In 1999, the 20-year-old Chinese teenager Pi Hongyan won the world-class gold medal in the U.S. Open Badminton Championships and won the supreme honor for the motherland.
However, she should have received flowers and applause, but she was dismissed from the national team by the coach for a ridiculous reason, and she disappeared.
After many years, at the 2008 Olympic Games, Goodbye Pi Hongyan competed on stage, joined the French nationality, wore the French event jersey, and won 14 gold medals successively, dominating Europe.
So, why did the former sports superstar bid farewell to the Chinese team and went to "work hard" for France?
Join the French team and win 14 gold medals to dominate Europe
Since withdrawing from the Chinese team, Pi Hongyan has been confused, everyone thought that she would never be able to return to the top after quitting sports, however, until the appearance of a man completely changed her life.
When Pi Hongyan was hesitating, the Danish player who had been defeated by her came to the door and sincerely invited her to be a member of the Danish team with a generous high salary.
For Pi Hongyan, who had nothing at that time, such an olive branch of the Danish team was undoubtedly a relief in the snow, so she chose to join Denmark without hesitation.
During her time in the Danish team, Pi Hongyan relied on her outstanding talent and strength to continue to do so, and she led the Danish team to kill all sides in the European arena and achieved great results.
In a short period of time, Pi Hongyan directly won the awards one by one, and her reputation rose accordingly, and she became a "god" in the world badminton arena.
For this reason, many European countries flocked to it in an instant, bringing out all kinds of advantages and rich conditions, scrambling to grab Pi Hongyan, and even some national teams bluntly said: "As long as you come, you can mention the conditions!"
Among them is France, which is preparing for the Games, and is in urgent need of a person like Pi Hongyan to join, and when faced with such a temptation, Pi Hongyan asked to become a French citizen and represent France in the Olympics.
In the end, the two sides hit it off, Pi Hongyan signed an agreement, gave up her Chinese nationality, and officially became a French athlete.
Since then, under the leadership of Pi Hongyan, she has won a total of 14 gold medals in the Olympic arena over the years, becoming the world's top badminton player.
During this period, I also met my former Chinese compatriots, who played against Zhang Ning, a player of the mainland national team, and Pi Hongyan had mixed feelings in her heart, but in the end she still wore the jersey of the French team and stood on the podium of the gold medal.
And the reason why she was ungrateful was actually expected for a long time......
Won the gold medal, but was discouraged
"Pack your things, the national team doesn't need you!"
The coach's words immediately brought Pi Hongyan to tears, obviously winning the championship, but suffering unfair treatment.
In 1997, Pi Hongyan, who was only 18 years old, was selected into the national badminton team with her talent and excellent results.
Among the elites, there are both world champions and national and provincial champions, but the fledgling Pi Hongyan seems to lack a sense of existence.
For this reason, Pi Hongyan began to devote herself to hard study and practice, going out early and returning late all day long, constantly sweating on the field, and improving her skills step by step according to the coach's devil training.
Whenever the players were sleeping, Pi Hongyan had already gotten up to wash, put on the jersey, and practiced the shooting movements repeatedly on the training ground, and practiced all day.
Under such intensity, Pi Hongyan's ball skills soon made extraordinary progress, so she began to compete with the strong players in the team and participate in large and small badminton events.
With participating in various competitions, she gradually established Pi Hongyan's experience, gained a lot of fame, and occupied a place in the sports world, until she represented the national team and participated in world competitions, she passed five levels and won the championship.
For a while, all the Chinese people were immersed in cheers, but what was surprising was that the coach's words changed her fate: "You are too short, you still want to play badminton at 1.64 meters?"
As soon as these words came out, they penetrated deeply into Pi Hongyan's heart, obviously relying on their own strength, and gradually came to this achievement, but unexpectedly, instead of winning the appreciation of the coach, they were counted out.
Subsequently, Pi Hongyan wanted to confront the coach several times, during which she almost had an argument, but was finally dismissed by the national team.
For a long time, she couldn't figure out why, maybe it was fate, but she didn't believe in fate, and continued to insist on her love for badminton every day, repeating the action of playing like a machine, trying to numb herself.
Unexpectedly, this life lasted for a long time before she gradually came out.
The status quo
Pi Hongyan, who withdrew from the national team, although she was relegated to the provincial team, she could still continue her badminton career, but she was treated coldly by her teammates and even limited by the team.
In their view, the athlete's own condition is a hard injury, if they do not meet the standard, they will not have the opportunity to re-enter the national pair, after all, they must leave the scarce quota for other better players.
All kinds of unfair treatment led to the former world champion, because she couldn't play, she could only be reduced to a salary of 600 per month, seeing that her family still needed to be taken care of, but she was on the bench.
It wasn't until the appearance of the Danish players that the successful but failed Pi Hongyan had a chance to be reborn, and she had been working hard in the French team for many years and announced her retirement in 2012 due to a physical injury.
However, after recuperating her body, Pi Hongyan did not give up her badminton career, but continued to be a badminton coach, teaching skills and experience to generations of athletes.
In 2013, Pi Hongyan and sailor Nikola finally got married, joined hands in the palace of marriage, and settled in Marseille, leaving a pair of children soon after marriage.
After the family's happy life gradually got on the right track, Pi Hongyan devoted herself to improving her academic qualifications, and with excellent results, she successfully became a graduate student in management, and then served as the publicity department of the local sports department.
Maybe the coach's dismissal was just a superficial excuse, and the specific reason is unknown, but as a world champion, Pi Hongyan always has regrets in her heart.
If she hadn't withdrawn from the Chinese team, I'm afraid that she would not have worn a French jersey, but a Chinese flag.