A few days have passed since the men's 4×100m relay final at the Hangzhou Asian Games, and there is still a topic on social networks that continues to ferment - "Who is the last stick against the Japanese relay team?" ”
When Yan Haibin completed the baton handover at the last corner, the Chinese team was still two positions behind the Japanese team next to him, and then a thin, dark-skinned strange face suddenly like a bolt of lightning, streaked across the 100-meter straight, overtook the Japanese team in the last 30 meters, and was the first to cross the finish line.
Chen Jiapeng (left) took the lead in crossing the line.
At that moment, the entire Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center boiled.
The protagonist who staged a shocking counterattack is Chen Jiapeng, a "post-00s" young general from Siping, Jilin.
Since the 2018 season, the fourth baseman of the Chinese men's sprint "relay team" has been changing, but has never been able to find a suitable person to guard this most important base. Chen Jiapeng, who had already run 17 people in 10.17 seconds at the age of 21, rose to fame at the Asian Games.
"I hope to continue to improve my abilities." In an exclusive interview with The Paper, Chen Jiapeng has set his sights on Paris next year, "Whether it is an individual event or a team, the improvement of individual competition level will help the team a lot." ”
Chen Jiapeng became the last stick of the Chinese relay team.
"I always believed that I could surpass Japanese players"
On October 3, on the way to the "Big Lotus" to prepare for the men's 4×100m final, Xie Zhenye half-jokingly and half-seriously said to the three "post-00s" young players around him, "Come to Hangzhou, my hometown, give each of you a gold medal, and then we will raise the national flag and play the national anthem together." ”
Chen Jiapeng was one of the three "post-00s", and when he heard Xie Zhenye's encouragement, the fire in his heart was ignited.
"I believe that I can do it, live up to the hopes of everyone and the team, we raise the national flag and play the national anthem."
When Chen Jiapeng and The Paper recalled how they felt about the match, he said firmly, "I believe in myself very much, so I went to the game at my own pace and surpassed the Japanese player step by step." ”
After that final, Chen Jiapeng's last sprint video was played tens of millions of times on social networks, and under the videos on different platforms, the comments of netizens were almost surprisingly consistent - "This young man is too fast", "This young man runs too hot", "This stick makes people's blood boil", "This fourth stick is not big, the pace is so fast, a little Su Shen's shadow"...
But behind the transcendence, Chen Jiapeng is actually under great pressure.
In such an intercontinental final, for a young player who does not have much experience in international competitions, it takes a very strong psychological quality to maintain his rhythm of the game when he is behind and not be "carried away" by the opponent next to him.
From the replay of the race, it can be seen that when Chen Jiapeng ran from the way into the whole process of sprinting, his eyes did not seem to open because the running speed was too fast.
"There is indeed pressure, but the team believes in me so much, it is impossible for me not to believe in myself, so all I can do is give my all."
Yan Haibin, Chen Jiapeng, Xie Zhenye and Chen Guanfeng (from left to right).
Encouragement from the whole team
The "pressure" mentioned by Chen Jiapeng is not only the backwardness in the final, but also the internal difficulties and challenges faced by the entire Chinese sprint relay team in the months of preparation before the Hangzhou Asian Games.
Chen Jiapeng told The Paper that the relay lineup sent by the Chinese team in the Asian Games has only been run in three times in the official competitions this season, and not every time the results are satisfactory.
"Throughout the season, I ran first, third and fourth bases, and at first I was a little unconfident, but the whole team encouraged me."
After winning gold in this year's Universiade, Chen Jiapeng and Chen Guanfeng hugged each other to celebrate.
It wasn't until the National Athletics Relay Championships in Shangyu, Zhejiang Province, where Chen Jiapeng won the championship together with Xie Zhenye, Yan Haibin and Chen Guanfeng, that his fourth stick was determined - at that time, there was only half a month left before the relay competition of the Hangzhou Asian Games.
"When everyone is encouraging me, if I don't have confidence, I am too ashamed of the team, so self-confidence and the strength of the team help me a lot."
In the end, Chen Jiapeng also repaid the trust of the Chinese relay team with a counterattack that made the blood boil in the audience - at the moment of crossing the finish line, he opened his arms and continued to run forward, enjoying the cheers and shouts of the audience.
"It's the most memorable race I've run so far, I've never raced in such a big arena, so excited."
Chen Jiapeng told The Paper that he did not jump up, but was also worried that he would step on each other and get hurt.
"Lazy children" have grown up
In fact, Chen Jiapeng's sprinting career is not so hot and ups and downs, when he and the surging news reporter talk about his story with running, the simple description is how a "naughty boy" became self-disciplined, mature and responsible because of sprinting.
"Because I was naughty when I was a child, my family said, since you like bouncing so much, you should get involved in sports." Chen Jiapeng said that when he first entered the Jilin Sports Institute in 2016, he was first exposed to race walking, but after less than a year of training, he began to think carefully about changing sports.
The reason is simple - "I am too tired to practice race walking, I really can't control that patience, and I train every morning with my eyes closed, so I don't want to practice." ”
So he chose to sprint, "I look at sprinting is very easy, when we train, they practice very little and leave." ”
After transferring to the sprinting team with curiosity in 2017, Chen Jiapeng realized that every event in athletics was not easy, but the pursuit of speed and explosiveness of 100 meters and 200 meters happened to meet the interests of this "naughty boy", so he trained with coach Zhang Fuyou.
