At the age of 14, she participated in the Asian Games and won two gold medals, and she became a "talented girl" in the eyes of the world; Since the age of 17, she has participated in many competitions without winning medals, and she is known as "a flash in the pan"; After two retirements and two comebacks, the 27-year-old won a gold and a silver at the Hangzhou Asian Games, she is Ye Shiwen.
Recently, "Face to Face" interviewed Chinese swimmer Ye Shiwen to listen to her tell her life story from peak to trough and then start again.
01 "Genius Girl" performance fell at the speed of light
"I had insomnia all night and self-doubt"
Ye Shiwen's departure began on the Asian Games stage, and in 2010, at the age of 14, she made her international debut by winning two gold medals at the Asian Games in Guangzhou. In the following three years, she "conquered" the international swimming scene with her dazzling light and became a "talented girl" in the eyes of the world.
At the 2012 London Olympics, 16-year-old Ye Shiwen won the gold medal in the women's 200m individual medley with a time of 2:07.57, breaking the Olympic record; She won the gold medal in the women's 400m individual medley with a time of 4:28.43 and broke the world record. Ye Shiwen became a gold medal Grand Slam winner, three years younger than American swimmer Phelps completed the feat.
But at the 2013 World Championships in Barcelona, Ye Shiwen did not win a medal and only finished fourth. Recalling the competition at that time, Ye Shiwen said that there was no problem with his results and ability, but the main thing was that he had not adjusted his mentality, "I have won all the championships, and I feel that every game must be won. ”
Also in 2013, Ye Shiwen's strongest opponent appeared, Hungarian female swimmer Katynka Hoszu. Starting in 2013, Katinka Hoszu ushered in an era: world champion, three gold medalists at the Rio Olympics, world record in the 400m individual medley and Olympic record in the 200m individual medley.
However, Ye Shiwen repeatedly lost at the 2015 World Championships in Kazan, the 2016 Rio Olympics, and the 2017 World Championships in Budapest, and the evaluation of "only eighth", "did not enter the final" and "did not receive anything" accompanied her, and some people even said that after her debut was at the peak, she began to decline at the speed of light.
Ye Shiwen: This incident hit me very hard, when I lost sleep all night, self-doubt, and began to lose confidence.
02 Retired twice, returned twice
"No more letting wins and losses tie themselves up"
In September 2017, Ye Shiwen accepted the advice of her family and coach and officially entered the Law School of Tsinghua University as a student. "I didn't think much about it when I went, but I just felt that my current overall state was not suitable for staying in the pool. In a way, I went to Tsinghua University to heal my wounds. ”
Ye Shiwen: At that time, I was very devastated, because no matter how hard I tried in training every day, I couldn't swim fast with any method, and I began to fear competition, fear of swimming medley.
Reaching the top of the Olympics at the age of 16 and entering a prestigious school at the age of 21 seems to be complete, but Ye Shiwen cannot accept it, because she knows that she escaped ashore.
After studying at Tsinghua for a year, Ye Shiwen began to learn to let go, "I figured out the problem, and I was willing to face and accept myself." Because there is a lot of love and passion in the pool, I feel that if you don't do it, you may leave a lifetime of regrets. In 2018, Ye Shiwen took a break from school and returned to the swimming team.
After restarting training, Ye Shiwen's mentality was more calm. At the 2019 World Championships in Gwangju, she won two silver medals, which is extraordinary for Ye Shiwen, and she re-experienced the joy of competition. "I was very relaxed and rehearsed the situation in my head before the game. It's progress, it's also a kind of letting go, not letting win or lose tie you up again. ”
However, when sprinting to the Tokyo Olympics, Ye Shiwen missed the Olympic place by 0.01 seconds. In September 2021, after participating in the Shaanxi National Games, Ye Shiwen returned to Tsinghua University to continue her unfinished studies.
Ye Shiwen: After I returned to school, I didn't go into the water for a day, didn't practice a class, and lasted for a whole year. But suddenly one day, my enlightenment coach sent me a message saying that the Hangzhou Asian Games will be on your doorstep, don't you really think about it?
The words of the enlightenment coach made Ye Shiwen move again.
At that time, Ye Shiwen was 26 years old and was nearing the end of her studies, "If I prepare for the Asian Games, I have to face two major things: writing papers and preparing for the competition. I am a person who is willing to take on a challenge, so I chose to return to the pool without hesitation. ”
03 After winning gold at the Hangzhou Asian Games
She has a new goal: "Storming the Paris Olympics"
In October 2022, less than a year before the Hangzhou Asian Games, Ye Shiwen began the schedule of morning classes and afternoon training, "I had a feeling of being out of breath, but I still chose to persevere."
In the women's 200m breaststroke final of the National Swimming Championships in May 2023, 27-year-old Ye Shiwen improved her personal best to 2:22.44 and won the gold medal without suspense. At the same time, this result reached the Olympic A standard, and also passed the participation criteria for this summer's Fukuoka World Championships.
Ye Shiwen recalled: "Because I am older, I need to be more self-disciplined in life. Although there is a lot of pressure to study and train every day, I will definitely make sure to rest and eat well. ”
At the World Championships in Fukuoka, Ye Shiwen did not perform well due to physical discomfort and missed the 200m breaststroke final by 0.6 seconds. But as she once said, "The beauty of competitive sports is to fight bravely and accept the consequences that may fail." ”
With such calmness, 27-year-old Ye Shiwen appeared at the Hangzhou Asian Games and won the gold medal in the women's 200m breaststroke, interpreting the legend from a talented girl to a veteran in the swimming world. Many people use the words "long gone" to describe the meaning of this gold medal.
Ye Shiwen: I was very excited, and it was the first time I celebrated by smashing water. There was a lot of forbearance, a lot of venting, and I finally got back on the world stage years later.
Now, for Ye Shiwen, it is more important to overcome himself. She once mentioned the task list at this stage - successfully graduating from Tsinghua, swimming at the Hangzhou Asian Games, and trying to compete for the Paris Olympics.
Ye Shiwen: I want to try hard to hit the Paris Olympics. The more difficult thing than winning the championship is to overcome my own demons, and if I encounter difficulties, I don't fight for it, I don't give up without competing with it, then I don't seem to be worthy of being a very top athlete.
Column editor-in-chief: Qin Hong Text editor: Dong Siyun Title picture source: Xinhua News Agency Data map Photo editor: Su Wei
Source: Author: CCTV News