All of the information stated in this article is based on reliable sources of information and is detailed at the end of the article
≺ Preamble≻
When it comes to the Chinese women's volleyball team, many people will think of Lang Ping first, but in the history of the Chinese women's volleyball team, there is a predecessor with stronger ability than Lang Ping, she is Zhou Xiaolan, who is known as the "Tiananmen City Wall".
However, when she was promoted to deputy director for only 8 months, she resolutely handed over the work to Lang Ping, and even directly dissociated herself from the sports world!
After bidding farewell to the sports world, Zhou Xiaolan and her husband moved to the United States together, and many people questioned her motives, thinking that she admired foreign flattery, made money at home and spent abroad.
What is the reason for this "hero" of the women's volleyball team to make such a decision? and how is she living now?
≺ The twists and turns of the life of a female volleyball player ≻
In the 80s of the 20th century, the excellent results of the Chinese women's volleyball team infected a generation of Chinese, and the girls of the women's volleyball team at that time were simply national idols.
Zhou Xiaolan, Lang Ping, and Zhang Rongfang were all volleyball stars of that era, but before they became famous, they all had a not so smooth life.
Zhou Xiaolan was born in Zhejiang, grew up in Shanxi, and her parents were intellectuals, but her childhood was full of hardships.
Because of her parents' work, Zhou Xiaolan has lived in rural Shanxi since she was a child, and she has to climb two mountains to go to school, and at the worst time, she even fought with a wild wolf once!
Fortunately, Zhou Xiaolan was bold and had good physical strength, and finally was able to go home safely.
At school, Zhou Xiaolan's height has always far surpassed her peers, perhaps because of her height, or perhaps because of her amazing athletic talent, and in 1973, a competition completely changed her fate.
At that time, Taiyuan was holding a sports meeting, and Zhou Xiaolan signed up for high jump and grenade, and the outrageous thing is that the coach of these two events did not take a fancy to her, but the coach of the basketball team took a fancy to her.
In this way, Zhou Xiaolan entered the Taiyuan Sports School, but because the basketball players were full, the sports school transferred her to the volleyball team!
In the volleyball team, Zhou Xiaolan's performance has always been very good, especially good at blocking the net, and she has also won awards in major competitions.
At that time, the national women's volleyball team was forming a team, and the head coach Yuan Weimin had a fierce vision, Lang Ping, Zhang Rongfang, and Zhou Xiaolan were all favored by him to enter the national team for training, and in 1981, this women's volleyball team became an instant hit in Japan.
≺ Ichiriki Seiro Heihui Kuni ≻
Because in the 1981 World Cup, the Chinese women's volleyball team performed well and won the first world championship of Chinese ball games, and everyone was boiling.
The women's volleyball team has become a legend, and Zhou Xiaolan, as the main force in the women's volleyball team, has naturally become the focus of attention.
Zhou Xiaolan played very hard, adhering to the principle of "the ball does not fall to the ground, never give up", infected many players, and because she is very good at blocking the net, she is called the "Tiananmen City Wall" by the public!
After Japan's failure in the World Cup, Japan specially organized sports experts to study the technology of the Chinese women's volleyball team, and Zhou Xiaolan was their key observer.
The skills of the women's volleyball team cannot be studied overnight, and this group of girls was invincible in the subsequent games and won many championships.
But no matter how legendary it is, everyone has the day of retirement, with the emergence of newcomers to the women's volleyball team, the athletes of the older generation have developed differently and have come to different forks in the road.
Lang Ping went to the United States to coach, Zhou Xiaolan married and gave birth to a daughter with men's volleyball player Hou Xiaofei after retiring, and then far surpassed his volleyball companions at that time in his career and entered the National Sports Commission.
In the eyes of outsiders, Zhou Xiaolan's career can be described as smooth sailing, from the director to the deputy director of the ball department, she only took 6 years!
