It was a hot summer in 1998, and 17-year-old Sang Lan went to the United States with excitement to represent the Chinese national gymnastics team in a friendly competition. As the rising star of the national team, she carried the high hopes of the people of the whole country and embarked on this journey that will determine her fate.
"Bang!" A loud bang was heard, and Sang Lan's head slammed into the floor. She slumped beside the mat, her whole body spasmed, her eyes misty. The coaches immediately became nervous and hurriedly lifted her into the ambulance.
Although the coaches already had the answer in their hearts, in order not to hit this tenacious girl, they still replied in a firm tone: "Yes!"
However, fate finally played tricks on this once high-profile "gymnastics flower". In the hospital, doctors gave the most brutal verdict: a severe fracture of the cervical vertebrae, resulting in high paraplegia and complete loss of sensation in the hands and from the chest down.
Sang Lan can no longer walk, let alone continue to play the gymnastics he loves. In this way, the "pride of the sky" who was once in the spotlight was sentenced to the "death penalty" of life at the peak of his 17-year-old life.
When the glory of the past has now become an ideal that can never be touched, how difficult must Sang Lan's heart be to accept? Being forced to bid farewell to her passionate sports career is too cruel for a young girl.
The ideal and future of life came to naught overnight, and she was destined to leave the sports field with a wheelchair as a companion in the future.
The beloved cause is gone
For Sang Lan, gymnastics is not only a sport, but also her dream and her whole life. Since the age of 5, she has devoted herself to the path of gymnastics.
At the age of 12, she was selected for the national gymnastics team due to her outstanding talent and outstanding results. Since then, she has shown exceptional athletic talent.
1st place in uneven bars, 1st place in vault, 1st place in floor exercise, 1st place in balance beam, all-around champion...... These shining titles have become part of Sang Lan's aura in the past.
In major competitions, she has won many championships and is known as "the future of Chinese gymnastics". At that time, she was on the rise in her career, and her personal career was gradually getting better.
However, the good times did not last long, and reality gave Sang Lan a heavy blow. After that ominous accident, all this glory burst like an illusory soap bubble in an instant.
She was no longer able to experience the passion of sports and shine on the field.
The challenges that once attracted her to go all out and strive for them have now become a chasm that she cannot bridge. When other athletes were fighting bravely on the field, she could only look at each other across the river, and even the simplest walk became a luxury.
Rediscover yourself
Although the road to sports was blocked, Sang Lan did not completely give up on herself. After returning to her home country, she embarked on a long road to rehabilitation, which required a lot of perseverance and determination even to do even a few simple finger movements.
But she was never discouraged, and finally after 5 years of perseverance, she was admitted to the School of Journalism and Communication of Peking University with excellent academic performance.
The transformation from an athlete to a student of higher learning is undoubtedly a huge turning point in Sang Lan's life. Although she no longer had the opportunity to shine on the sports field, she did not stop there, but resolutely chose another challenging new path.
During her time at school, Sang Lan used her tenacity and courage to infect the people around her. Despite being in a wheelchair, she is still energetic and positive. Seeing her such an optimistic and persistent spirit, everyone was deeply affected and admired.
After graduating, Sang Lan set her sights on public welfare. She has served as an ambassador for the Olympic bid, an Olympic torchbearer, a famous TV presenter and other positions, and regards public welfare as her new stage.
The work of TV program hosting has allowed her to regain the feeling of dazzling in the spotlight in the past; The status of the Olympic bid ambassador gives her the opportunity to contribute to the country and the sports cause.
It can be said that although the road of life has taken a big turn, Sang Lan has not lost himself, but has continued his love and dedication to sports in another way.
From the gymnasium to the classroom, and then to the field of public welfare, although her life trajectory is tortuous, her heart will always condense the pursuit of her dreams.
Kataba Mukaiuchi
When it seemed that everything was on track and that Sang Lan's life had found its way again, she made a decision in 2011 that shocked everyone by assembling a large team of lawyers to sue the Overseas Gymnastics Association, two insurance companies, five related organizations, and Liu Guosheng, Xie Xiaohong, and her husband, who had taken care of her during her misfortune, to seek compensation of up to $1.8 billion in financial damages.
This decision undoubtedly hit everyone's attention hard, and what is even more incredible is that the people who were stabbed by her included her close friends and benefactors back then.
In the indictment, Ms. Sang Lan alleged that the accident was caused by a foreign coach who suddenly moved the mat, and that she was nearly sexually harassed by her stepson, Xue Weisen, while Liu Guosheng and his wife were recuperating at their home.
Raising the banner of the lawsuit, Sang Lan seemed to have smashed all the pots, and regarded all his former friends as opponents and enemies. As soon as this news was exposed, it immediately caused an uproar in the society, and countless netizens condemned Sang Lan for "revenge" and "ingratitude".
For a while, the storm of public opinion hit like a storm, completely pushing this once admired gymnastics star to the forefront.
Sang Lan's face was full of determination, as if she was convinced of her approach. But under the strong impact of public opinion, she was powerless to fight back against those voices of abuse and questioning.
After the settlement, the controversy was followed by personal attacks
With this monstrous storm of public opinion, Sang Lan also began to suffer personal attacks and abuse from all sides. Some people pointed out that she was "as thick as a wall, losing the face of the Chinese" and "shameless liar" Yunyun, and completely denied her image as a gymnastics hero.
The disturbing voices of questioning, condemnation, and cursing swept Sang Lan like a sharp sword. Even her dominating past on the gymnastics field has been poured with a basin of muddy water in this torrent of public opinion.
People have turned a blind eye to her controversial lawsuits, and the arrows of reproach have only been fired at her glorious past.
It wasn't until 2013 that the war ended in reconciliation. Sunlan finally compromised and accepted a settlement of just $10 million, far less than the original $1.8 billion claim.
She explained that she made such a decision in order not to involve her newborn son and husband in the whirlpool of right and wrong.
Everything seems to have settled, but as time passed, the fire of public opinion has not been completely extinguished. In November 2015, an article "The accusation of "removing the mat" is groundless - Sang Lan's fall injury is revealed" suddenly broke out on the Internet, which once again pulled the matter out from under the fig leaf.
The article claimed that Sang Lan's injury was not due to the coach moving the mat, but from his own mistake of stepping on the wrong position, and attached video "evidence" to prove the accuracy of the argument.
Just when people thought that this old incident could finally come to an end, it was like a puddle of muddy water that had been splashed with nitrate, splashing on Sang Lan and disrupting the already peaceful life.
For a time, the old wound was torn open again, and many people jumped out to accuse her of being "ungrateful" and "losing the face of the Chinese".