Xue Chen (left), who is 1.91 meters tall, and Xia Xinyi won the gold medal in women's sand volleyball at the Asian Games. Photo: Xinhua News Agency
On September 27, in the women's beach volleyball final of the Hangzhou Asian Games, the Chinese pair Xue Chen/Xia Xinyi defeated the Japanese pair Miki Ishii/Sha Yeka 2-0 to win the gold medal. This is the sixth gold medal won by the Chinese women's beach volleyball team in this event since Tian Jia/Faye Wong won the first championship at the 2002 Asian Games in Busan, and the third Asian Games gold medal won by 34-year-old veteran Xue Chen.
"I'm glad we did." After winning the championship, Xue Chen was very excited, and a proud smile hung on his face. Before this Asian Games, Xue Chen said many times, "The Chinese women's sand volleyball team has won the Asian Games for five consecutive years, and my goal this time is to turn this number into 6." Now, she does.
Since joining the national team in 2002, Xue Chen has never left beach volleyball, and although she briefly chose to "retire", she still appears as an athlete. For Xue Chen, winning the Asian Games is just another honor, not the end of her career, her next goal is the Paris Olympics.
grow
Born into a sports family, he became associated with Shapai 21 years ago
On February 18, 1989, Xue Chen was born in a sports family, her father played volleyball, and her mother was a physical education teacher, which gave her the potential to practice sports since she was a child. In 1997, when Xiao Xue Chen was 8 years old, Zhou Guoqin, a volleyball coach at Fuzhou Sports School, heard a basketball coach from the sports school say that there was a little girl who was very tall and had good conditions. Zhou Guoqin contacted Xue Chen's mother, Cao Lihua, hoping to let Xue Chen practice volleyball during the summer vacation, but was rejected. Zhou Guoqin, who did not give up, called again the next summer vacation, but was still rejected.
Until 1999, 10-year-old Xue Chen reached a height of 1.67 meters. In the eyes of others, such physical conditions, it is a pity not to practice sports. Mother Cao Lihua did not hesitate this time and took Xue Chen to Fuzhou City Sports School. "In general, it is quite outstanding and eye-catching." This was the impression of enlightenment coach Zhou Guoqin when he first met Xue Chen. Since then, Xue Chen has practiced volleyball with the coach every weekend. Soon after entering the municipal sports school, Xue Chen attracted the attention of the coach of the provincial team. The coach of the provincial team hopes that Xue Chen will practice well with Coach Zhou, lay a good foundation, and then strive to go to the provincial team to play A A and the National Games.
This vision was unexpectedly changed. In 2002, the 12th Fujian Provincial Games required volleyball teams from each prefecture and city to form two pairs to participate in the sand volleyball competition, when beach volleyball was still a new sport, just entering China, and Fujian Province had just established a sand volleyball. In order to respond to the request, Xue Chen took care of indoor competitions, while training and preparing for sand volleyball, and participated in indoor volleyball and sand volleyball competitions.
In the semifinals of the Hangzhou Asian Games, Xue Chen (right) defeated teammates Wang Fan/Dong Jie to advance to the final. Photo: Xinhua News Agency
Xue Chen's good physical fitness attracted the attention of Chen Zhaohe, the superintendent of the competition and international referee at the Provincial Games, who thought that Xue Chen was a good seedling for sand volleyball and recommended her to the national team. In December 2002, Xue Chen was directly "escorted" from the major sports school to the national sand platoon, officially starting the road of professional sand volleyball.
In the 2003 Thailand Sand Volleyball World Youth Championship, Xue Chen went abroad for the first time to compete. Three years later, in 2006, Xue Chen began to make her mark in the international arena, and she and her partner Zhang Xi won the Shanghai championship on the World Sand Volleyball Tour in just a few months, becoming the youngest World Sand Volleyball Tour champion (Note: In the 2013 World Beach Volleyball Thailand Phuket Open, Xue Chen won the championship with her new partner Xia Xinyi, and Xia Xinyi, born in 1997, became the youngest world champion in beach volleyball). At the end of the same year, Xue Chen and Zhang Xi won gold at the Doha Asian Games. That year, 17-year-old Xue Chen won the Best Newcomer of the Year Award from the FIVB.
