When Gong Lijiao completed the last throw at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center Stadium, Dou Yujia, who was in charge of the live broadcast commentary, immediately played the song "Courage".
A few days ago, he specially asked Gong Lijiao's teaching assistant for a copy of Gong Lijiao's own singing version, for this historic moment.
Gong Lijiao won the Asian Games women's shot put three consecutive championships.
On the evening of September 29, in the women's shot put final of the Hangzhou Asian Games, Gong Lijiao, who stood on the Asian Games stage for the fourth time, completed the defense of her title with a score of 19.58 meters, achieving her three consecutive Asian Games women's shot put titles, and also achieving 12 consecutive Asian Games women's shot put titles for the Chinese team.
"There is no secret to success, just stay the course and never give up. I especially like the sport of shot put, so I've been working on it. The 34-year-old has a bigger goal in mind, "My goal is 21 meters, and I hope to make up for it at next year's Olympics." ”
On September 29, in the women's shot put final of the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China's Gong Lijiao (right) won the gold medal and Song Jiayuan (left) won the silver medal. Photo by surging news reporter Zhao Yun
Regret after "Yang"
The first competition day of the athletics event at the Hangzhou Asian Games coincided with the Mid-Autumn Festival, but many spectators gathered outside the "Big Lotus" shortly after 5 p.m., when the competition officially started at 7 p.m.
However, the weather that night did not seem to be adult beauty. Soon after the start of the match, the sky began to drizzle, although the rain briefly paused for a while, but when the women's shot put game began, the rain gradually increased...
The sweltering and humid "Autumn Tiger" became the enemy of all the contestants that night, including Gong Lijiao.
In the first throw of the final, Gong Lijiao only threw 18.73 meters. At that time, the live broadcast camera gave a close-up shot of Gong Lijiao, and some dissatisfied looks could be read from her face.
Fortunately, in the next two throws, Gong Lijiao was better than the first shot, and firmly occupied the first place - in fact, in the entire match, except for another player of the Chinese team, Song Jiayuan, the other 9 opponents on the field did not even throw 18 meters.
Gong Lijiao in the game.
This is a confrontation between Gong Lijiao and himself. Before the start of this final, Gong Lijiao deliberately changed his WeChat account to an avatar, and the new avatar was a photo taken at the World Championships in Budapest, in which Gong Lijiao clenched his fist with one hand, and the sky above the Budapest Athletics Center behind him was also a bright moon.
Gong Lijiao told his friends that the reason for changing his profile picture was because he "wanted to remind himself with regretful pictures all the time." ”
In Budapest, Gong Lijiao failed to throw the 20 meters he expected, and finally won the bronze medal; In Hangzhou, Gong Lijiao still failed to throw 20 meters - the fourth throw was 19.58 meters, which was already her best result in the final.
"I still feel a little regretful, because after I came back from this World Championship, I was positive, and it has been less than a month now." Gong Lijiao revealed his physical condition at the post-match press conference.
According to people close to Gong Lijiao's team, this is the first time Gong Lijiao has been infected with the new crown, so the cough has not been completely eliminated before the competition, "I especially want to break through 20 meters, but due to physical reasons, I did not play my due state." ”
In the end, Gong Lijiao's fifth and sixth throws did not exceed 19.58m, but this did not prevent her from winning three consecutive championships and helping the Chinese women's shot put seal a "12-game winning streak" in Asia.
Being a coach yourself, unthinkable pain and pain
Four Asian Games, three golds and one silver, except for the highest point that missed the podium at the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou, from Incheon to Jakarta to now Hangzhou, no one can shake Gong Lijiao's dominance in Asia.
However, compared to the previous three editions, this competition may be the most difficult for Gong Lijiao.
At the Asian Games trials at the end of June this year, Gong Lijiao revealed to the surging news reporter that after winning the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics, she gradually left the guidance of coach Cong Yuzhen in the following year and entered the stage of "coaching herself".
"Because I've worked with a lot of well-known coaches before, I believe I also have a lot of experience, including I've been practicing for so long, no one knows myself better than me."
At the elite level of competitive sports, many top athletes will seek more experienced coaches to help them stay in shape and seek breakthroughs, but Gong Lijiao does the opposite, which is also a very risky challenge.
"My junior sister Guo Tianqian is now my assistant coach, because our mentors are the same, so there is no technical difference, so I will make the training plan, and she will help me analyze it from the technical and video aspects."
In order to be able to maintain a high level of competitive condition and impact his 21-meter goal, Gong Lijiao, as the head coach and athlete, formed a systematic and complete team by himself.
"My team is now the most complete – there are two physical trainers, one for rehabilitation, the other for daily training, and then there are team doctors and technology-assisted staff."
After winning the gold medal at the Hangzhou Asian Games, Gong Lijiao was asked about the coach again at the post-match press conference.
'Now it's mostly self-training, without a manager to take me, it's a real challenge for me.' Gong Lijiao said, "I haven't brought young athletes with me yet, I mainly train by myself, because I still have competition and task goals to complete." ”
Looking forward to fulfilling the dream in Paris 21 meters
Those who are familiar with Gong Lijiao should know that the mission goal in Gong Lijiao's mouth is actually to challenge the 21-meter mark.
Since the beginning of the Tokyo Olympics, Gong Lijiao has been looking forward to throwing 21 meters in official competitions, but it is a slight regret that due to various external reasons and his injury interference in these seasons, Gong Lijiao has never been able to achieve his wishes.
This season, Gong Lijiao threw 20.06m in the women's shot put final of the 2023 National Athletics Championships and World Championships and Asian Games Trials in late June.
In addition, Gong Lijiao has not been able to break through 20 meters this season.
But Gong Lijiao did not give up, as she herself said repeatedly, "My goal is 21 meters, so I have been striving for this goal." ”
Song Jiayuan (right) is the next leader in shot putting in China after Gong Lijiao.
It's not easy for a 34-year-old veteran to continue to make a breakthrough later in his career — and Gong knows this well, especially as his fitness declines with age.
"There may be a lot of difficulties in the future, because the physical strength is exhausted, and now it is not like before that I can recover quickly after training, I don't train all day, only half a day (training)."
But for his ultimate goal, Gong Lijiao will not stop.
"I will still persevere until..." At the post-match press conference, when Gong Lijiao said how long she would last, she suddenly paused for a few seconds, and in that short but meaningful gap, Gong Lijiao's mind may also flash the future look, "Stick to the next Olympic Games, the Paris Olympics." ”
In fact, while waiting for an interview after the game, many reporters were discussing which game the veteran announced his curtain call after the game, and most of their answers focused on "the next National Games" or even "the next Asian Games", but Gong Lijiao did not give himself more time to complete the breakthrough in results.
In the nearly 50 years that Chinese women's shot put has dominated Asia, she has witnessed Li Meisu's 21.76 meters, and Gong Lijiao hopes to reproduce such glory, but she also has a heavier responsibility and courage on her shoulders - that is, waiting for the young people behind her to catch up with her and find a successor.
"As my own coach, if there are particularly good seedlings in the future, I will also take her." Gong Lijiao already has a blueprint for the future in his heart, but after winning three consecutive Asian Games, the most important step is to make up for regrets in Paris, "Now it is also to pave the way for next year, so that all regrets can be made up in next year's Olympic Games." ”