The candles flickered, and the room was silent. Li Donghua sat alone at a low table, staring at a photo in front of him. In the photo, he is holding a baby in his arms, his wife is intimate and snuggled next to him, and the scene of a happy family of three is desirable.
But the reality is far from so beautiful, his wife has long since passed away, and his young son has unfortunately died of illness.
Li Donghua's eyes were slightly moist, and his body trembled slightly. The years are ruthless, and birth, old age, sickness and death pass like a white horse. He stared down at the photo in his hand, reminiscing about the past, and hot tears involuntarily slipped down.
As a former gymnastics hero, Li Donghua's life can be described as ups and downs and struggles. However, even in his later years, he did not give up working hard for the well-being of others.
In order to help more families who have suffered from illness and prevent others from experiencing their own suffering again, Li Donghua founded the "Swiss Relong Children's Foundation".
The foundation, named after his son, who died young, spares no effort to provide medical support and financial assistance to sick children and their families, so that they can regain hope and courage in life.
Li Donghua often thinks that if it weren't for his wife's full support, how could he have fulfilled his dream? Now, he also hopes to bring the same strength to others.
The years flew by, and before he knew it, Li Donghua was getting old. However, when he was awarded the title of "Sports Ambassador" by the FIG, he felt the excitement of winning the championship that year.
Thousands of miles away, in the International Olympic Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland, a set of sports equipment used by him is displayed, forever witnessing the glorious moments of this indomitable warrior.
Li Donghua's junior gymnastics career
Back in the early 70s of the last century, a small figure practiced tirelessly in the gymnasium of Chengdu. This is Li Donghua, who was selected to join the Chengdu Youth Amateur Sports School since he was 7 years old.
Despite his young age, he has already developed a passion for gymnastics and has shown exceptional talent.
In the strict training environment of the sports school, Li Donghua gradually developed the quality of tenacious struggle. He always delved into the essence of each movement, eager to perfect his skills.
Hard work paid off, and Li Donghua was admitted to the gymnastics department of Sichuan Provincial Institute of Sports Technology at the age of 11 with excellent results.
This marked his official path as a professional gymnast. In the daily training of the academy, the coach has high expectations for Li Donghua. And Li Donghua also lived up to expectations, interpreting his strength with outstanding performances on the field again and again.
In the blink of an eye, Li Donghua has grown up, and his dream of joining the national gymnastics team is getting closer and closer. Finally, at the age of 16, this dream became a reality.
Li Donghua got his wish and joined the ranks of the national gymnastics team.
In the team, Li Donghua and Li Ning, who has become the "Prince of Gymnastics", have formed a deep friendship like master and apprentice. A few years ago, Li Ning won three gold medals in a row at the Los Angeles Olympics, writing a new brilliant chapter for China's gymnastics career.
As a junior brother, Li Donghua admires this incomparably, and his fighting spirit is also greatly encouraged.
But fate often plays tricks on people. In the days that followed, Li Donghua suffered serious sports injuries again and again. In one of the most serious cases, he accidentally crashed into a horse's head during training, resulting in severe liver and kidney damage, and his life hung by a thread.
Although he has experienced life and death, Li Donghua has not given up his persistent pursuit of Olympic gold medals.
Quitting the national team for love
In 1988, a transnational romance completely changed the trajectory of Li Donghua's life.
That year, during a short English training course, he met Ace Bolanza, a beautiful girl from Switzerland.
Gentle and considerate, it has a unique charm. She comforted Li Donghua's traumatized heart, and the two soon fell in love with each other. In just a few days together, the relationship between them seems to have been several years.
Before parting, Bolansha took the initiative to leave her contact information.
Since then, they have begun to convey their thoughts and love for each other in the form of letters. Looking at his lover's affectionate words, Li Donghua's heart regained warmth, and his expectations for his future life were rekindled.
After all, he loved this Swiss girl dearly, and he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her.
When Li Donghua proposed to Bolansha, Bailansha was overjoyed. But on this happy day, a stern voice sounded like thunder - as a member of the national team, Li Donghua cannot get married before retiring.
Faced with this difficult choice, Li Donghua fell into deep trouble. Should he give up his Olympic dream, quit the national team, or give up this marriage? The people around him were persuading him to think twice, but Li Donghua's heart was already destined for the answer.
The power of love prevails over all. On December 12, 1988, Li Donghua and Bolansha got married in Chengdu, and the two officially became husband and wife in accordance with the traditional wedding ceremony of the Chinese nation.