Chen Jiapeng competes in the Diamond League.
In Chen Jiapeng's own words, the biggest motivation for him to persevere is that he finds that he really likes the sport, and he always shouts tired during training, but he is extremely happy in his heart.
In this way, after training for about half a year, Chen Jiapeng won the 200-meter championship in his debut at the national junior competition.
"If it wasn't for the 100m run, I could have won two gold medals." Talking about his achievements, Chen Jiapeng is quite confident, "Then in the 2018 national junior competition, I won the 100 meters and 200 meters. ”
However, in 2020, due to some minor injuries to his waist, Chen Jiapeng's personal performance did not improve significantly. Recalling that time, Chen Jiapeng said, "It's quite annoying, I can't practice again and again, there are many small problems, but fortunately, I am more optimistic and believe in my potential." ”
Just after the winter training after the season in 2020, Chen Jiapeng got the opportunity to train with Xie Zhenye, that is, since then, his understanding of sprinting has become more broad, but due to the mismatch between his training plan and intensity and Xie Zhenye's training level at that time, Chen Jiapeng is still in a trough.
Chen Jiapeng at the Universiade.
"The coach gave me a break for a while and practiced while playing." Chen Jiapeng himself was also reflecting and adjusting, and found a problem at that year's National Games, "My previous training volume was too much worse than that of my peers, so sometimes I can't withstand such a large amount of training. ”
In fact, Chen Jiapeng would have had the opportunity to appear on the international top stage earlier - before the 2020 World Championships in Oregon, the Chinese track and field team planned to send him and Chen Guanfeng to compete, and that year, his time was already in the 10.30 seconds range, but due to Achilles tendon pain that lasted for about half a year, he finally gave up the opportunity to compete with the top flyers.
"I don't want to gamble my career because of Achilles tendon problems," Chen Jiapeng's words revealed a maturity that was completely inconsistent with the age of 21, "I will have many opportunities in the future, so I decisively gave up." ”
"Maybe many people think that I am a lazy athlete, but athletes who are not lazy need to have a strong control over their bodies, I think I will be lazy correctly, there is no problem. I know my physical condition, and I am a little lazy to steal or steal. ”
Chen Jiapeng in the Diamond League match.
The big boy who "loves Tao"
If judged by the professionalism of an elite athlete, Chen Jiapeng's "laziness" belongs to an atypical training concept, but for him, it is more like a kind of "self-talk" in pursuit of a higher level of competition.
Just as after his last winter training, he also took the initiative to communicate with the Jilin Provincial Athletics Team about the exclusive team doctor protection, "When I came back from training this year, I told the team that I hope to have an exclusive team doctor, because if you want to achieve results, good training and medical security are indispensable." ”
So, Li Jiaqi, the "post-00s" team doctor who was the same age as him, formed a small team with him. After each day of training, the physiotherapy relaxed for an hour and a half to two hours, including massage and acupuncture, and the two 21-year-old boys experienced a short run-in period before quickly developing a "chemical reaction".
Because of this, Chen Jiapeng ran more than 10 shots this season, including 10.17 seconds in the LSU Alumni Gold race in the United States - which is Chen Jiapeng's personal best now, and also catches up with Su Bingtian's personal time at the same age.
Under the arena, Chen Jiapeng is still a big boy who "loves Tao", he chats in WeChat, always sends some strange expressions, and then posts some funny videos in the circle of friends; After returning from winter training in the United States, he even turned his curiosity about dirty pigtails straight into reality, running the full national championship race with a conspicuous American hairstyle.
"No matter who is around, it's over"
"Actually, I've always been crazy in the arena because I feel like I'm on the field, no matter who is around me, as long as it's done." Chen Jiapeng describes himself as a "crazy" type of athlete, and even in his early years, when he meets his idol on the field, he is not as timid or scared as most young athletes.
Chen Jiapeng still remembers the 2021 Shaanxi National Games, where in the men's 100m final, not far from him, stood the leader of Chinese sprinting, Su Bingtian, a leader in Chinese sprinting.
"In fact, the first shot was next to Brother Tim (Su Bingtian), but I think the last game is the same as going to the battlefield, don't be afraid of anyone, as long as you manage yourself, running everywhere is a victory."
Chen Jiapeng told The Paper that as early as when he first started training with Xie Zhenye, he had "provoked" Xie Zhenye, "At that time, I told Brother Xie (Xie Zhenye) that I would kill him, and then he responded to me, 'Okay, welcome at any time.'" ”
It was with this unafraid momentum that Chen Jiapeng rushed to the leading position among his peers, rushed into the Chinese sprint relay team, seized the opportunity to defend the fourth stick of the "relay group", and also won an ASICS endorsement contract for himself at the age of 21.
According to people familiar with the matter and surging news reporters, before becoming ASICS' contracted athlete, many international brands were optimistic about Chen Jiapeng's future and sent him invitations.
But Chen Jiapeng is not satisfied with the status quo, he also wants to run faster, and he also wants to polish his baton handover technique better.
"Whether it is a single event or a team, the improvement of individual competition level will help the team a lot. I've felt a different spark this season in the different rhythms of cornering and straights training. ”
When talking about the plan to attack the Paris Olympics, Chen Jiapeng is full of expectation and confidence, "The opponent will be very strong, so this string should be tightened, just like the Japanese team said in an interview, they will continue to challenge us, then let's walk and see." ”