The 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games finally officially kicked off after a one-year postponement, and the opening performance of "Thriller" quickly triggered heated discussions and became a hot search.
And the unparalleled Beijing Olympic Games have once again become a hot topic of discussion.
For gymnast Chen Yibing, the Beijing Olympics are even more significant.
That year, at the age of 24, as the "older" athlete who participated in the Olympics for the first time, he finally proved himself with an impeccable performance:
"I walked very slowly, but I never backed down.
This typical "late bloomer", at the age of five, began to contact gymnastics, from the provincial team to the national team training, and then to the world championship, he survived the trough, walked through the night, and finally ushered in his own light at a certain dawn.
It is true that there are many forks in life, but once some people choose the direction, they only care about the wind and rain, and a road goes to the black.
In 1984, an ordinary family in Tianjin, China, ushered in a new little life.
No one would have thought that this premature baby, who weighed only 4 pounds and 2 pairs, would become a world gymnastics champion in the future.
The genes of sports have long been rooted in this family that loves sports.
The reason why it is named "Yi Bing", in addition to being born in winter, there is also an important reason that his father Chen Yunfeng loves skating, and just won the first place in the Amateur Speed Skating Competition in Tianjin this year.
Just after the birth of his son, Chen Yunfeng had high hopes for him to become a sportsman in the future.
As a premature baby, Chen Yibing was frail and sickly when he was young, and in order to make him stronger, his parents sent him to the Tianjin Sports School when he was 5 years old.
However, the road to gymnastics was not as smooth as expected.
From the end of 1994, when Chen Yibing was ten years old, he entered the Tianjin professional gymnastics team, and until 2000, Chen Yibing did not achieve satisfactory results.
Some people may say that it is only the age of 16, and it is normal to have no results, but for athletes, 16 is the golden age.
For example, 16-year-old Li Xiaopeng has long been the champion of the World Gymnastics Championships.
At this time, Chen Yibing was in pain, and he even wanted to give up gymnastics for a while, after all, after paying so much, the future was still slim, and anyone would doubt himself.
"Heaven will send down a great task to the Scythians, and they will first suffer their hearts and minds, and work their bones and bones."
Old Master Meng's words were very appropriate for Chen Yibing, who was suffering from both physical and psychological torture.
One day in July 2001, Chen Yibing, who was training, was suddenly shouted at by the coach, who said to Chen Yibing: "Yi bing, you pack up, tomorrow, you will go to the national team." ”
Hearing this news, Chen Yibing was confused on the spot, he thought, he has not yet achieved good results in the game, how can he go to the national team?
Originally, the development of the national team needed the support of local teams, and at this time, there were no athletes in Tianjin in the national gymnastics team.
If there is no athlete from somewhere in the national team, then the local players will not have the opportunity to participate in world events and will not get results. Over time, the enthusiasm of the local team will be discouraged.
Therefore, the national team gave the Tianjin team a substitute training quota, which can accept the training of the national team, but not as an official player.
Chen Yibing once said in an interview that after arriving at the national team, he was placed in the junior group, although he was almost 17 years old at the time, but he trained with 14-year-old young disciples.
The team will issue a uniform with a national flag every year, but because he is not an official member of the national team, he can only look at it.
A sense of loss pervaded Chen Yibing's heart at all times, and there were many small things that stung his self-esteem, such as:
His name will not be written on the dorm door number, and there will be no opportunity to introduce himself at the plenary meeting.
At the team meeting at the end of each year, the coach will announce the list of athletes who have been eliminated back to the province and city, and Chen Yibing is not even qualified to be read by name.
Chen Yibing, who was trembling, had to run to the team leader after the meeting to ask if he was going to pack up and return to Tianjin.
Fortunately, the team leader told him: "You are practicing well, keep working hard." ”
In this way, he was left behind by the coach, and he stayed for five years, from substitute training to winning the world championship, which was also Chen Yibing's five years of dormancy.
Of course, he was also shaken, and he also called home and told his parents that he did not want to stay in the national team, because it was particularly uninteresting.
But his parents told him to know how to cherish, after all, there are many better athletes, there is no chance to train in the national team, since it is there, we must stick to it.
Since that time, Chen Yibing has made up his mind that he will be the hardest athlete in the national team.
"I come in an hour a day or an hour later than other athletes. When the coach is not there, practice strength and practice physical fitness a little more. ”
The four words "Heavenly Dao Rewards Diligence" have been engraved in Chen Yibing's heart ever since.
In 2005, at the age of 21, Chen Yibing finally ushered in the first opportunity in his life to emerge.
He won the gold medal in the gymnastics ring at the World University Games, followed by the ring championship in the Gymnastics World Cup in Brazil, jumping to the top of the new generation of Chinese gymnastics.
Thick and thin, Chen Yibing won the ring championship at the next 2006 and 2007 gymnastics world championships, and since then, he has also become the new "ring king" after Dong Zhen.
The five years of substitute training have laid a solid foundation for Chen Yibing, as long as he participates in the ring competition, it is as reassuring as the needle of the sea god.
