It is said that girls who love to laugh will not have too bad luck, and 31-year-old Wei Yongli's track and field life in the past 15 years has almost perfectly interpreted this sentence.
On July 24, in the Quzhou Sports Center, the rain that had interfered with the National Athletics Championships for two consecutive nights suddenly disappeared, and pink sunsets and a rainbow even appeared on the ring-shaped dome of the venue.
In such a slightly romantic competition atmosphere, Wei Yongli ran the second best time of the season in the women's 100m final of the "grand finale", 11.36 seconds, and won the championship strongly.
Wei Yongli won the championship.
During this national championship, Wei Yongli also talked to The Paper about the peaks and troughs of her sports career.
This is Wei Yongli's third domestic championship in the past month and a half, "I think I am really lucky, every goal I have set for myself over the years has basically been achieved, and after the Tokyo Olympics, I am enjoying the rest of the process." ”
Wei Yongli, who loves to laugh, said that she is always "as silly as a fool", but behind her optimistic personality and cheerful smile, there are some unknown injuries and tears in the face of setbacks.
Wei Yongli crossed the finish line first.
champion
On the 100-meter track of the Quzhou Sports Center, 31-year-old Wei Yongli faced a number of "post-00s" young players next to him, and almost did not receive any challenge from the preliminary round to the semi-final to the final three shots.
She set her second-best time of the season in 11.36 seconds to win the national championship.
"I was actually not very satisfied with the results of the final, and I felt that I was not comfortable running in the preliminary round, so I did not run the expected results." Wei Yongli said after the race that she had an idea to break the "best result of the season", but ultimately failed to do so.
On the one hand, this is because of the huge physical exertion brought about by the frequent matches in the past month, and on the other hand, because the opponents in this match are not the strongest in China, "Xiaojing (Liang Xiaojing) and Manqi (Ge Manqi) did not come, or lacked some competition, so I regarded this game as an intensity lesson." ”
In fact, since the beginning of this year's outdoor season, Wei Yongli has maintained a winning record on the domestic track.
Especially in the Shenyang Olympic Sports Center a month ago, the World Championships and Asian Games trials gathered the strongest team of Chinese women's sprinters, and in the final, Wei Yongli was in the fourth lane with the first result in the preliminary round, and it was Ge Manqi and Liang Xiaojing who formed a "pincer" next to her.
In that pinnacle showdown, Wei Yongli relied on better rhythm and the ability to maintain speed in the back to beat Ge Manqi by 0.02 seconds and won the qualification for the women's 100m individual competition of the Hangzhou Asian Games when the starting reaction was not as good as her opponent.
"Actually, I also thought that if I didn't choose a relay at this Asian Games, I might retire in place." In the indoor season at the beginning of this year, Wei Yongli actually did not run ideally, but after coming to the outdoor season, she staged the "Return of the King" in a month and a half - while winning all the championships, she also set a new season best time of 11.24 seconds for the domestic women's 100 meters.
"Now that I'm chosen, and then I'm able to run so well again this year, I have an idea for the next big competition, and I want to surpass all the faster opponents and defend our position in Asia."
Injury
The reason why Wei Yongli hid the idea of "retiring in place" in her heart was more or less because of the accidental fracture in 2020 and the physical and mental wear and tear that the road to recovery after that brought her.
"In fact, in the winter training in early 2020, I was still in good condition when I trained in the United States, but I didn't expect that I accidentally broke my right foot after returning from closed training."
Speaking of that injury, Wei Yongli herself felt a little "funny".
At that time, during the long-term closed training period back to China, the Chinese Athletic Association organized some collective activities outside of training for athletes and staff, and in an internal competition of gas volleyball, Wei Yongli originally held the mentality of "go and play", but because he was too relaxed, he broke the fifth phalange, which is particularly important for strength.
"At that time, I didn't expect that my foot was injured, because I was playing, so I felt like I just twisted, I didn't care at all, and I insisted on finishing the game."
But a few days after the game, Wei Yongli realized the seriousness of the injury, because her right foot began to ache and she could not even move - and the diagnosis after filming was that there was a fracture.
