On February 6, Beijing time, in the women's 10-meter platform final of the Doha World Swimming Championships, Quan Hongchan defeated teammate Chen Yuxi and won the World Championships single event championship for the first time. The moment the results came out, Quan Hongchan and coach Chen Ruolin hugged each other.
Whether it is for Quan Hongchan or Chen Ruolin, this gold medal is of great significance.
Since becoming mentors and apprentices in 2021, many have dubbed them the "King Bomb" duo – Chen Ruolin has won five Olympic gold medals, and 14-year-old Quan Hongchan has also made a name for herself at the Tokyo Olympics. However, there have been doubts about the pair when they missed out on the title in a couple of major tournaments.
However, what many people don't know is that in the past two years or so, Quan Hongchan is experiencing a developmental streak: her body has grown seven or eight centimeters taller, and her weight has also increased by nearly ten pounds. In order to cross this hurdle, what kind of efforts did the master and apprentice make behind the scenes? The reporter of the main station interviewed Chen Ruolin and listened to her tell the story of "partnering" with Quan Hongchan for more than two years↓
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Developmental Relations:
Quan Hongchan walking on the wire rope
The decision to become Quan Hongchan's head coach seemed to be Chen Ruolin's decision in an instant. At the end of 2021, the national diving team assigned coaches to several athletes, "At that time, the team leader came to me and said Quan Hongchan, you can take it, and I said okay." ”
The reason why it is so refreshing is because Chen Ruolin wants to challenge whether she is "the material to be a coach". In fact, Chen Ruolin may still have a "careful thought", in Quan Hongchan, she seems to see her former self.
In the summer of 2021, at the Tokyo Olympics, 14-year-old Quan Hongchan won the gold medal with a total score of 466.2 points (out of 477), breaking the record for the highest score in the event - the previous record was set by Chen Ruolin at the Beijing Olympics when she was 16 years old.
At that time, Chen Ruolin, who was a technical official, witnessed Quan Hongchan's winning moment.
"Congratulations to the two lovely little sisters, my new idol Little Red Sister. After the game, Chen Ruolin announced on social media that Quan Hongchan was her "idol".
In her nearly 20 years of diving career, Chen Ruolin has seen too many talented players, but Quan Hongchan's impression of Chen Ruolin is still unique: she is the fastest diver from her debut to winning the Olympic championship.
After becoming a coach, Quan Hongchan's existing aura and achievements also made Chen Ruolin feel unprecedented pressure. How to improve the grades of Quan Hongchan, who is "the peak of her debut", has become a topic that Chen Ruolin thinks about every day. "Sometimes it's unexpected, and it's very distressing. ”
Since Chen Ruolin and Quan Hongchan "partnered", Quan Hongchan is in a period of rapid growth, she has grown seven or eight centimeters taller in more than two years, and her weight has also increased by nearly ten pounds.
Development is a nightmare for many divers. Standing on the jumping platform, athletes have to hug their knees, somersault, unfold, and enter the water in just a few seconds, and every small change in their body will affect the movement. Gaining weight is a "curse" existence, and many athletes have bid farewell to high-level competitions because of this.
During the Tokyo Olympics, the first diving queen Gao Min once lamented Quan Hongchan's talent, and also said, "She is about to grow her body, and in the process of alternating between growth and development and technical strength, she is like walking a tightrope to a little girl." ”
In order to make Quan Hongchan on the tightrope walk more steadily, Chen Ruolin has been looking for "balance bars" and "safety ropes".
Equalizer bar:
Rigorous physical training
In order to help Quan Hongchan break through the development barrier, Chen Ruolin had to strictly control Quan Hongchan's diet, so that she could reduce her extra intake as much as possible while getting adequate nutrition.
In terms of physical training, Chen Ruolin also put a lot of effort into it. Strength training, aerial rolling, 10-meter platform training...... After seven or eight hours of training every day, Chen Ruolin couldn't wait to keep Quan Hongchan "tied to the waistband of her trousers" and closely guarded, "As long as you see something you are not satisfied with, no matter who comes, I must criticize." ”
"The coach is strict, but she's good for me. Quan Hongchan not only did not complain about this, but also strictly restrained herself, the daily training of the players started at half past 1 in the afternoon, but Quan Hongchan often came to the gym at 12 o'clock to start training.
He began to contact diving at the age of 5, entered the national team at the age of 12, and won the first Olympic gold medal at the age of 16.
