Speaking of gymnastics Olympic champion Yang Wei, people who don't pay much attention to Olympic events may know him, but when it comes to his son, the cute and cute "Yang Yangyang", many people may have an impression.
In 2014, his father Yang Wei took his son to participate in the recording of a domestic parent-child variety show "Where Are You Going, Dad, Season 2".
In the show, the little doll who pouted when she was angry aroused the love of countless women, and also made more people know the Olympic champion - Yang Wei
Speaking of Yang Wei's experience in the first half of his life, it can be described as ups and downs.
Yang Wei, born in 1980 in an ordinary rural village in Xiantao, Hubei Province, when Yang Wei was young, his family conditions were not good, and he often did not have enough to eat, which led to his figure being much thinner than his peers.
Gymnasts are usually trained from the age of 5 or 6, and the joints and ligaments become stiffer when they are older, so in 1985, the amateur sports school in Xiantao City enrolled students in nearby kindergartens.
Yang Wei was among these children, and the sports school did not match this thin child at the beginning, and his leg shape was not good, and his sense of strength was very poor.
However, one of the coaches, Peng Youping, took a fancy to Yang Wei very much, he thought that Yang Wei's upper body strength was very strong and his toughness was enough, so under Coach Peng's repeated insistence, Yang Wei still successfully entered the sports school and began his gymnastics practice career.
Because of his figure, he didn't suffer less, and his legs were not good-looking, so he tied them! If you're thin, make up for it! What others can do in a short time, he spends twice as much time practicing.
The coach's super high requirements indirectly tempered Yang Wei's character of not admitting defeat, Coach Peng can still remember that scene many years later, the little child's head was covered with sweat, even if the body was in pain, he just gritted his teeth and endured.
"This kid is really strong, he grinds out big blisters on his hands and doesn't say a word, he never tells me, and when he finds out and asks him if it hurts, he says it doesn't hurt, and his body is not standard, so I hit him with a stick, and he doesn't shout with tears in his eyes, and continues to insist on training."
It is precisely because of Yang Wei's unyielding strength that he was recruited into the Hubei provincial team at the age of ten, and participated in the children's gymnastics competition in the third year and won five gold medals in one fell swoop.
At the age of 16 he officially entered the national team and became a national gymnast.
In his first match, Yang Wei met Russian gymnast Nemov, and the opponent was really strong, defeating the young and vigorous Yang Wei, and finally he became second and won a silver medal.
But fortunately, that year, the continental gymnastics team won its first team gold medal.
With the first experience, Yang Wei began to review his failure experience after he went back, he disassembled and analyzed each action, carefully hammered, and strived to achieve the most perfect and standard.
In 2003, his second chance came when he competed at the World Championships in Anaheim, where he was expected to be humiliated, but he was able to win the silver medal by a narrow margin of 0.046 points.
Since then, Yang Wei has been saddled with the name of "the second millennium", although the second place is already very good, but for Yang Wei, who has super high requirements, this is simply a shame.
In the days that followed, he put in a thousand times as hard as he could, vowing to be ashamed in the next competition.
The 2004 Athens Games was the best time for Yang Wei to win the championship, and Yang Wei at that time was a "golden period" in terms of physical fitness and psychological state.
On the field, Yang Wei concentrates and is bound to do his best in every move.
But maybe the spirit is too tight, or the pressure on his body is like a mountain, in the first three competitions, Yang Wei and his opponent alternately lead, the score is comparable, and the coaches and teammates are sweating for him.
Yang Wei's nerves were also highly tense, and in the fourth event, the opponent made a serious mistake and dropped to twelfth in the rankings, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
But Yang Wei's heart is still in a tense state, and it is easy to make mistakes when he is nervous, and in the fifth horizontal bar event, a very simple action, Yang Wei accidentally made a mistake.
Yang Wei said afterwards, "After I made a mistake, my whole brain went blank, and it fell directly on Coach Huang Yubin's body, and also smashed on the hearts of all those who care about me, gymnastics, and Chinese sports." ”
In the end, Yang Wei only got the ninth place, and on the way back with his coach, he was relatively speechless, and the hearts of both of them were immersed in endless remorse.
When he walked to the door of the dormitory, Yang Wei knelt down for the coach with a "plop", and said sorry in his mouth.
The coach helped him up, without too much blame, and only said "We will fight again in 08." ”
Since the day of the fight, Yang Wei has been trapped in deep self-blame, and this mistake has also become his nightmare, he can always dream of that scene when he dreams at night, and every time he wakes up, his back is wet; He was also reluctant to give up when he practiced during the day.
The 25-year-old Yang Wei came up with the idea of retiring, and he thought that if he couldn't win that gold medal four years later, he would live in deep self-blame for the rest of his life.
But the coach said that he didn't want to let him go, and still encouraged him, and his girlfriend who had been in love for many years also silently supported him to "fight for breath without steaming steamed buns", Yang Wei still wanted to work harder.
At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the Chinese national gymnastics team won the men's gymnastics all-around team championship, and Yang Wei finally got back the gold medal he lost four years ago.
The following year, Yang Wei officially retired from the national team and married former gymnast Yang Yun.
After marriage, the two gave birth to their eldest son Yang Wenchang, who is known to the public as "Yang Yangyang", and gave birth to a pair of twin daughters a few years later.
In 2023, Yang Wei posted a video on the short video platform, in which he said, "I never thought that I would be on a ventilator at the age of 40 this year." ”
As soon as his video came out, it attracted the attention of many netizens.
In the video, Yang Wei said in a half-joking tone, "Recently, I started snoring when I went to sleep, because I couldn't breathe in because of respiratory problems, and I had to wear a ventilator for life." ”
"I don't want to hear that, just kidding, I'm hey? The former Olympic athletes, the little fresh meat on the field, have a stronger physique than ordinary people, how can they need to wear ventilators? ”
However, after hearing the doctor say that he had been unable to breathe for six minutes and would be in danger of his life if he had been a little longer, he still put it on honestly.
Yang Wei's condition is medically known as obstructive sleep apnea syndrome, although Yang Wei's tone is relaxed, but if this condition is serious, it can lead to sudden death, and can also induce cardiovascular and cerebrovascular accidents.
Fortunately, Yang Wei responded to this disease by wearing a ventilator for life, which made a positive example for the masses.
Under Yang Wei's video, many netizens have come forward to say that their relatives and friends also have a similar phenomenon, so it seems that apnea syndrome is not an isolated case.
The National Health Commission has revealed that the prevalence of this disease is 3%~7%, and obesity is the main reason.
The body is the capital of the revolution, although this disease will not affect normal life, but it should also be paid attention to in time, otherwise it will be too late to wait until the day when the body has problems.
Now Yang Wei actively cooperates with the doctor's treatment, hoping that one day he will get rid of the ventilator and return to normal life.