The sudden injury stole Wei Yongli's eight months in the critical period before the Tokyo Olympic trials.
"I was worried at the time, but I think everything is the best arrangement." Wei Yongli told The Paper that due to the support and encouragement of her teammates, she did not fall into an emotional trough due to injury, but regarded the 8-month injury recovery period as a complete rest.
"Since 2010, I have been participating in national competitions and representing the country in many competitions, and indeed I have not had a good rest in the past ten years, so I was in a good state of mind at that time, so I took it as a rest and adjustment for so many years."
Wei Yongli said that because the fracture occurred during closed training, she did not disclose her specific injury, so when she returned to the competition before the Tokyo Olympics, Wei Yongli's results were not ideal, which also triggered speculation and discussion from the outside world, but she did not use the injury as an excuse, but silently hid it.
Wei Yongli has only now said the twists and turns of the injury as "an interesting experience" and laughs. After returning from injury, she tied her "Nezha braid" on the Olympic stage with Liang Xiaojing, Ge Manqi and Huang Guifen, and ran a season-best time of 42.71 seconds in Tokyo, finishing 6th, creating an Olympic breakthrough in the Chinese women's relay.
Wei Yongli signed autographs for the audience.
Master and apprentice
Recalling the process along the way, Wei Yongli herself said that a large part of her "luck" was due to the companionship, enlightenment and encouragement of her head coach Tian Yumei, who was able to remain optimistic.
For Wei Yongli, meeting coach Tian Yumei is the most important of all the "lucky" in her athletics life.
Wei Yongli, who was born in 1991 in Luzhai, Liuzhou, Guangxi, had poor family conditions when she was a child. However, when she was young, she often relied on foot strength to bring water and food to her parents who farmed in the mountains, which developed her athletic ability.
At a student sports meeting, Wei Yongli ran into Coach Tian Yumei's "magic eye" - however, due to the general environment at that time, when Coach Tian Yumei initially wanted to recruit Wei Yongli into a sports school, relatives around him "warned" Wei Yongli's parents, "It may be a pyramid scheme, cheating money, don't believe it easily." ”
Fortunately, Wei Yongli's parents supported their daughter to take the road of professional sports, but then due to problems in various aspects such as establishment, Wei Yongli always missed the Guangxi youth team...
Face the pressures of life. Wei Yongli gradually gave up the idea of taking the road of sports, and in early 2009 went to Guangdong alone to find a job.
"I did go at the time, but I came back the next day, so everyone later thought I was a working girl." Speaking of this past, Wei Yongli laughed again - at that time, a phone call from the sports school made her return to Coach Tian Yumei, "In fact, before 2009, Coach Tian Yumei had seen me three times, and finally really embarked on this road." ”
That is, since joining the team in 2009, coach Tian Yumei has been accompanying Wei Yongli.
"Coach Tian Yumei's help to me has never been broken, in fact, when following foreign coaches, they treat training emotionally differently than Chinese, once I encounter setbacks, I will call Coach Tian Yumei, and then cry on the other end of the phone."
Wei Yongli said that when she confided all her negative emotions to coach Tian Yumei, the coach always patiently comforted her, and then her mood was relieved, and then she continued to train the next day.
"In the past ten years, the coach has spent more time with me than with her daughter and family." Wei Yongli revealed that when Tian Yumei's daughter failed the college entrance examination, she accompanied her to train in Beijing.
Now, although the elderly in the family have been bedridden for a long time, Tian Yumei, who accepted the re-employment after retirement, still accompanies her to train in order to help Wei Yongli regain her condition, "I owe a word of thanks to the coach and her family, they are really not easy." ”
In Wei Yongli's words, if she hadn't practiced running with coach Tian Yumei, she might have been just a working girl who graduated from middle school, but now, her life has changed.
eldest sister
Over the years, Wei Yongli has worked hard all the way from a "working girl" among others to a leading figure in Chinese women's sprinting in the past 10 years.