From the National Games to the Asian Games, from the Tour Games, the World Championships to the Olympic Games, Xue Chen and his partner have shown their strength on the international stage and achieved good results. In 2021, Xue Chen was selected as one of the "Top 100 Superstars of the Decade" by the FIVB. Since entering the national team in December 2002, Xue Chen has been a national player for more than 20 years. When asked "why are you still insisting", Xue Chen said, one is to like it, from the beginning; What's more, sand platoon has long been integrated into her life.
Return
Twice said a short goodbye, because of the Olympic dream of wearing the shirt again
At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the in-form Xue Chen/Zhang Xi successfully reached the semifinals, but lost to another Chinese pair Wang Jie/Tian Jia, and did not qualify for the final, and finally won a bronze medal. At the 2012 London Olympics, Xue Chen's combination failed to stand on the podium (finished fourth), and at the 2016 Rio Olympics, Xue Chen missed out due to injuries and surgery.
Xue Chen said in an interview that she had planned to retire after the 2017 National Games, but she was still unwilling and chose to resume training in June 2018 and join hands with her young partner Wang Xinxin to compete in the Tokyo Olympics again.
Unfortunately, at the Tokyo Olympics, Xue Chen/Wang Xinxin lost 0-2 to the Australian pair and missed the quarterfinals. After that, affected by age and injury, Xue Chen decided to bid farewell to his sand volleyball career.
Perhaps he couldn't let go of his love and pursuit of volleyball, and after a period of recovery and adjustment, Xue Chen announced his comeback again. In February this year, she began to regain training with the national team to continue to play for the realization of her dream.
For Xue Chen (right), the Olympics is her unfulfilled dream. Photo: Xinhua News Agency
In April this year, at the World Sand Volleyball Tour Challenge in Brazil, Xue Chen/Xia Xinyi defeated host Carol/Barbara 2-0 and successfully won the championship. At the Asian Championships in Pingtan, Fujian Province on June 23, Xue Chen/Xia Xinyi defeated the Thai pair of Vorapirachayakon/Taravati to win the women's championship. This is the third World Series championship won by Xue Chen's team this year. At present, in the Olympic points event of the FIVB, Xue Chen/Xia Xinyi temporarily ranked seventh with 5940 points.
Today, Xue Chen/Xia Xinyi have won the Hangzhou Asian Games, and both have won their third gold medal at the Asian Games. Xue Chen and Zhang Xi won twice at the 2006 Doha Asian Games and the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games; Xia Xinyi won gold at the 2014 Incheon Asian Games with Ma Yuanyuan and won the gold medal at the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games with Wang Fan. "Winning the sixth Asian Games gold medal in beach volleyball for China was our goal, while my personal goal was to win the third gold medal, and now both goals have been achieved." Xue Chen was relieved after the game.
In the face of achievements and honors, in a previous interview, Xue Chen said that she did not pay much attention to the records or numbers obtained, but pursued them as goals. Xue Chen said that after the Asian Games, she and her partner will fly to Mexico this Saturday to participate in the World Sand Volleyball Championships from October 6 to 15, "This is an important competition for our team, and we will participate with the belief of victory." Partner Xia Xinyi is also looking forward to the World Championships, "We will prepare for next week's competition and look forward to a better performance there." ”
"I would like to thank everyone for their support of us, whether it's watching the volleyball match on TV or otherwise, it has given us a lot of strength." The 34-year-old has yet to end her career, and her ultimate goal is to fight for her dream again at the Paris Olympics next year.
Beijing News reporter Wang Jisong
Edited by Wang Chunqiu
Proofreader Zhao Lin