It's another pinnacle showdown! After Quan Hongchan won the Olympic 10-meter platform gold medal again after three years, she cried and hugged her coach Chen Ruolin, and all the patience, grievances, happiness and joy broke out at this moment. This scene is very similar to the scene where Chen Ruolin hugged Zhou Jihong and Coach Ren Shaofen tightly by the pool side of the Water Cube after winning the championship in the Beijing Olympics 16 years ago. This inherited scene also made many people shift their attention to the always low-key young female coach behind Quan Hongchan.
Speaking of Chen Ruolin's glorious experience, to sum it up in one sentence, at least the current Quan Hongchan still can't compare with her, although Quan Hongchan as an apprentice has won three Olympic gold medals. Chen Ruolin competed in the Olympic arena at the age of 16 and participated in the three Olympic Games in Beijing, London and Rio, winning a total of 5 gold medals, tied for first place with Wu Minxia and Ma Long, and is the athlete who has won the most Olympic gold medals in China; Chen Ruolin is also the first athlete to defend the 10m platform women's singles and women's doubles titles at the Olympics. She has won 22 world championships in her career and won 10 consecutive titles in the women's double 10m platform in various competitions.
Chen Ruolin defended her 10m platform title in London in 2012
Chen Ruolin retired at the age of 24, joined the FINA Diving Technical Committee at the age of 25, refereed as the chief referee at the Beijing station of the FINA World Diving Series at the age of 26, refereed the World Championships at the age of 27, and refereed the Diving World Cup and the Tokyo Olympics at the age of 29...... It can be said that Chen Ruolin has created an era of women's jumping. She has served as the head coach of Quan Hongchan in the national team since 2021 and is now not yet 32 years old.
At the Tokyo Olympics, 14-year-old Quan Hongchan jumped the world for the first time in the World Championships, winning the women's 10-meter platform championship with a near-perfect performance, and her record of 466.20 points may not be broken in the future. What many people don't know is that Quan Hongchan surpassed Chen Ruolin's record that year. Before Quan Hongchan was born, almost all the records in the women's 10-meter platform were held by Chen Ruolin.
Two months after the Tokyo Olympics, Chen Ruolin was appointed as the head coach of Quan Hongchan, which is almost an inevitable choice, and it is also a kind of inheritance of the diving dream team. But in the initial stage of Chen Ruolin's coaching of Quan Hongchan, she also went through a period of twists and turns. For example, before the Hangzhou Asian Games in the fall of 2023, in less than two years, Quan Hongchan and Chen Ruolin played 7 times in domestic and international competitions, and Quan Hongchan only won one World Cup sub-tournament held in Canada, and only won the runner-up in other competitions, including two very important World Championship finals.
At this time, there were doubts, some people thought that Chen Ruolin was the top diver, but she was not necessarily an excellent coach. But whether it is Chen Ruolin and Quan Hongchan's master and apprentice, or the Chinese diving team, they will not respond to this, and only let time test. The Tokyo Olympics is Quan Hongchan's first time on the international stage, and the newborn calf is not afraid of tigers, and he is not afraid of being inexperienced at the same time. At that time, there was no audience in the arena, Quan Hongchan looked at coach He Weiyi before making a move, and looked at the team leader Zhou Jihong, and her heart was very steady, just like training, which led to a perfect performance.
After winning the Olympic championship, many things have changed, and Quan Hongchan has become the focus of attention from all walks of life. And with the growth of age, changes in psychological and physical development will inevitably have an impact on Quan Hongchan in all aspects. At this time, the senior Chen Ruolin served as its head coach, which was both a challenge and an attempt for the new master and apprentice duo and for the Chinese diving team. Chen Ruolin has gone through the same road to fame at a young age, as the world's top player, she has a deep experience and experience in the technical movements of female players and various problems encountered in their growth and development, and has the absolute right to speak, and the age difference between the two is much smaller than that of the original coach. Therefore, the attempt is undoubtedly worthwhile.
The role of Chen Ruolin's words and deeds is huge, which can be seen from Quan Hongchan's progress and ability to resist pressure in two consecutive international competitions. In the Hangzhou Asian Games, Quan Hongchan won all 7 referees' 10 points for the first time in the 407C (inward somersault three and a half weeks of knee hugging) action, and completed a jump with 96.00 points that was enough to stay in the history of diving and won the Asian Games championship. Then in Doha at the beginning of this year, Quan Hongchan finally won the World Championships for the third time, and was one step ahead of her teammates on the way to the international Grand Slam.
After winning two consecutive competitions, the pressure on Chen Ruolin was reduced. And what many people don't understand behind this is the dedication of the master and apprentice. The more than two years that Chen Ruolin took over the task of taking over Quan Hongchan were the period when Quan Hongchan was facing the greatest and most significant physical changes during the development period. For Quan Hongchan, who likes to eat spicy strips and other snacks, Chen Ruolin usually disciplines her very strictly, because she has successful experience to help her disciples avoid detours, and she is the best example by Quan Hongchan's side. The story of Chen Ruolin being able to maintain her world leader in the women's platform for a long time, and the story of not eating dinner for a year has long since spread, and she has a wealth of experience in weight control.
Unlike Coach He Weiyi of the Guangdong team who was more like a father and daughter with Quan Hongchan, Chen Ruolin should still be fierce when she trains and competes on weekdays, because she also came over like this when she was an athlete, which is what Coach Ren Shaofen, who led Zhou Jihong and has retired, has the most right to speak. Quan Hongchan naturally has times when she is lazy, and most of Chen Ruolin's reprimands are like this: "What's the use of just shouting tired? Does it work when you shout during the game? You'll have to mobilize yourself. "At this time, Quan Hongchan often doesn't even dare to come out of the atmosphere, how to practice and how to practice. As the so-called strict teacher produces a high apprentice, Quan Hongchan of course understands that this is the coach's good for herself, she has also mentioned this many times in several interviews, and her simple words contain gratitude to Chen Ruolin and her sister.
What many people don't know is that Chen Ruolin not only brings Quan Hongchan to the national team, but also male disciples. The men's jumper who went to Paris this time, Lian Junjie, who just won the gold medal in the men's double 10-meter platform a few days ago, is Chen Ruolin's apprentice. So strictly speaking, Quan Hongchan is not the first Olympic champion brought out by Chen Ruolin. According to the point in time, Lian Junjie, a young man from Guangxi, is the first Olympic champion brought out by Quan Hongchan.
He is an Olympic champion and his apprentice is also an Olympic champion, which should not be uncommon for the Chinese diving team that has maintained a leading position in the world for a long time and is full of talents, but at present, Chen Ruolin is really the first person. This is Chen Ruolin's glory, but she is still as low-key as ever, she wants to be the behind-the-scenes hero of Quan Hongchan, and she doesn't want to show her head too much.
The Paris Olympic championship is just the beginning, and the master and apprentice still have a long way to go. And the young Chen Ruolin is also destined to bring out more Olympic champions.
Text/Beiqing Sports Liu Ailin