Gong Lijiao's 21-year-old dream has been fulfilled by insisting on casting legends

"China, cow!" Gong Lijiao's shouts to the world at the Tokyo Olympics have become a classic moment that will forever record the history of Chinese athletics.

On August 1, at the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo, Gong Lijiao threw a personal best of 20.58 meters in the women's shot put final, winning her first Olympic gold medal without suspense, showing the world "Chinese power". Gong Lijiao, who always had a bright smile on his face, burst into tears of excitement at the moment when the game ended. "I did it, people must have dreams, and if they do, I will achieve it."

"I'm actually quite nervous in front of me." After Gong Lijiao threw 19.95 meters on the first throw, he did not open the 20 meters mark. Raven Sanders of the United States pressed forward and improved his performance to 19.79 meters. Gong Lijiao withstood the pressure and threw 20.53 meters and 20.58 meters in the last two throws, setting a new personal best twice. "I waited too long for this moment, and I did it!"

As the flagship figure of Chinese athletics, Gong Lijiao has won countless awards inside and outside the arena, but she has never stopped and has always dreamed of standing on the highest podium of the Olympic Games.

Gong Lijiao has been with shot put for 21 years. When she was in elementary school, she had a lot of strength. At the age of 12, Gong Lijiao met Coach Fan Huanwen of Shijiazhuang Sports School and started professional shot put training. At the age of 15, Gong Lijiao was selected for the Hebei Athletics Team, and former national player Li Meisu was responsible for coaching. Subsequently, Gong Lijiao played steadily, one step a year, and soon had the strength to participate in international competitions.

Every time she trains, Gong Lijiao will wear two pairs of training shoes, one pair is worn when doing strength, and the other pair is worn when practicing special projects. Although in life, Gong Lijiao is a person who loves to laugh and play, he is very serious and self-disciplined in training. "I'm never lazy, and if I don't have an injury, I'll carefully complete the training plan arranged by the coach."

Shot put sports attaches importance to strength training and speed training, in order to constantly break through the limit, Gong Lijiao has to carry out upper limb strength, lower limb strength, sliding steps, jumping mats and other exercises every day, she said: "Knees and ankles have some old injuries, for me, it is indeed a huge challenge, although it will be treated every day, but the training can not be interrupted." ”

At the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, Gong Lijiao, who was only 19 years old, competed in the women's shot put competition and won the fifth place, but because some players were later found to be in violation, Gong Lijiao won the bronze medal. At the 2021 London Olympic Games, Gong Lijiao threw a good result of 20.22 meters, ranking fourth, but later some players were found to be violating the rules, and Gong Lijiao's fourth place was first changed to bronze medal, and then replaced by silver medal. At the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, Gong Lijiao, who was in good shape before the competition, only threw 19.39 meters in the competition, ranking fourth, which was a big blow to Gong Lijiao.

In Gong Lijiao's career in shot put, it took her 12 years from opening the 20-meter mark for the first time in 2009 to reaching the tokyo Olympic podium in 2021. Behind every centimeter of progress is countless trials and precipitations. Four Olympic Games, winning 1 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze, throwing more than 21 meters of results, is the dream that Gong Lijiao hopes to achieve after winning gold.

"It took me a long time to come out of the shadow of the Rio Olympics loss." Gong Lijiao said. The defeat of the Rio Olympics made Gong Lijiao stronger and stronger, and a year later, at the World Championships in London, Gong Lijiao overpowered the crowd, won the gold medal and created history. In 2019, Gong Lijiao won the gold medal at the World Championships in Athletics, and won almost all the gold medals in the women's shot put event in recent years. At the beginning of 2020, Gong Lijiao threw more than 20 meters in the team test match and showed good form.

Affected by the epidemic, the Tokyo Olympic Games announced a one-year postponement. This is a challenge for many veterans. Gong Lijiao said, "In fact, before the postponement was announced, I was already mentally prepared. Thankfully not canceled, so not so pessimistic. "During the closed training period of the North Sports, Gong Lijiao trained hard and cheered himself up." A year' time, I can afford to wait. What I want to do is to make up for the shortcomings, make precise efforts, and leave the best state for the Olympic Games. Gong Lijiao was full of confidence in himself.

