On a scorching summer day in 1991, Li Xuerui was born in an ordinary working family in Chongqing. With a flamboyant personality, she was doted on by her grandparents when she grew up, and she was always willful and coquettish.
Although the parents are busy with work, they are also vaguely worried about their daughter's future.
In the early summer when she was 7 years old, after a light rain, her father quietly took Li Xuerui to a nearby sports school, originally wanting her to officially start learning Xi badminton. However, the lively and active Li Xuerui knew her father's good intentions, so she just came here to find a new place to play.
When she found out that her father was missing, she immediately burst into tears, attracting the coach to come and check on the situation.
When she returned home, her mother mentioned to Li Xuerui that she wanted to send her to a sports school for professional training and hone her temperament. As soon as she heard that she was going to be separated from her family for a long time, Li Xuerui cried loudly again, hugged her mother tightly and refused to let go.
finally coaxed her to sleep, and then her parents discussed and decided to send her to sports school.
So early the next morning, her father put Li Xuerui on the back seat of the bicycle and took her to the gate of the sports school again. When Li Xuerui saw the familiar school gate, she cried vigorously and refused to get off.
After being so comforted, Li Xuerui stopped crying and walked into the sports school with red eyes......
After entering the sports school, Li Xuerui gradually adapted to the training life. At first, she was still mischievous and naughty, often deliberately hitting her classmates in the head or abdomen with a ball, and then snickering and running away.
The coaches and classmates around her were tortured enough by her. However, as time went by, Li Xuerui also grew up, began to learn to focus on training, and gradually established an interest in badminton.
In a blink of an eye, Li Xuerui was 12 years old. This year, she performed well in a youth badminton competition in Chongqing and won the championship. As she stood on the podium, she burst into tears of emotion and finally realized her love for the sport.
This undoubtedly became an important turning point in Li Xuerui's badminton career.
After the competition, Li Xuerui's training was further strengthened. Enlightenment coach Li Xiang noticed the huge changes in Li Xuerui's physical fitness and potential, so he recommended her to the Chongqing professional badminton team for further training.
In the past three years, Li Xuerui has won consecutive championships in various youth competitions, and her strength has grown day by day, and she has gradually stood out among her peers.
At the age of 15, Li Xuerui joined the national youth team as she wished, and received guidance from professional coaches along with badminton players from all over the country, and she also met many lifelong friends and rivals.
Two years later, 17-year-old Li Xuerui represented the national team in an Asian Youth Championship, and defeated a strong opponent from South Korea in the women's singles final, finally achieving her first international championship, which is also the best reward for a young inspirational badminton player.
At the age of 19, Li Xuerui finally realized a huge dream she had since she was a child, she entered the Chinese national badminton team, and was able to train and compete with a group of top players.
As soon as she entered the national team, Li Xuerui was like a hairy boy, pestering several veterans in the team to ask for skills whenever she was free. The sisters in the team also like this lively and obedient little sister.
The first two years after being selected for the national team were the most rapid improvement in Li Xuerui's badminton career. She has won consecutive championships in various high-level domestic and foreign competitions, and her world ranking has also entered the top 10 in a very short period of time, and her strength and popularity have increased rapidly.
Seeing this, the veterans of the team all laughed and said that this little sister will definitely become the new core of the team in the future.
In 2012, Li Xuerui traveled to London, England with the national team to compete in the first Olympic Games of her career. In the first group game, she fought bloodily and won all four games to advance.
In the semi-finals, she met her sister Wang Xin, and in the face of a five-game losing streak, this time Li Xuerui was fearless and won in two straight games.
On the day of the final, Li Xuerui faced Wang Yihan, who had been the world No. 1 for a second time. Tens of thousands of spectators focused on the final showdown between the rookie and the veteran of the Chinese team.
In the end, after a vicious battle, Li Xuerui narrowly defeated Wang Yihan 2-1 and won the Olympic badminton women's singles gold medal for China. On the podium, when the national flag was slowly raised and the national anthem was played, Li Xuerui cried excitedly.
Overnight, the 21-year-old Li Xuerui became a new generation of "national feather sisters", and she also opened a new chapter in the Chinese women's singles event.
After winning gold at the London 2012 Olympic Games, Li Xuerui officially entered the peak period of her career. She is invincible on the big stage, and the world women's singles ranking has been No. 1 for a long time.
At the 2013 World Championships, Li Xuerui went all the way to the final, and finally lost to Japanese veteran Misaki Matsutomo by only a slight margin and won the runner-up. On the podium, she looked calm and did not have too many regrets.
