At 9:45 a.m. Beijing time on July 24, the women's 10-meter air rifle final of the Tokyo Olympic Games will produce the first gold medal of the Olympic Games, and "Chinese Double Sisters" Yang Qian and Wang Luyao will launch an attack on the first gold of the Olympic Games.
Since the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games, the women's 10m air rifle has been the first gold event of the Olympic Games, and Chinese players Du Li and Yi Siling helped the Chinese delegation win the first gold medal in the 2004 Athens Olympic Games and the 2012 London Olympic Games respectively!
Before Yang Qian and Wang Luyao fought for the first gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics, Red Star News conducted an exclusive interview with Yi Siling, the first gold medalist of the London Olympic Games in 2012. The Chinese shooting star introduced his experience in winning the first Olympic gold that year, summarized the key elements of the impact on the Olympic first gold, and wished Yang Qian and Wang Luyao good luck in today's competition!
Yi Siling won gold in the women's 10m air rifle event at the London 2012 Olympic Games According to IC photo
Stress reduction: When preparing for war, the word shoujin is generally avoided
Red Star News: In the past two decades, the first gold in the Olympic Games has come from the women's 10-meter air rifle event in the shooting event. As far as you know, how do Chinese shooting teams generally view the shoujin problem?
Yi Siling: The first gold means a good start and is also the focus of an Olympic Games. I've been to the 2012 and 2016 Olympics, and it seems like the pressure on athletes will be very great, and it does. But from another point of view, this is also the mission of the women's 10m air rifle athletes, a task that we must complete. It is precisely because we are female air rifle athletes that we have the opportunity to compete for the first gold medal of the Olympic Games for the motherland, which is also not available in other sports.
RED STAR NEWS: So our women's 10m air riflers were mentally and cognitively prepared for that before the Olympics?
Yi Siling: Yes, there is definitely pressure for athletes, but it will not talk about the first gold and discoloration, because this is both pressure and the driving force to promote the continuous progress of China's female rifle athletes! Of course, when the coaching staff of the Chinese shooting team is interviewed by the media during the preparation process, they generally avoid the words "shoujin", which is also a way to reduce the pressure on athletes.
Image according to IC photo
Red Star News: Since the Chinese shooting team at the Beijing Olympics accidentally lost the first gold medal in the women's 10m air rifle, you were under more pressure than ever when you hit the first gold at the London 2012 Olympics.
Yi Siling: At that time, my pressure came more from myself. Before the London Olympics, I had won all the championships of the women's 10m air rifle, including the World Championships, the Asian Games, the National Games, and the World Cup Finals, which was close to the Olympic champion. So, at that time, my pressure came from being so eager to finish the championship Grand Slam that I couldn't sleep for many nights! At that time, he was also relatively young, only 23 years old, and it was the first time to participate in a competition like the Olympic Games. But the advantage of being young is that he has a lot of momentum and dares to fight, which helps him play a level in the game, achieve satisfactory results, and finally win the first Olympic gold for the motherland.
Key: Both athletic status and physical fitness are important
Red Star News: As a player who has won the first Olympic gold medal, what do you think is the most critical factor in the process of impacting the Olympic first gold?
Yi Siling: I think the competitive state and physical fitness state are the most critical. Take myself, I've practiced athletics before and have always been passionate about running, so whether it's the London Olympic cycle or the Rio Olympic cycle, my fitness is very good.
Many people say that shooting is a psychological project, and once the psychology fluctuates, the technique will fluctuate. If the technology fluctuates and the physical fitness cannot keep up, it is difficult to achieve good results. But in my own case, first of all, physical fitness is no problem; second, I am ranked first in the world in both Olympic cycles. Therefore, in the case of physical support and strength, I myself am still relatively stable psychologically.
Although you will be in a very stressful environment when competing for the first gold, you can still play stably with abundant physical fitness and competitive status. Therefore, if the athlete has these two hole cards, whether it is competing for the first gold medal in the Olympic Games or participating in any competition, he can play at his normal level.
Red Star News: That is to say, in the process of impacting the first gold of the Olympic Games, in addition to the high level of competitive ability, it also needs abundant physical fitness and a big heart to resist pressure. So will the Chinese shooting team practice this in its usual training?
Yi Siling: In fact, many people see us standing on the competition field aiming and shooting again and again, but we have a lot of training that the outside world can't see, such as the 100-meter sprint, which is to run the heartbeat and heart rate up. Our fitness coach is required to rush the heart rate to 180 in the 100-meter sprint, so that even if the heart rate reaches 160 during the race, it will not cause too much trouble to the athletes and bring technical fluctuations.
Rushing gold: As long as it is played steadily, there is definitely hope for winning the first gold
Red Star News: There are many unexpected situations in shooting competitions, at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, your firearm malfunctioned before the official competition, resulting in a complete pre-competition training, and eventually failed to defend the title and won a bronze medal. Was your state and mentality affected by unexpected events during pre-match training at the time of the official match?
Yi Siling: There was a problem with the gun at that time, and the support team of our Chinese delegation quickly ruled out the problem, but it still caused some fluctuations for me, and some anxiety in my mind. So this also reflects the importance of anti-pressure, if you can improve the pressure at that time, you may play better.
Red Star News: At the Tokyo Olympics, the Chinese shooting team is about to participate in the two women's 10-meter air rifles, the players are very young, Yang Qian and even the post-00s players, how do you think about the prospects of the Chinese shooting team in this first gold battle?
On August 31, 2017, Zhejiang's Wang Luyao displayed the medals won at the National Games according to IC photo
Yang Qian according to Xinhua News Agency
Yi Siling: These two athletes have their own characteristics, Wang Luyao is a more lively child, and Yang Qian is more calm. Both athletes have the ability to win gold, as for their chances of winning gold, I think the chances of shooting competitions are relatively large, and the results are not easy to say before the last shot. It can only be said that as long as they play stably, there is definitely hope for rushing gold!
Red Star News: Compared with the veteran players, do the young players of the Chinese shooting team have their own advantages?
Yi Siling: I think young athletes have a kind of momentum that newborn calves are not afraid of tigers, and their ideas will be less and more simple. Not having too many distractions in major events is conducive to the performance of athletes.
Red Star News: Before the first gold event of the Tokyo Olympic Games began, what do you want to say to Yang Qian and Wang Luyao?
Yi Siling: I hope they can do their best to be themselves and leave no regrets. Let's look forward to this game together, cheer for them, and wish the Chinese shooting team good luck at this Tokyo Olympic Games!
Red Star News reporter Jiang Shan
Edit Bao Chengli
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