He sighed and said that five years of inner precipitation had long made him aware of the cruelty of competitive sports.
"In the game, where there are so many good times, most of them are adversity, the test is how thick you are, and the fierceness in the game comes from solid training."
It is also this fierceness that makes Chen Yibing, who only produced results at the age of 21, once out of the sheath, he is invincible, although the time is a little late, but everything is just right.
In 2008, with his outstanding results and stable performance, Chen Yibing got a ticket to participate in the Beijing Olympic Games.
At this grand event held at his doorstep, he also lived up to expectations, not only winning the gold medal in the heaviest men's team gymnastics, but also winning the championship with textbook movements on the "hoop" of the best project.
After the Beijing Olympics, the 24-year-old Chen Yibing did not retire, but was left by the coach to prepare for the next Olympic cycle.
Four years later, as the captain, Chen Yibing led a new generation of teammates to the London Olympics, and they won the men's gymnastics team championship with steady performance, and realized the defense of the Chinese men's team competition in the Olympic Games.
Unfortunately, this time the ring competition has become Chen Yibing's intention.
In the game, Chen Yibing was the first to appear, he was full of confidence, from the ring to the landing was flawless, almost perfect action, but also conquered many of the audience present.
On the other side was Brazil's Arthur Nabarette Zanetti, who, although well done on the ring, did not stand still when he landed, taking a small step clearly.
What people did not expect was that this gold medal, which should have belonged to Chen Yibing, was actually awarded to the Brazilian player by the referee.
So much so that huang Yubin, the gymnastics coach at the time, said: "This is a dark day in the history of gymnastics." ”
According to the rules of the International Gymnastics Federation, the Chinese team could not appeal about this situation, so Chen Yibing could only silently accept such a result.
But Chen Yibing, who had a personable atmosphere, still generously hugged his opponent at the first time to show congratulations.
After the game, the British BBC reported on the "Chen Yibing winning the silver" incident in a rare endorsement: "He won the silver medal with the action of the gold medal." ”
Although Chen Yibing lost the gold medal, he won the respect of the whole world, although he lost.
After the London Olympics, Chen Yibing chose to retire in 2013 and then served as the director of the Tianjin Gymnastics Center, but it was not long before he left the system and embarked on the road of entrepreneurship.
After many athletes retire, they will fall into confusion, and Chen Yibing is an exception, he seems to be busier and more targeted than before.
The spirit of sportsmanship has long flowed in his blood, so no matter what he does, his philosophy has always revolved around the three keywords of "sports, health, and technology".
Nowadays, Chen Yibing is also the founder of the type movement brand, and the "type movement" is committed to creating a digital sports one-stop service platform integrating "sports + Internet + AI + intelligent interaction".
Chen Yibing, who was an athlete, insisted on training every day and had to fight against his own inertia, and now that he has become the CEO of the company, he must deal with various affairs in the company.
"As soon as you wake up, it's a bunch of emails, someone has to cooperate, someone wants to join, someone has to leave, too much."
To this end, Chen Yibing strives to adapt and change, "I completely let go of myself, lowered my body, started from scratch, learned to do business, cooperated with people, negotiated, there are many things that need to be learned by myself."
At the same time of entrepreneurship, Chen Yibing is also committed to public welfare, at the end of 2020, he donated and launched the "Chen Yibing Sports Education Special Fund".
Weak when he was young, Chen Yibing strengthened his physique through gymnastics, and he knew better than anyone that teenagers needed to promote physical development through sports.
He hopes that through his own efforts, he will pass on the concept of sports public welfare to more people and awaken more students' love for sports.
Today, in addition to being an Olympic champion, Chen Yibing is also an entrepreneur, investor, university teacher and public welfare person.
In addition to many social identities, he is also the father of his daughter and the husband of his wife.
As someone commented:
"From the arena to the family life, Chen Yibing still retains the mentality of the past, once thick and thin, and now a husband and father, equally gentle and humble, durable and stoic."
Admittedly, every role is a new challenge, but twenty years of tears and sweat intertwined, the first half of the late completion of the instrument, has made him understand:
Life, even if everything is not smooth, but as long as you persist, you may bump into beauty everywhere.
From olympic champions to public welfare recruits, Chen Yibing has been practicing what the "Ice Fund" has been carrying out since its establishment.
Chen Yibing also set his sights on children in remote mountainous areas, every time he goes to remote areas to do public welfare, he will bring his 5-year-old daughter, he hopes to plant the seeds of public welfare in her heart.
He said: "Before, sports was a career for me and a concept of struggle. Now doing public welfare is a kind of social responsibility and responsibility, so that I can realize my self-worth. ”
He also said: "In the future, I hope to play a steady and steady role on the road of public welfare, continue to popularize sports concepts and knowledge, and benefit more people in the areas that I am good at." ”
Perhaps, this is the real champion, the body has strength, the heart has the temperature, no matter what you are engaged in, you have a social heart and strive to emit your own light and heat.