Preface
"Five concedes in eight years and don't want to play again. From this sentence, you can feel a lot of helplessness. And the person who said this was one of the main players of the national table tennis team in the last century - Jiao Zhimin.
He chose to retire when he was still on the rise, went to study abroad, and married in South Korea, what happened to make Jiao Zhimin leave the motherland without hesitation and seek a new life abroad?
Won numerous accolades for handing the ball away
Jiao Zhimin was born in Yichun, Heilongjiang Province in 1963, and when it comes to this place, everyone has more of an impression that the high-quality wood is abundant, but there is no memory of sports, until Jiao Zhimin appears.
Jiao Zhimin's family, her father is very interested in sports, when Jiao Zhimin was in elementary school, her father wanted to send her to an amateur sports school to train, in order to achieve this purpose, Jiao Zhimin's father also volunteered to light a fire for the sports school to chop wood.
Facts have proved that Jiao Zhimin's father is visionary, Jiao Zhimin is extremely talented in table tennis, and was selected by their provincial sports school when he graduated from primary school.
She was able to enter the national team because of her own ability, she has been training in the provincial team for three years, and the organization let Jiao Zhimin participate in a national competition.
won all four world champions on the field, including Cao Yanhua, who was ranked No. 1 in the world at the time, this kind of continuous upset shocked everyone, and everyone sighed that this little girl was really amazing.
At that time, there was also the head coach of the national team watching at the scene, and when the game was over, he found the Heilongjiang provincial team to send Jiao Zhimin to the national team.
After a period of training, since 1983, Jiao Zhimin has represented China in competitions at home and abroad, and has won numerous awards for the National Games champion, Asian Games women's singles champion, etc.
But the biggest impact on her career was the 1988 Seoul Olympics. At that time, in the women's singles semifinals, Jiao Zhimin was playing with Li Huifen, who was also a teammate.
Meanwhile, the other semi-final was a Czech athlete against China's Chen Jing. It stands to reason that this situation depends on strength, and the winner of the sports competition wins.
But in those days, there were many factors to consider, and during the game, Jiao Zhimin received instructions from the coaching staff that he had to give the ball to his teammates.
From Jiao Zhimin's point of view, she must be very aggrieved, after all, she won the national championship and the Asian championship at that time, and she was just short of the Olympic champion, and in the domestic team, she was also recognized as the strongest.
But in the end, she still obeyed the arrangement and took care of the overall situation. When the competition was over, one of the two teammates who entered the semifinals won the gold medal and the other won the silver medal, while Jiao Zhimin won the bronze medal.
There must be something else in her heart, and when the Olympics are over, Jiao Zhimin chose to retire, you know, she was in the limelight at that time, and everyone thought that she could achieve more honors.
In an interview with the media, she also said: "In 8 years of international competition, I was asked to concede the ball 5 times, and I don't want to play anymore. After this happened, Jiao Zhimin went to Sweden.
Ping Pong cross-border romance causes controversy
Jiao Zhimin chose to go to Sweden to study abroad, but on the third day of her arrival in Sweden, Ahn Jae-hyung, who is also a table tennis player in South Korea, came to her with a traditional Korean wedding dress, hoping that Jiao Zhimin could marry him.
The matter of these two people has to start from 1984. In that year's championship, Jiao Zhimin won the women's singles championship, she was good-looking, often combed a big black braid, and often had a smile on her face.
This can fascinate the two Korean boys who came to participate in the competition, including Ahn Jae-hyung. When the game is over, they will all return to their respective countries, but this can't stop the Korean boys from bravely chasing love.
Ahn Jae-hyung struck first and asked the players in China to send a gift to Jiao Zhimin, although Jiao Zhimin didn't have any feelings for him at the time, but out of politeness, he still wrote back to Ahn Jae-hyung.
At the same time, another Korean young man who participated in the competition at that time couldn't sit still, and began to send things to Jiao Zhimin constantly, sending more things than Ahn Jae-hyung.
The matter between the three was somehow discovered by the Korean media, and regardless of the authenticity, they hyped it up and rumors flew all over the sky. At that time, the mind was far less open than it is now, and many people avoided "foreign love" because it was not good.
Moreover, at that time, South Korea was still called South Korea, and China did not have diplomatic relations with them. Whether the South Korean media reported true or not, it still had a great impact on Jiao Zhimin's career. The handicap is also related to it.
But after finally retiring, Jiao Zhimin still chose to be with An Jaeheng, when she went to Sweden to study, An Jaeheng was still serving in the military, but he specially applied to get married, and Jiao Zhimin also agreed.
The two went to the South Korean Embassy in Sweden to hold a marriage registration ceremony, and later the two flew to Seoul, where South Korean television broadcast live and was greeted by many of their family and friends.
A year later, Jiao Zhimin went to live in South Korea after finishing his studies, and after the Korean Table Tennis Association found out, they started Jiao Zhimin's idea, and after watching her so many games, and knowing her strength, they wanted to naturalize her to South Korea.
The treatment or something was given to the highest, but Jiao Zhimin refused, and the South Korean side did not give up, and asked many times, Jiao Zhimin replied the same every time, no.
Jiao Zhimin said that she can't wear the jerseys of other countries, no matter what, the motherland is her mother, and she can't play against China, which is impossible.
But because of transnational love, Jiao Zhimin has received a lot of criticism, many of which say that she "defected", but Jiao Zhimin still follows his heart.
Later, this kind of thing gradually became extinct, and Jiao Zhimin talked about it at this time, but also envy the current athletes, lamented that he was born at the wrong time, and felt fortunate that today's athletes can live in this era.
After leaving the life of an athlete, Jiao Zhimin began to do business, and as the chairman, the business was also doing well. She also has a lovely son with her husband.
As the child grew up, he also showed his athletic talent and became a professional golfer in South Korea, and as her son became famous, Jiao Zhimin also changed his identity, from "celebrity" to "celebrity mother".
But I believe that she must be happy herself, after all, her son is her eternal pride.
epilogue
With the changes of the times, many things in the past have been constantly improved, but today's achievements will definitely have the sacrifice of predecessors, Jiao Zhimin is only one of them, and there must be many unknowns.
But what can be done now is to develop the career they once loved better, so as to live up to their contributions.
Resources
1. Observer Network - Jiao Zhimin recalled the Olympic "handicap": no matter how wronged he is, he will not turn against the motherland
Hatps://vv. Guyanacha.cn/sports/2014_09_29_272175_s.shtammal
2. Global Network - The wonderful life of the former G female general: from transnational marriage to transnational business
https://sports.huanqiu.com/article/9CaKrnJzZgs
3, CCTV - [Legendary Olympics] Ping Pong Love Across the Great Wall
Hatps://news.cctv.com/China/20070924/105622.
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