For a while, she gained a lot of weight, not only in the competition, but also in the body due to overload and injuries. "Usually you are very tired from practice, and you will always want to eat, but if you eat a little bit, you will gain weight. ”
Chen Ruolin used super self-discipline to fight for three Olympic Games, and achieved a legend with five gold medals.
It is precisely because she knows how difficult this journey is that she is extremely strict with Quan Hongchan. "I don't want Quan Hongchan to go through the detour again, I will use the experience of the past to tell her how to face it. ”
Safety Rope:
Fine-tune the technology and cultivate the mentality of the competition
In order to minimize the impact of height and weight on movements, Chen Ruolin was very careful about Quan Hongchan's technical movements. The effect of splash pressure, the angle of movement, the height of vertical jump...... During training, she kept an eye on Quan Hongchan's every move, reminded and explained in real time by the pool, and demonstrated difficult actions without missing a detail.
How can superb technique be perfectly presented in the game? Strong mental quality is essential. This is one of Chen Ruolin's key training contents for Quan Hongchan, and it is also the truth that Chen Ruolin deeply understood when she participated in the Olympic Games for the first time.
△ Chen Ruolin began to contact diving at the age of 5, entered the provincial team at the age of 8, and entered the national team at the age of 12.
In 2008, Chen Ruolin, who was not yet 16 years old, participated in the Olympic Games for the first time and won the championship, which made people remember this talented girl.
After many years of reviewing that game again, Chen Ruolin still remembers it deeply.
Before Chen Ruolin's last jump, the score was behind Canadian veteran Heisman. This means that Chen Ruolin's last jump must be "foolproof" to be able to turn around. "In the previous two Olympic Games, China did not win the gold medal in the 10-meter platform, and I would love to take it back. ”
Jumping, somersaulting, entering the water...... Chen Ruolin was a perfect jump, making the on-site commentators shout "Yes!" again and again, and the referees gave the highest score of 100.30
Amid the thunderous applause of the audience, shook his head helplessly, accepting the fact that he could only win the silver medal.
Chen Ruolin conquered the opponent and the world with a perfect jump, and also helped the Chinese team win the 10-meter platform championship again after 12 years.
Chen Ruolin said that she won in technical movements, but also in mentality, only by stabilizing the mentality, can the usual actions be perfectly presented.
Because of this, Chen Ruolin paid special attention to Quan Hongchan's psychology and the cultivation of the competition mentality to help her relieve pressure. Usually, after intense physical training, she will ask Quan Hongchan to gradually slow down the violent heartbeat by adjusting her breathing and other methods. "Because when you get to the competition, you will definitely be nervous and your heart will beat fast, so you have to strengthen your training in this area on a regular basis."
During the competition, Chen Ruolin will often encourage Quan Hongchan to relax her mind and do her best to keep her confident and calm.
Athletes will more or less see the evaluation of the outside world, in order to minimize its interference with athletes, Chen Ruolin has a very close grasp of Quan Hongchan's cultural lessons, and usually recommends some books to Quan Hongchan to read.
In Chen Ruolin's view, only by enriching one's spiritual world and facing all kinds of praise or criticism can one have better judgment ability, which is also Chen Ruolin's protection of Quan Hongchan.
Next Goals:
"Strive to bring glory to the country again in Paris"
Since coaching Quan Hongchan, Chen Ruolin's coaching ability has occasionally been questioned by some people, but Chen Ruolin has never avoided it, but she does not allow herself to overindulge in internal friction, but finds out the problems in each game and breaks them down.
"There are ups and downs in an athlete's form, and you can't have a gold medal around your neck before you compete. The results of competitive sports must be won bit by bit. ”
In 2023, at the final of the Hangzhou Asian Games, even if there was a mistake in 207C, Quan Hongchan was still able to withstand the pressure and counterattack with a perfect performance in the last jump to win the gold medal.
At the beginning of 2024, at the Doha World Swimming Championships, Quan Hongchan won the championship with an almost perfect performance in the final despite the poor performance in the preliminaries and semifinals.
All of this was won by Chen Ruolin and Quan Hongchan "bit by bit", which also seemed to let them see the end of the wire rope, and the flat road was ahead.
At present, Quan Hongchan has successfully won the "ticket" to the Paris Olympics. Their next goal is to "win glory for their country again at the Paris Olympics".
Source: CCTV News WeChat public account
Process edit: u027