That year, the sun was shining in Los Angeles, and the entire Olympic Village was filled with youthful energy and passion. 19-year-old Zhou Jihong came to the Olympic stage for the first time and was extremely excited.
"This time, I must win glory for the country and win gold for the Chinese team!" She clenched her fists and secretly made up her mind.
On the day of the race, there was warm applause from the audience, and all eyes converged on the 10-meter platform. Zhou Jihong stood on the jumping platform and looked up at the air, the sun was shining, and there was no wind.
With a "whoosh", she jumped and performed a few graceful backflips in mid-air. As everyone watched with bated breath, she fell straight into the water, causing a large splash.
"It worked!" Before Zhou Jihong surfaced, he knew that he would definitely win the gold this time. When the score was revealed, the audience exclaimed.
On the podium, the five-star red flag was rising, and in the loud national anthem, Zhou Jihong shed tears excitedly.
In 1998, Zhou Jihong returned to the national team and took on a coaching role. At first, many were skeptical about her return, believing that a former champion would not necessarily produce a new talent.
In the face of doubts, Zhou Jihong was not discouraged, but just took one step at a time and trained the players in a down-to-earth manner. She is always the first to the last, and carefully imparts experience to each member of the team.
A year later, it turned out that people were very wrong. In the 1999 World Championships, Zhou Jihong led the team to 9 golds and 1 silver in only one year of return, which impressed everyone.
But just when everyone was immersed in the joy of victory, the 2000 Sydney Olympics issued a warning to Zhou Jihong - the Chinese team's performance plummeted, and they did not win a single gold medal.
"It's the psychological quality that's wrong. Zhou Jihong realized that he had to adjust his training methods. She began to counsel her players and discuss with each team member a personalized strategy to remove the psychological barriers on the field.
Under her careful training, the players were able to stay calm at critical moments, and the Chinese team regained its vitality. Many Olympic champions stood out, the most eye-catching is the "Liang Jingjing" combination - Tian Liang and Guo Jingjing.
In this way, after every sleepless night of sweat and reflection on every failure, Zhou Jihong led the Chinese team to complete the peak climb.
When the Chinese diving team repeatedly achieved great results under the leadership of Zhou Jihong, criticism also followed.
The first thing to bear the brunt of was her decision to disqualify her disciple Tian Liang from the national team. Many people questioned that her punishment was too severe, and in the face of controversy, Zhou Jihong was sad but resolute, because the rules must be adhered to.
After that, someone anonymously reported that she withheld the winnings. Zhou Jihong was aggrieved but silent until there was evidence to prove his innocence. More suspicions followed, believing that she had too much power in the team.
"I am clear, have a clear conscience, and work in a real way, how can I care about those groundless things?" Zhou Jihong asked himself.
In the face of negative rumors, she did not waver in the slightest, but continued to work hard to let her athletes create good results in the field and restore everything with results. Eventually, all the untruths dissipated on their own.
Because what Zhou Jihong has in his heart is his enthusiasm and persistence in China's diving career, which will not be easily shaken by criticism from the outside world. It is this persistent spiritual strength that has made her brilliant and made the Chinese diving team stand tall.
Today, Zhou Jihong and the Chinese diving team have shared the same fate. She is fully committed to nurturing up-and-coming talent and making them gold favourites.
She discovered the extraordinary talent of the ordinary pawn Quan Hongchan, and spared no effort to forge it into a new generation of champions. In order to make Quan Hongchan shine in the Paris Olympics, Zhou Jihong's request was in full swing and ruthless.
For retired athletes, Zhou Jihong also carefully designed their retirement path. She suggested that Guo Jingjing overcome the international referee qualification certificate, and finally Guo Jingjing got her wish and became the supervising referee of the Olympic diving competition.
Zhou Jihong's intentions are not only reflected in the individual, but also in the team as a whole. She cultivated the team members to care for each other, and Quan Hongchan and Chen Yuxi formed a deep friendship and became good teammates.
In Zhou Jihong's case, the Chinese team has both competition and team love. Under her melting pot-like tutelage, the Chinese diving team is full of talents and has a bright future.
I believe that under the leadership of Zhou Jihong, China's diving industry will continue to create brilliance and write a new chapter of legend!