This shows her strong psychological quality and fighting spirit that is not afraid of strong enemies. In the year-end finals of the same year, Li Xuerui fought Songyou again, this time winning in two straight games and winning the women's singles championship trophy.
In the 2014 Uber Cup, Li Xuerui led the Chinese team to the final as the No. 1 singles player, facing the top team of the Japanese team, she took the lead in scoring the first point for the Chinese team, and finally helped the Chinese team win the standard again after many years.
For a time, major media praised the new generation of women's singles leaders as expected to create a new dynasty for Chinese women's singles.
In the 2015 Sudirman Cup, Li Xuerui continued to play with the No. 1 singles and led the team to win the championship again. In the individual event, she also basically swept most of the women's singles titles in the BWF Superseries this year.
In addition to her superior strength, Li Xuerui's calm attitude and humble words between matches have also won her the support and love of countless fans.
It can be said that between 2013 and 2016, Li Xuerui was completely at the peak of her career. She has been unbeatable to almost all the women's singles rivals in the world, and no one has been able to shake her status.
Li Xuerui has grown into an indisputable sister-level figure. She has written a new chapter in the Chinese women's singles event.
However, as the old saying goes, "God is jealous of talent", the good times did not last long. In the 2016 Rio Olympics, Li Xuerui, who was expected to defend the Olympic title, had to retire from the competition in the semifinals against Malaysian star Marin, who suffered a sudden injury to his right foot and suffered a massive ligament tear.
When the live broadcast camera suddenly captured the picture of Li Xuerui falling to the ground and her wounds dripping with blood, the atmosphere of the audience instantly froze. Tens of thousands of fans covered their mouths in disbelief, and many little girls even cried on the spot.
Three minutes later, Li Xuerui limped to her feet and signaled to the referee that she could not continue the game. The battle of the finals, which was originally full of expectations, ended in disgrace.
The road to rehabilitation after the injury was not smooth, and Li Xuerui spent more than a year in rehabilitation, but the knee injury never fully recovered.
After several comeback attempts, she gradually came to terms with the reality and never returned to her former best. Li Xuerui in training no longer has the sharpness she used to have, and a trace of loss often flashes on her face.
Until 2019, shortly after the end of the Military Games, Li Xuerui officially announced her retirement decision. At that moment, countless fans felt infinite regret for her misfortune.
So far, Li Xuerui has missed the second Olympic gold medal, but the pinnacle of her brilliant battle will always be fixed in the long river of history.
In Li Xuerui's precious experience of winning the gold medal at the 2012 London Olympics, there is also a little-known reversal story, that is, Li Xuerui's legendary "corner overtaking" completed by Li Xuerui as the "third singles" in the national team.
entered the national team at the same time as Li Xuerui, and there is also a women's singles player named Wang Shixian. Wang Shixian is one year older than Li Xuerui, and was once a rising star in the national team that attracted much attention, and is expected to succeed to the position of "first sister".
Before 2011, Wang Shixian's results once far surpassed Li Xuerui, and even defeated Wang Xin, Wang Yihan and other first-line masters in a number of high-level competitions.
But in the second half of 2011, Wang Shixian's state declined significantly. On the contrary, Li Xuerui's strength is vigorous and has won many battles.
When it came to the 2012 London Olympics trials, head coach Li Yongbo faced fierce competition between the two Xiaohua, and finally chose Li Xuerui, who had a better record.
When the final list was announced, the entire national team was caught off guard by the corner overtaking completed by Li Xuerui. The third singles player, who was originally not favored, overwhelmed the crowd at the most critical moment and completed the reversal.
This is the first time this has appeared in the Chinese badminton world. Thanks to the coach's wise decision, Li Xuerui was able to become famous in London and continue to write brilliantly.
In her private life after announcing her retirement, Li Xuerui chose to enter the palace of marriage with Qiao Bin, a junior brother in the badminton circle. Qiao Bin is Li Xuerui's important partner in the late training of the national team, and the two have experienced the most difficult stage of Li Xuerui's career from friends to lovers.
Soon after retiring, Li Xuerui posted a photo of herself and Qiao Bin on social media and @了 "my husband". The two have a good relationship after marriage, and they will welcome their first child in 2021, and the family of three is happy.
Today's Li Xuerui is no longer the heroic posture of fighting the field where sweat and tears were intertwined in the past, but instead the joy and happiness of being a mother of a lovely child.
Short-lived, brilliant. Although Li Xuerui has only left a short historical footprint in the feather world, the ordinary years that she and Qiao Bin have walked through together must be worth recalling and cherishing.
Once upon a time, she was just a little girl, with a simple love for badminton; Now that she has been retired for many years and has started a family, she is already the happiest woman in the world.