Due to the postponement of the Olympic Games, some adjustments had to be made to the preparation plan. Gong Lijiao said: "At that time, we basically adjusted the training plan, mainly to adjust the state, and maintain a training session and some basic physical fitness every day. "With the increase of age, Gong Lijiao's injuries were once more serious. Gong Lijiao's knee joint has always been injured, and it is still a support leg, and gong Lijiao can only sit and pitch when it is serious. After a series of rehabilitation treatments, Gong Lijiao's state gradually stabilized. "At that time, it was mainly to recuperate from injuries, but also to maintain activities. In fact, the postponement of the Olympic Games is indeed a challenge for veterans, but it also has more time to prepare. ”

Gong Lijiao has not been able to participate abroad in the past two seasons, but in the domestic arena, Gong Lijiao still tried his best. To be able to step on the international arena again, Gong Lijiao was particularly excited. At the Tokyo Olympic Women's Shot Put Qualifying Tournament, the scene of "10 seconds off work" also impressed the world.

On the morning of August 1, Gong Lijiao stood on the field of the women's shot put final of the Tokyo Olympic Games with anticipation and confidence, where her old rival New Zealand star Adams and many powerful players from the United States and Portugal and other countries were present. Such a scene was like a dream for Gong Lijiao, and the night before the final, she could not even sleep for a long time, and she kept thinking about her technical actions.

In the competition, Gong Lijiao twice threw the last two throws to refresh the personal best, and finally won the championship. "Our project has always been an unpopular project, I have been trying to bring this unpopular project to the fire with enthusiasm, and today I did it, and what I want to prove is that now is our era of China, the era of our Chinese women's shot put."

Walking off the field, Gong Lijiao was eager to hold the award ceremony immediately, "What I want most now is to raise the national flag and play the national anthem in this venue." ”

"It's worth it, all the persistence is worth it." Gong Lijiao admitted that the moment the Tokyo Olympics were postponed, she had the feeling that the gold medal was about to be held in her hand but suddenly fell to the ground. "It's too hard for athletes, especially athletes like me who are no longer young."

At the moment of winning the gold, all emotions are released freely. There is the sweat of sticking to the dream, there are the tears that make up for regrets, intertwined, to achieve the most fierce emotion.

Gong Lijiao often said: "No gold medal can be obtained casually." The 32-year-old veteran's persistence and hard work, persistence and dreams, as well as positivity and optimism, finally earned the long-awaited Olympic gold medal - this gold medal is an affirmation and praise for everything Gong Lijiao has done, but it is not the end of her shot put career. Gong Lijiao said that as long as the motherland needs it, it will continue to persist. This is the responsibility of veterans, but also the inheritance of veterans.

Gong Lijiao defeated all opponents at the Tokyo Arena with impeccable performance, and this was the first time that Chinese throwers stood on the top podium of the Olympic Games. "Power of China" was very well interpreted at the new National Stadium in Tokyo on August 1. Four Olympic journeys, Gong Lijiao finally realized his dream.

After the game, two-time Olympic champion and New Zealand star Adams expressed congratulations to Gong Lijiao. Adams also said at the press conference that Gong Lijiao's performance was perfect and she was the pride of China. Indeed, the 32-year-old Gong Lijiao not only realized his personal dream in Tokyo, but also defended the glory of China's throwing.

As a traditional advantage of Chinese athletics, women's shot put has produced a number of the world's top masters such as Li Meisu, Sui Xinmei and Huang Zhihong. It is worth mentioning that Huang Zhihong won the world championship for the first time in 1991 at this venue. Although the Chinese women's shot put once fell into a trough after this, the emergence of Gong Lijiao brought the project back to the world's top hit.

At present, there are only 3 years left before the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, and Gong Lijiao's voice has touched countless Chinese people, "If the motherland needs me, I will continue to practice until I can't move." "Let's look forward to and bless this veteran to continue to shine on the track and field and create more miracles."

Reporter Li Dongye

Source: China Sports News