In 2013, Wei Yongli won the title of "Asian Female Flyer" at the Asian Athletics Championships with a time of 11.29 seconds, creating the best Chinese women's 100m time in nearly 12 years.
In 2018, Wei Yongli reached a career milestone, first running a personal best of 22.97 seconds on the 200-meter circuit in Madrid, and then a personal best of 10.99 seconds in the track and field race in Geneva, Switzerland, helping the Chinese women's sprint break the 11-second barrier again after 20 years.
Before Wei Yongli, the last time a Chinese athlete broke 11 seconds was back in June 1998, when Li Xuemei ran 10.95 seconds in Beijing.
Looking back at the history of women's sprinting in China, only two Chinese runners, Li Xuemei and Liu Xiaomei, have run 11 seconds.
"I think I'm really lucky that I've basically achieved every goal I've set for myself over the years."
After that, she unknowingly became the "big sister" in the Chinese track and field team, whether it was a young member younger than her, or even older than her seniors and staff, she was willing to call her "big sister" on weekdays.
When asked when the title of "big sister" began, Wei Yongli herself can't remember clearly, but after listening to her teammates call her "big sister" for so many years, this affectionate title has also become a sense of responsibility and spiritual drive.
"People call me big sister, and I think my responsibility is greater, because if it weren't for everyone's affirmation, they wouldn't call me that. I feel that this is a kind of respect, but also a trust in me, then I must lead this head. ”
"It's actually quite difficult at this age, I used to use 10 days and a half a month without a massage, at most I stepped on my legs, but now I spend at least two hours a day treating, even the acupuncture I used to fear the most, now I use it."
Wei Yongli told The Paper that she must grit her teeth and persevere, and she also hopes to lead the Chinese women's team forward when she can keep running, like Su Bingtian.
"Just like Brother Tim (Su Bingtian) said, if the old team members can improve their grades higher, they will bring higher space for the development of their juniors, so as a member of the track and field team, I hope to take them to a higher level."
future
Wei Yongli and Su Bingtian actually have many similarities.
They have all taken Chinese men's and women's sprinting to the next level in the past few years, they have been plagued by injuries but have persevered, and they have always maintained their top level with self-discipline and hard work later in their careers.
On the night that the Quzhou Sports Center won the championship, when she walked onto the track to prepare before the final, Wei Yongli also took out a small leather ruler and carefully measured the position of the starter like Su Bingtian.
"When I started training with Coach Randy Huntington in 2013, he would ask us to do that, and I've been doing that habit for so many years."
"Use a tape measure to measure more accurately and clearly, the higher the level, the requirements for training are in the details, so I got into this habit."
Self-discipline in training and meticulous attention to detail have allowed the 31-year-old Wei Yongli to return to the highest point of Chinese women's sprinting after returning from injury, and also allowed her to take on the important task of defending the honor of Chinese women's sprinting at the Hangzhou Asian Games.
In fact, since the beginning of this season, Wei Yongli finally has her own full-time team doctor, and she also said with a smile, "Thanks to the support of the leaders, we finally have a team of three people now, and it is no longer me and the coach working alone." ”
Not only that, Wei Yongli has now signed a new sponsorship, and after becoming the spokesperson of ASICS, she also has a better guarantee in equipment.
Just after winning the national championship, she put on a plain white medal suit that ASICS had prepared for her and smiled brightly, just as she had first stood on the championship podium 11 years ago.
From a fledgling newcomer to a veteran who is now back at the top, Wei Yongli is still the girl who loves to laugh and still has a love for sprinting.
"Without that love and attachment, without real emotion in it, I might have backed down in the face of those injuries and setbacks."
She doesn't like to set too long-term goals for herself, but wants to take the moment step by step, "The plan can't catch up with the change, I will do it according to the physical condition, although Singapore's Pereira is very strong, but I will try my best to surpass her and must defend our position in Asia." ”
As for whether it will appear in next year's Paris Olympics, Wei Yongli just smiled and said, "I am not limited to the status quo, I will create more miracles, but what height can be reached, let's look forward to it together." ”