From the initial high hopes to the ups and downs in recent years, Peng Jianhua has been on the cusp, people who love him are looking forward to the return of the king, and people who watch the excitement are also waiting for his next unsatisfactory performance.
No matter where his career trajectory goes, please don't "beat to death" a marathon professional, they will eventually see the moon one day.
2 hours, 41 minutes and 19 seconds, this is Peng Jianhua's answer sheet in the 2024 Wuxi Marathon, he did not meet the Olympic standards, nor did he quit the track prematurely, he showed calm from beginning to end - no longer like the heroic teenager in people's impressions, more like a veteran with rich experience.
This made many people sigh in the comment area, why is Peng Jianhua different now? He is more stable and mature than before.
He didn't say much in front of the media, saying that he was very concerned about the weather before the game in Wuxi and was very satisfied with the situation of the training camp in Kenya. After winning two half-marathon titles in Lihu and Zhaoqing at the end of last year, Peng Jianhua has once again entered a long winter training session, training quite hard in Kenya, and the training level is not inferior to that of the better athletes.
And with many familiar faces competing in Wuxi, he probably wants more than just the Olympics.
But there is always a cruel side to reality. In the first half of the race, he was able to stay in the lead echelon, with a steady 3-speed pace for the first 15 kilometers, which was a rare sight: a large number of Chinese runners suppressed a few African special invitations, and everything was a sign of how unusual the day was.
The variables of the race came early after the halfway, the African runners exerted their strength to bring up the speed, Peng Jianhua could not continue to follow, he took 63 minutes and 39 seconds in the halfway, and after 25 kilometers, he obviously lost speed and disappeared from the live broadcast screen.
When Peng Jianhua appeared in everyone's field of vision again, it was a video about him running from behind and catching up with Wu Xiangdong, the two of them had almost the same finishing results, but their moods were very different, the "president" of the Olympic seat was more stable, and Peng Jianhua's Paris Olympic cycle may have ended early.
After all, competitive sports are based on results. When Peng Jianhua was interviewed by the media after the game, he said this cruel and true sentence.
At that time, he was facing an interview with a well-known reporter, with the calmness before the game, and a calm smile, he congratulated the record-breaking junior brother, and was happy for him.
As he said, he certainly has the opportunity to continue to improve the Chinese marathon record, because he already had such a goal.
In the last Olympic cycle, Peng Jianhua won the Xuzhou Championship to lock in the Olympic qualification. He ran the 214 in his first race in 2019 and the 210 in Guangzhou at the end of the year, a national record that had been in the dust for several years, and finally ushered in the most promising person to break it.
At that time, Peng Jianhua was definitely one of the most inspiring runners in the domestic marathon field, his efforts and results were there, his racing style was addictive, he was still so young, and he had enough time to cross the records left by his predecessors.
Things seem to have gone in the other direction now, after Peng Jianhua led the young runners to inspire more people to surpass themselves in the race, and now, Peng Jianhua is still one of the best marathon runners, and he needs more motivation.
This motivation comes from the competitive spirit of the players, but also from the healthy competition of teammates and opponents. Of course, perhaps athletes need more respect.
I don't know when marathon runners also have to accept the "baptism" of runners on the Internet, before someone pointed out that Li Zicheng's running was "irregular", and later someone reminded Kipchoge not to run too hard in the first half of the race...... It's easy to watch match reviews on TV, but for the most part, it's an outsider's commentary, and the motivation isn't friendly.
With the ups and downs of his state in recent years, Peng Jianhua felt the sighs and even ridicule of the spectators, questioning that he was always running and crashing because he was not suitable for the marathon event, and there were many people who were critical of his running style and even social media.
We don't deny that many fans are looking forward to his return to the top, but the vast majority of people can't experience what it's like to be a professional marathon runner, especially in this era of unprecedented competition, when the Chinese opened the 207 mark, four of them reached the Paris Olympics, and 10 active runners ran 210......
If you are as strong as Peng Jianhua, please give him more time, as well as encouragement and respect.
For a long time before, Peng Jianhua's signatures on social platforms were "work hard to be powerless, and work hard to move yourself." And quietly he changed to "There are times in life that you must have, and there are times in life when you don't force it." ”
Some people misinterpreted his meaning, thinking that Peng Jianhua "gave up" because he had no hope of breaking records and qualifying for the Olympics after running in the past few years; this view is not accurate, because if a person does not work hard to the point of being powerless, how can he calmly face everything in front of him?
From running the first marathon to the selection in Wuxi, Peng Jianhua's five years have had too many ups and downs. You rarely hear him complain, running well, he will think that the training is in place, the performance is acceptable, the results are not good, sum up the experience and train systematically.
In 2019, the first year of the "speeding up" of China's marathon, Peng Jianhua expressed his ambition of "I want to break the Chinese marathon record" in an interview, but fate always seems to give this person more tests before he achieves his goal.
Repeated entanglement of injuries, failure to achieve expected results, and unfriendly voices from the Internet, these are not only Peng Jianhua's experiences, in this era, any of your actions and performances may become a hot topic of public opinion, as a professional player can "fight back" There are not many ways, the most effective is still by results.
In December 2022, he finally achieved his national record goal, 1 hour 02 minutes 30 seconds in the East Half Marathon, a 26-year-old birthday present, a redemption that had been waiting too long, and he ran 2 hours and 10 minutes twice in the marathon, Guangzhou in '19 and Seoul in '23, you must know that there are only five Chinese runners who can open the 210 twice.
The only thing that is certain is that as a marathon runner, 27-year-old Peng Jianhua has not given up. He's more mature than before, he's lost enough opportunities, and he deserves the next one to beat up the guys who taunt him and ask them if their faces hurt.
In the era of China's marathon speeding up and rolling up the back waves, Peng Jianhua, who was born in 96 and ran a marathon for five years, is indeed a senior, he will return to training, and then continue to start again towards the goal.
Due to his physical condition and the schedule of the match, we do not know where Peng Jianhua's next match will be at this time. And then he will enter a period of adjustment, both physically and mentally. Although according to the rules of the Chinese Athletics Association, Peng Jianhua can run well enough before May 5, Peng Jianhua still has a reason to become an Olympian.
Peng Jianhua's two Olympic cycles have been too tortuous, and now he has reached another crossroads in his marathon career: he is not the youngest generation in terms of age, and he has a wealth of experience in international competitions in terms of seniority – to put it bluntly, he has experienced a lot of victories and defeats over the years, and after the next round of training, Peng Jianhua is still worth everyone's expectations.
Please don't judge the career of a marathon runner lightly, before reaching the finish line, look forward to Peng Jianhua's return and surpass yourself - at that time, looking back on the past few years, it is the years that must be passed to break the cocoon into a butterfly, survive it, and accept the praise that should belong to you!