From that moment on, Li Donghua completely bid farewell to his career in the national team and embarked on a new journey full of unknowns.
Struggling to survive in Switzerland
After getting married, Li Donghua went to Switzerland with his wife full of expectations for his future gymnastics career. But life in a foreign land is far more difficult than they once imagined.
At first, they were barely able to rent a small, humble rental house. In order to make ends meet, she had to quit her career and work as a cashier at a local supermarket.
Li Donghua, on the other hand, relies on some manual work, such as washing cars in auto repair shops and carrying goods, to make ends meet.
The pressure of life has made Li Donghua suffer. Every time he sees his wife's hard work, his heart will be filled with endless guilt. In order to support his gymnastics dream, Bolansha did not hesitate to sacrifice his youth to spin around in the supermarket.
Once, Li Donghua was depressed and said to Bolansha: "Maybe we should give up this dream that is doomed to be in vain, I can devote myself to other careers, and I will no longer let you work so hard."
With a resolute look on her face, she dispelled his thoughts with powerful words: "Gymnastics is the most important pursuit of your life, you have fought for it for most of your life, even if you fail to do so now, but we have at least tried with all our might.
Do you remember why I fell in love with you in the first place?
His wife's words were like charcoal fire in winter, warming Li Donghua's heart. He rekindled his passion for gymnastics and was secretly determined to make a new rise in a foreign land.
Since then, Li Donghua has begun to do manual labor conscientiously. Whenever he had free time, he would look at the planes flying to his homeland in the sky, and secretly decided that one day he would fly back to his hometown like those planes.
In this way, Li Donghua waited patiently until one day he was finally fortunate enough to get the position of Swiss gymnastics coach.
Returned to competition at the age of 48
In a blink of an eye, in 1996, 48-year-old Li Donghua represented Switzerland in the Atlanta Olympics. For a professional gymnast, this is an advanced age.
But Li Donghua has not lost his former vigor due to the passage of time, but is full of tenacious perseverance that is difficult for ordinary people to achieve.
Atlanta's stadium was bustling with people. Li Donghua smiled and looked around a little nervously. Although he had experienced similar scenes in countless arenas before, this time, his inner excitement was unprecedented.
Finally, he can once again experience the Olympic atmosphere that he has not seen for a long time! After stumbling through nearly 10 lonely years, Li Donghua finally stood on the stage of his dreams again.
The game was carried out round by round, and Li Donghua responded calmly. When it was finally his turn to do his best rings, he used almost all his strength and all his skills to perform this movement.
At this moment, the entire Swiss people were boiling! Everyone shouted the title of "hero" and greeted Li Donghua's triumph with the highest standard of courtesy.
This gold medal is not only the crystallization of Li Donghua's tempering in the past ten years, but also marks a major breakthrough in Switzerland's rings project.
Since then, Li Donghua has become a well-known hero in Switzerland and has been loved by the people.
Resilient life course
The pursuit of ideals is Li Donghua's lifelong persistence. Since he was selected for the Chengdu Youth Amateur Sports School at the age of 7, he has devoted himself to gymnastics training and has shown extraordinary talent.
As a teenager, he honed in the Sichuan Provincial Institute of Sports Technology, and he gradually developed a tenacious and hard-working character.
Entering the national gymnastics team at the age of 16, Li Donghua suffered serious injuries again and again. In the most serious case, he accidentally crashed into a horse's head during training, and suffered serious damage to his liver and kidneys, and his life was in critical condition.
However, he has never been discouraged, and has always adhered to the belief of "self-improvement", eager to stand on the Olympic podium one day.
However, in pursuit of true love, Li Donghua finally made a surprising decision - in 1988, he quit the national team, gave up his Olympic dream, and married a Swiss girl, Bransa.
His wife's support and encouragement became the biggest motivation for him to survive in a foreign country.
In a desperate situation, Li Donghua did not give up his desire to rise again. At the age of 48, he represented Switzerland at the Olympics and won the first gold medal for this small country in the rings event! This precious gold medal that inspired Swiss gymnastics and witnessed Li Donghua's indomitable heroic character.
Although he later suffered major changes in his family, philanthropy continued his passion for sports. Li Donghua founded the Swiss Relong Children's Foundation to provide medical assistance to children and their families, so that more people can regain hope.
There is no doubt that the legend of Li Donghua's life deserves to be remembered and celebrated.
With tenacious perseverance, he composed a hymn of hard work and struggle, and exalted the most valuable indomitable spiritual strength in human nature.