At about 11:00 a.m. on October 24, Liu Yutong, a Hebei player who had just finished a badminton match, was interviewed in the mixed mining area, and the service staff on the side kept asking who this little girl was? When Liu Yutong reported her name, everyone suddenly realized: "No wonder she played so well, it turns out that she is a Grand Slam player." ”
Before the opening of the Tokyo Paralympic Games, 17-year-old Hebei teenager Liu Yutong was specially introduced by the Olympic Organizing Committee and praised her as "China's badminton prodigy." She finished second in women's singles and first place in mixed doubles at the National Championships at the age of 13. She then won the Asian Para Games championship; at the age of 14, she won the women's singles championship at the World Para Badminton Championships; at the 2019 World Championships, she won the gold medal in women's singles again, and won the women's doubles championship with her teammates. For the first time, badminton was included in the competition at the 2021 Tokyo Paralympic Games, and before the tokyo expedition, Liu Yutong was only one Olympic gold medal away from achieving a Grand Slam.
In the Women's WH2 division of badminton at the Tokyo Paralympic Games, Liu Yutong and teammate Xu Tingting joined hands to advance to the final, locking in gold and silver medals for the Chinese delegation in advance, and she finally realized her Olympic champion dream with her strength.
Liu Yutong, from Cangzhou, Hebei Province, lost both legs in a car accident as a child. At the age of 11, her family saw the information of Hebei Province recruiting disabled athletes and sent her to study table tennis with the idea of giving it a try. By chance, she was being trained by the badminton coach and began to form an indissoluble relationship with badminton.
The record on the court is impressive, the ball is fierce and powerful, and the racket will make a banging sound when the slam is smashed, but Liu Yutong under the court looks very shy. Tokyo returned with the title of Grand Slam player, but she said: "There are many athletes who train much harder than me, I am just lucky." Although practicing badminton is very hard and tiring, the happiness it brings me is also something that others cannot appreciate. Badminton has changed me a lot, making me brave, strong, optimistic and cheerful. After years of training, Liu Yutong and her wheelchair on the field have become one, to play a good game, both to catch the ball and push the wheelchair, the physical requirements of the athletes are very high, Liu Yutong said: "Every time I feel very tired, as long as I think of working hard, I can stand on the podium on behalf of China, and I feel particularly energetic in my heart." ”
At present, her plan for herself is to further improve the technical and tactical level, "the next Olympic Games in Paris, four years passed quickly. I have to train well and try to get on the podium in Paris, preferably first. Liu Yutong said.
Text/ Figure Xi'an Newspaper All-Media Reporter Zhang Jia