"The spirit of the women's volleyball team, iron-blooded tenderness"
Preface
In the world, the Chinese volleyball team is a leader in technology, winning Olympic gold medals many times, and many female ranking players were born during this period, Zhou Xiaolan is one of them.
In the 80s of the 20th century, the Chinese women's volleyball team won the title of world champion for 5 consecutive times, including the participation of Sun Jinfang, Zhang Rongfang, Lang Ping, Zhou Xiaolan and other main volleyball players.
Lang Ping, known as the "Iron Hammer", is a sharp spear of the Chinese women's volleyball team, while Zhou Xiaolan is the defensive shield of the Chinese women's volleyball team.
Zhou Xiaolan's husband Hou Xiaofei was also a famous player of the Chinese men's volleyball team, but after retiring, Zhou Xiaolan, who was the director of the volleyball department at the time, broke the news of her resignation.
Born for volleyball
Zhou Xiaolan was born in Nanjing in 1957, she did not embark on the road of playing volleyball at the beginning, but experienced a different childhood experience, and did not start to contact volleyball until she was 16 years old.
When Zhou Xiaolan was 13 years old, she followed her parents to the countryside in Gujiao, Shanxi, where the conditions in the countryside were not as good as in the city, and it was the norm at that time to not have enough food and clothing, but it did not defeat the young Zhou Xiaolan at all.
When she was young, she also needed to work with her parents, and in this poor mountain village, she stayed for three years, and it was these three years of training that made her lay the foundation of not being afraid of hardship and tiredness in learning Xi volleyball in the future.
In 1973, Zhou Xiaolan ended her life in the countryside and entered a sports school to start learning Xi volleyball.
It didn't take long for Zhou Xiaolan in the sports school to be selected by the Shanxi women's volleyball team, and her excellent endurance and outstanding height made her stand out and receive better training methods in the Shanxi women's volleyball team.
In 1977, Zhou Xiaolan, a thousand-mile horse, met her Bole, the coach who led the national women's volleyball team at that time, Yuan Weimin, who led the national women's volleyball team, picked her, and Zhou Xiaolan also successfully entered the national youth volleyball training team.
At this point, Zhou Xiaolan successfully embarked on a volleyball career, although she was 16 years old, she only began to contact volleyball, and those in the same period as her were in contact with volleyball earlier than her, but with her own will not to endure hardships and hardships, her innate talent and acquired efforts have also made her successfully take this step.
Played for national volleyball
From the sports school to the provincial team to the national team, the hardships of training during the period did not have a little fear for Zhou Xiaolan, thanks to the three years of training she had in the countryside.
In 1977, Zhou Xiaolan, who had been training in the national team for a period of time, met the first game of her career and went to Rio de Janeiro to represent the country in the first World Youth Women's Volleyball Championship.
The emerging Chinese team won the runner-up, although it was only the runner-up, because the original national team had just been established, and the experience and technology were still relatively lacking, and it was a game and a Xi.
Compared with other countries, the training conditions of the mainland volleyball team are extremely difficult, but the players never complain about these, but they exercise their willpower on the court in the future.
It was in such a difficult environment that the mainland women's volleyball team gradually got on the right track and played results, in that era, tenacious fighting and brave struggle became the spirit of the Chinese women's volleyball team, and no one gave up and persisted.
In 1978, after the end of the training of the national women's volleyball team, Zhou Xiaolan and others confidently participated in the 8th World Women's Volleyball Championship, although they did not win the championship, only won the sixth place, failure is the mother of success, and will continue to spur the Chinese women's volleyball team.
After all, each of them has a heart to win the championship, and winning the world championship, winning the Olympic championship, and letting the five-star red flag fly on the field is something they are proud of.
In the same year, the Chinese women's volleyball team participated in the 8th Asian Games, in which the Chinese team won a silver medal.
In 1979, it was also the beginning of the peak moment of the women's volleyball team in the 80s, and won the championship in the 2nd Asian Women's Volleyball Championship.
The road to the world crown
In 1981, the Chinese women's volleyball team began to exert its strength on the field, Zhou Xiaolan represented the country in the 3rd World Cup Women's Volleyball Tournament, after layers of competition, and finally qualified for the finals, the Chinese women's volleyball team won the World Cup championship with 7 wins.
is not only a championship, but also the first time in the history of the Chinese women's volleyball team to win the championship in the world championship, which is a milestone for the Chinese women's volleyball team.
In 1982, the 9th World Women's Volleyball Championship was held as scheduled, unlike in the past, the team configuration changed, and Zhou Xiaolan and several newcomers also cooperated for the first time.
In the next game, Zhou Xiaolan, as the main and deputy attacker, played well and led the Chinese team to win another championship with the cooperation of her teammates.
The Chinese women's volleyball team, which is about to achieve three consecutive championships, is about to usher in the final battle, which also caused different degrees of repercussions among the Chinese people at that time, and they praised the Chinese women's volleyball players.
In 1984, the 23rd World Olympic Games kicked off in Los Angeles, and the Chinese women's volleyball team, which shouldered the honor and mission of the country, went to the United States to compete.
After retirement
At this point, Zhou Xiaolan is also about to bid farewell to her volleyball career because of her age, looking back on her lifelong volleyball career, from the trough to glory, and the hardships have also witnessed the rise of the Chinese women's volleyball team.
In 1985, Zhou Xiaolan chose to retire, and she also brought injuries to herself with an honor, and she was no longer able to continue her volleyball career.
In the same year, Zhou Xiaolan also got her own love and married Hou Xiaofei, who was also a Chinese men's volleyball team.
In order to make up for the cultural gap, Zhou Xiaolan chose to enter the Shanghai Institute of Sport to study Xi, and after graduation, Zhou Xiaolan also continued to serve the national sports cause, in 1988, she entered the volleyball department of the National Sports Commission, and was promoted to the position of director, and her husband opened a sports culture company.
When he served in the volleyball department, he reformed the Chinese volleyball system many times and improved the training mode, which also laid an indispensable foundation for Chinese volleyball to win the championship in the world championships in the future.
However, there are many popular people, and the Chinese women's volleyball team has lost many times in international competitions, and all the spearheads are also pointed at Zhou Xiaolan, thinking that she is seeking personal gain and creating improper benefits for her husband's company.
In 1995, Zhou Xiaolan was still doing her duty for Chinese volleyball, and she mobilized the former veteran player Lang Ping and asked her to return to China to help the Chinese women's volleyball team with her, but the previous incident has not passed.
Displaced
Under pressure from the public, Zhou Xiaolan's husband was forced to close his company, and she also resigned as the director of the volleyball department, went to the United States with her husband, and settled there, which caused questions from everyone.
There are regrets and puzzles, but it can't change her determination to go, after all, she has tried her best to create favorable conditions for the Chinese women's volleyball team, and too many voices of incomprehension and opposition have forced her to leave this homeland she loves.
Zhou Xiaolan, who went to live in the United States, gave birth to a lovely daughter, and the couple also had their own careers in the United States.
Zhou Xiaolan also often returns to China to visit her parents, relatives and friends, and she also misses the days when she fought with her teammates, after all, she was also the one who won honor for the country and stood in the light.
Now Zhou Xiaolan is 66 years old, as the saying goes, the fallen leaves return to the roots, one day she will still choose to return to China, after all, the thought of returning to her hometown will become more and more intense with age, do you think Zhou Xiaolan is right to leave?