton career is over. In the future, he will continue to compete internationally as a professional. He was able to fly solo.
Zhao Yunlei was not immersed in the sadness of breaking up, and her girlfriend intervened, and soon formed her own family and children.
Her husband is also a member of the national team and is her junior brother Hong Wei.
It seems that badminton players still like to find peers, so that they spend more time with each other and have more common topics to talk about.
Found a husband who also practices sports, Zhao Yunlei can be regarded as continuing the tradition of her own sports family, I don't know if their children will also practice sports in the future and take over their parents' jobs?
It is worth mentioning that the day she officially announced her marriage was the same year as Zhang Nan, I don't know if this is intentional or destined fate.
Today, Zhao Yunlei is also active in the badminton industry and has a new identity.
She returned to her hometown and became the deputy director of the Hubei Provincial Table Tennis and Badminton Center, and the fourth president of the local badminton association.
In July last year, she also participated in a sports variety show called "Refreshing Walk, Go to the Sea" on Hainan Satellite TV, and worked with the young people who participated in the show to solve the confusion in life and find more answers in life.
In April this year, she also appeared at the closing ceremony of the 16th Hubei Provincial Games to carry out the torch relay and contribute to the promotion of sports activities and the organization of sports events.
Since she was a child, Zhao Yunlei has been a particularly combative and hard-working girl, so she can practice badminton so well.
In her career, she has also won gold medals in both the Olympic and World Championships, and is an athlete who has entered the BWF Hall of Fame.
Such an excellent successful woman, although she has a failed relationship experience, does not prevent her from running her marriage and family fully and successfully.
Many people may complain about Zhao Yunlei's encounter in the relationship, but don't worry too much about her, a strong and capable girl like her has the ability to control her life and plan her future.
Feelings are a highly uncertain thing, the main speaker is a good gathering and dispersal, do not have to be too entangled in the past, to know how to look forward, there is no love and hatred that cannot be passed.
Recently, Olympic champion Tian Qing posted a video on social media, announcing that his son was over the moon.
Hearing the news, many netizens sent blessings online. Now the husband and wife have both children and daughters, and Zhang Nan, as a professional player, often appears in major domestic badminton events.
For example, at the Lai Mao Badminton Annual Festival held in May this year, he appeared on the scene with star players such as Zhang Ning, Chen Jin, and Wang Xiaoli.
They represented their respective teams and launched an interesting All-Star Confrontation game, and Zhang Nan also led his team to win the championship, which shows that his extraordinary strength has not regressed at all.
In this game, he and the team members fought together, while arranging tactics, helping the players analyze the opponent's actions, guiding their serves, attacks, etc., playing an airtight combat demeanor.
Speaking of Zhang Nan's career choice of "flying solo", he can actually be called the first person in the Chinese badminton team.
In 2014, although Lin Dan also chose to "fly solo", he did not completely break up with the national team, just to get rid of some restrictions on him by Li Ning as a sponsor of the national team.
Zhang Nan is different, after he retired from the national team, he actually arranged competitions, training and other badminton activities for himself completely.
The reason why Zhang Nan can succeed in doing this is also related to his legendary experience in badminton.
He is a genius who holds two Olympic gold medals, "men's doubles" and "mixed doubles", and only Kim Dong-moon of South Korea has achieved such results.
On the other hand, it is related to the country's reform in sports in recent years. The national badminton team embraced many changes, including no longer talking about the hiring of coaches, and even invited South Korean coach Kang Kyung-jin to guide women's doubles training; It also makes self-media accounts popular, paying attention to listening to the opinions of netizens.
On the other hand, Zhang Nan's commercial value is actually not comparable to Lin Dan.
When Li Ning sponsored the Chinese badminton team, in fact, he mainly looked at Lin Dan's influence, and if Lin Dan really flew solo, their investment was equivalent to all lost, which was completely unacceptable to them.
Zhang Nan is different, after he flew solo, he had little impact on the overall commercial interests of the Chinese badminton team, so he was more free.
From the perspective of Zhang Nan's career, he is a person who has a good plan for himself, has a strong sense of purpose, and knows what he wants.
He has the technology, ability, experience, and after opening his personal career path, I believe that he will also usher in a continuous scenery.
Now that he has a family, we don't have to pay too much attention to the detours he has taken emotionally in the past, let's expect him to balance career and family in the future, live a sweet sibling love life, and play well, both of which are well taken care of.