Lee Chong Wei was born in an ordinary family in Malaysia, his ancestral home is Zhangzhou, Fujian, and it can be said that the genes of the Chinese nation flow in his blood. However, many years ago, the family had already immigrated to Malaysia to earn a living.
Li Zongwei's parents are in business to make a living, and the family is well-off, but there is still a big gap between them and wealth.
Little Li Zongwei is the third in the family and has two older brothers. Xu was forced by life, and his brother had to leave home very early to go out to work to earn money to support this small family.
The parents also spent their only resources on their two older brothers, hoping that they would go to better schools and be admitted to university in the future, changing the fate of the family.
In contrast, Lee Chong Wei was not so lucky. He went to school in poor conditions, and was often ridiculed by his classmates for his old clothes and torn school bag. Although his parents also loved him, they didn't have much energy to care about his school Xi life.
At a young age, Li Zongwei learned to be independent, he did not complain, but silently took on the family responsibilities that he should not have.
In order to ease the burden on his parents, Lee Chong Wei always looked around for odd jobs or part-time jobs after school. During those days, in order to earn a little more money, he even picked up waste at the garbage dump, what a difficult experience.
However, he never told anyone about this, because this was the responsibility he had to bear.
At the age of 17, Lee Chong Wei finally got his wish and entered the Malaysian national badminton team. For this Malaysian-Chinese teenager, this is undoubtedly an important turning point in his life.
When he first entered the national team, Lee Chong Wei gave people a very low-key feeling, even a little shy and shy. Most of the team members looked down on him as a kid, thinking that he was thin and small, and he didn't necessarily have any great skills.
However, through the fight with Li Zongwei, the team members gradually discovered that this seemingly weak teenager had infinite explosive power hidden in him.
Lee Chong Wei worked hard and trained diligently, and soon gained a foothold in the national team. His fighting spirit impressed the other team members. In the first year, Lee Chong Wei went to the World Badminton Championships with the team and won the championship in one fell swoop! For a time, at the age of 17, he became a smash hit and became Malaysia's new badminton hero.
In the years that followed, Lee Chong Wei won many world-class tournaments one after another. His unrivalled will to work hard and his tenacious fight on the pitch amazed all opponents.
Lee Chong Wei quickly rose to become a rising star in the world of badminton and defeated the ruler of the time, China's Lin Dan, in several major tournaments. It can be said that that period of time belonged to the golden age of Li Zongwei.
In the glory days of Lee Chong Wei's international victory, the only knot was that he had never defeated Chinese star Lin Dan in a head-to-head match. The two can be said to be fateful opponents, and every time they meet, the result seems to be decided.
At the 2011 World Championships, Lee Chong Wei defeated many masters and reached the final. He was already fully prepared and vowed to end this grudge with Lin Dan.
The duel between the two was extremely fierce, and Li Zongwei tried his best, but Lin Dan always maintained a slight advantage. After three rounds, Lin Dan held the championship high again, while Lee Chong Wei could only painfully accept defeat.
At that moment, Li Zongwei's heart was like a knife. He was at a loss and even thought about retiring. Because in his opinion, Lin Dan has become the demon in his heart, and it is the knot in his heart for the rest of his life.
At this time, Li Zongwei's wife Huang Miaozhu became his biggest spiritual support. It was his wife's encouragement that rekindled his fighting spirit.
The 2016 Rio Olympics was another climax of the head-to-head confrontation between the two.
That fierce battle with Lin Dan can be said to be the highest point of Li Zongwei's career. However, this was followed by the most catastrophic trough period.
At the age of 36, Lee Chong Wei had problems with his physical condition. At first, there was only occasional shortness of breath, but it gradually evolved into symptoms such as persistent headaches and throat irritation.
After layers of examinations, a cruel fact was finally confirmed - Li Zongwei suffered from nasopharyngeal cancer.
This is undoubtedly a bolt from the blue for an athlete. Li Zongwei's whole person was on the verge of collapse, he was depressed, and even had thoughts of suicide. However, with the support of his family, relatives and friends, he slowly got out of his negative emotions and started a fight against the disease.
In order to overcome this deadly disease, Lee Chong Wei has made great efforts. Not only did he travel all the way to Taiwan for medical treatment, but he also insisted on flying to Beijing every week for radiation chemotherapy.
During the long and painful treatment, his hair fell out, his weight plummeted, and he was in great pain. Eventually, he beat the cancer, but also almost exhausted his life savings.
After a desperate battle with cancer, Lee Chong Wei finally chose to retire. He still has regrets in his heart, but his body can no longer support him to continue to stand on the field.
However, Li Zongwei's life has already composed a legendary movement.
In 2022, at a grand awards ceremony, the BWF decided to jointly present the BWF Hall of Fame awards to Lee Chong Wei and Lin Dan. The two former rivals are now standing side by side on the podium, and the scene is moving.
Lee Chong Wei was unable to attend due to health reasons, but he expressed his indescribable excitement through video tears.
This honor is the highest recognition of the life of Lee Chong Wei, a Malaysian hero. He used his indomitable fighting spirit to push the badminton of a small country to the center of the world stage.
Lee Chong Wei has beaten all the world's top players, won numerous major tournaments, and is the first Grand Slam winner. These unique achievements are enough to go down in history.
Today's Lee Chong Wei is already a national treasure in Malaysia. His fighting spirit of never giving up is always worth learning from future generations Xi His deeds of winning glory for the country will also be passed down from generation to generation.
Lee Chong Wei has become a legend of an era and the backbone of a nation. His life is a glorious footnote to Malaysian sports.
Looking back on Li Zongwei's life, we see the touching story of how an ordinary teenager grew into a generation of grandmasters through his own efforts.
To put it simply, Lee Chong Wei has won as many as 69 international victories and 23 runners-up. One of the most glorious achievements was the 2013-2015 BWF year-end ranking of No. 1 in the world, which was also the first Grand Slam winner in history.
It is no exaggeration to say that Lee Chong Wei has pushed Malaysian badminton to unprecedented heights, and he is the living map and benchmark of this project.
Today, Lee Chong Wei has officially retired, but his spirit will always inspire the growth of future generations. We sincerely wish this great Malaysian hero a speedy recovery and a smile again.
Lee Chong Wei has become a legend of the times, and his story will surely be sung from generation to generation! We firmly believe that the legend of Lee Chong Wei's life is far from over.