Unconsciously, Zhou Yang, a young general who was once a fledgling, ushered in his third Olympic Games.
At the opening ceremony, when she held up the national flag and entered with a smile, who could have imagined how much sweat and tears were shed behind this girl from the northeast.
She had experienced the splendor of fame as a young age, but also the pain of falling to the bottom, and when the doors of Pyeongchang were as wide open as Vancouver and Sochi, she was much calmer.
"It's the third Olympics, and I want to do the best in the details and enjoy the game, but I will also strive for the best result and leave no regrets."
But unfortunately, Zhou Yang did not have the opportunity to defend this 1500m gold medal, but she has done her best.
On February 9, 2018, Zhou Yang served as the standard-bearer of the Chinese delegation. The pictures in this article are all from Visual China
At the age of 19, he won the championship with one-on-seven
For Zhou Yang, the word young fame is not unfamiliar.
He entered the national team at the age of 15, broke the world record at the age of 17, won the Olympic championship at the age of 19... Every military merit badge on the road to growth, Zhou Yang came earlier than others.
Of course, she was first remembered by most people at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, when she fought alone.
Because Wang Meng fouled and did not qualify for the final, Zhou Yang alone bore all the hopes of the Chinese team in the women's short track speed skating 1500 meters final. She faced a difficult situation of one against seven, including three powerful South Koreans.
In order to avoid the potential risk of interference, the helpless head coach Li Yan chose to let the 19-year-old Zhou Yang perform the leading tactics. For the long distance of 1500 meters, this is a rarely used risk-taking tactic – athletes tend to be exhausted due to the leading skate, resulting in no way to sprint again.
But Zhou Yang won the championship with a legendary explosive victory over seven opponents and broke the Olympic record.
Vancouver, Canada, Short Track Speed Skating Women's 1500m Final at the 2010 Winter Olympics, Zhou Yang won the gold.
"She is usually very gentle and did not expect to be able to be silently fierce in the game!" After Zhou Yang rushed to the line, Li Yan hugged his disciple with tears, "I told her before the game that she could skate into whatever way she wanted, and I really didn't expect such a small child to be able to take on such a heavy responsibility." ”
At that Winter Olympics, 19-year-old Zhou Yang and his teammates also won the gold medal in the 3,000-meter relay. Four years later in Sochi, Zhou Yang rose up again in the absence of others and achieved a 1500-meter defense.
Three gold medals were won against the Korean team, and the 1500 meters broke South Korea's monopoly for many years.
People say she is the nemesis of the Korean team.
On February 15, 2014, Zhou Yang defended her title in the women's 1500m short track speed skating event at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.
After the trough, she was still the Superman
Zhou Yang's idol is Lin Junjie, and in her spare time, she will always look at Lin Junjie's Weibo and give her idol a thumbs up. One of the Microblogs wrote, "Endure the pain of falling to the bottom of the valley, and only then do you know how to spread your wings and fly high." ”
At the age of 20, Zhou Yang experienced fire and nirvana.
There was a time when Zhou Yang was silent. She did not dare to speak, and even hid far away in front of the media, for fear of saying something wrong again. After that, infighting and fights broke out during the training of the short track speed skating team, and Zhou Yang, who was implicated, also voluntarily withdrew from the national team.
She fell from the top to the bottom. In 2012, she competed in the Level of the National Short Track Speed Skating League in Harbin, and she was eliminated in the semifinals of the 1500 meters, ranking only 37th.
"Many times, I wanted to give up completely." During those days of emaciation, she even asked herself repeatedly every day, "I am already an Olympic champion, so painful, why do you insist?" ”
Zhou Yang (left) at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics.
However, she remembered that when she was in the provincial team, the famous Korean coach Kim Sun-tae said, "When you are tired, think of your parents, think of your parents and you can survive anything." ”
Zhou Yang's mother has a leg disability and is unemployed at home, relying on helping others knit sweaters to subsidize the family. Dad also did not have a fixed unit, in order to send Zhou Yang training, there was no time to work. But even if the family conditions are not rich, his parents are trying to support Zhou Yang's dream.
Therefore, after winning the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Zhou Yang was full of emotions.
"My mother has been helping people knit sweaters before, and life at home has been bad, but this time she really realized her wish." I can give my mom a better life.
So, after almost missing three years of international competitions, Zhou Yang returned to Sochi four years ago. No one was optimistic about her, and a series of competition performances were not conspicuous, but Zhou Yang still completed the defense of the title in Sochi and announced the return of the king.
Afterwards, recalling that experience, she said, "I zeroed myself out and Fought every game. ”
In Pyeongchang, 27-year-old Zhou Yang, although plagued by injuries, stood proudly in the most difficult moments of the Chinese short track team.
Zhou Yang (left) in training.
Three-time veteran, she raised the flag of the delegation
Zhou Yang likes Superman. She said that everyone who transcends himself is a superman.
At two Olympic Games, she won three gold medals. Today, she is 27 years old, and in the eyes of many people, she has already achieved fame, and she still chooses to continue to insist. She said she liked the arena and the feeling of being able to stand on the field. She even used her age to ridicule herself as a three-time veteran of the Winter Olympics.
After returning to the field after a year, Zhou Yang, who was no longer young, practiced fiercely as always. Even the young people on the team were shocked by the intensity of her training.
"She's really different, she's won the Olympic championship, she can train so steadily, she can pay like this, and she can withstand such pressure and such pain." For his beloved disciple, Li Yan was full of praise.
Li Yan is coaching the team.
Li Yan also told a story about Zhou Yang.
During a training session, when Li Yan reminded Zhou Yang that her gliding point was not enough. The next day, Zhou Yang and Li Yan, who were crying, said, "Coach, after you finished speaking, I dreamed that I hadn't slept much all night." ”
Although Zhou Yang's best time in the 1500 meters of the four World Cups that teamed out this season was only 11th, no one would underestimate the persistence of the two-time Olympic champion.
At the opening ceremony of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, when the three-time veteran Zhou Yang held high the national flag and a group of Chinese athletes behind him all appeared, you could see the smile on Zhou Yang's face.
Perhaps, in four years' time in Beijing, we will not see the figure of athlete Zhou Yang again. But she was forever left with the best of short-track times.