However, the leader is not so easy to be, Zhou Xiaolan during his tenure vigorously reformed, but he still couldn't stop the fluctuations in the sports world, and accidents occurred frequently.
In the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, the members of the women's volleyball team were tested for doping! The domestic masses continued to criticize, which gave Zhou Xiaolan a fatal blow.
The myth of five consecutive championships was broken, and the results of the women's volleyball team have not been up or down, which also made Zhou Xiaolan, the leader, criticized.
The masses forgot Zhou Xiaolan's glory back then, but turned their heads to accuse her of inaction, in order to change the status quo of the women's volleyball team, Zhou Xiaolan made an amazing decision!
She tried her best to contact Lang Ping, who was far away in the United States, and it happened that Lang Ping was not happy in the United States and had a strong desire to return to China.
The two hit it off, but they didn't expect that at this time, Zhou Xiaolan's superiors asked her to put the matter on hold, and in the end, Zhou Xiaolan could only go to the airport to pick up Lang Ping back in her personal capacity.
Lang Ping returned to China, but everyone didn't expect that Lang Ping's return to China would actually contribute to Zhou Xiaolan's departure!
What is going on? Is there any irreconcilable contradiction between Lang Ping and Zhou Xiaolan?
≺ Why did you come to live in the U.S.? ≻
In fact, Lang Ping and Zhou Xiaolan were both peers before, and there was no contradiction, and the reason for resigning was not anything else, but because of Zhou Xiaolan's family.
It turned out that Zhou Xiaolan's husband, as a men's volleyball player, also retired due to physical reasons in his early years, but after retiring, Hou Xiaofei did not have an iron job, but went out to start a business alone.
Hou Xiaofei registered a sports company, and his career has done well, Zhou Xiaolan once led the team to hold a commercial league during the appointment of the national sports, and the contractor of the commercial league, including her husband Hou Xiaofei's company!
People are terrible, some people think that Zhou Xiaolan is full of self-owned, in short, she has everything, and her husband simply disbanded the company in order to avoid suspicion and went to the United States to develop.
With Lang Ping in charge of the Chinese women's volleyball team, Zhou Xiaolan made up her mind to "take the blame and resign", she believed that Lang Ping could lead the Chinese women's volleyball team to get better and better, so after she served as deputy director for 8 months, she and Lang Ping did a work handover.
After that, Zhou Xiaolan chose to go to the United States to reunite with her husband and settled here all year round.
After arriving in the United States, Zhou Xiaolan became an ordinary person, worked as a volleyball teacher in college, and then gave birth to a second daughter, and the family settled in Maryland.
In 2007, CCTV inadvertently captured Zhou Xiaolan while making a documentary.
Someone asked her if she would regret saying goodbye to sports and going to the United States, and she herself admitted that she didn't feel like she had lost anything.
Perhaps the inner wealth and family reunion made Zhou Xiaolan even happier, but the fame and fortune back then were only pressure and burdens for her.
≺ Conclusion ≻
Whether going abroad, working or living in China, in fact, as long as it does not violate morality, law, public order and good customs, everyone has the right to choose, and we have no right to criticize.
The first half of Zhou Xiaolan's life was full of ups and downs and legends, but in the second half of her life, she dared to make trade-offs and chose an ordinary life.
Some people will feel sorry for Zhou Xiaolan, but Zi Feiyu knows the joy of fish, the moment when she won glory for the country will not be forgotten by the people, and it may be the best arrangement to retreat bravely and become an ordinary person at the most glorious time.
Do you still remember Zhou Xiaolan and what are your good memories and expectations for the Chinese women's volleyball team back then?
Information sources:
1. CCTV, "Interview with Former Chinese Women's Volleyball Team Member Zhou Xiaolan"
https://baike.baidu.com/reference/43946/533aYdO6cr3_z3kATPSOzPzwZimQZNqquOfUVrFzzqIP0XOpGt61AsYx48MpsPRoGUSZ4Mg6MI5Exaf7CkxM6P4OMrVxH-k