Mention Yi Siling's name, friends who are familiar with sports can immediately associate her with the olympic gold. Yi Siling on the field is full of king's spirit, accurate marksmanship and outstanding psychological quality, but The special host of Xinhua Sports, Olympic champion Xu Lijia, has interviewed more than 100 sports elites and combined with her own sports experience, and found that even with the strongest strength in the world, in the face of Olympic pressure, that tension cannot be handled calmly by anyone. At this point, our protagonist today, Yi Siling, has an absolute say. Let's listen to her story.
On July 28, 2012, Yi Siling celebrated on the podium. On the same day, in the women's 10m air rifle final of the 30th Summer Olympic Games, China's Yi Siling won the championship with a total score of 502.9 rings, which was the first gold medal of the Olympic Games. Xinhua News Agency
He almost dropped out of school at the age of 15 and shot 10.9 rings on his first shot
Many shooters will say that although shooting is a competitive sport, they are not very interested in sports other than shooting, and they think that they have no sports cells. But I grew up under the influence of my father, who was very passionate about sports, so I loved running and dancing when I was a kid. Because I often went out on the playground to watch people jump long, the track and field coach also took a fancy to me, and I later practiced long-distance running with the coach for a semester.
Later, our shooting coach at Chenzhou Sports School, Long Shoubai, came to the school to select materials, tested the contents including balance, vision and personality, and combined with my body proportions, finally selected me to go to the province to practice rifles, of course, this first had to consult my parents. At first, when I was young and ignorant, I thought that the track and field team was going to fire me, so I had to find my parents, so I was scared and crying, and later I learned that I thought I had a certain talent for shooting and wanted me to join the team. In the first half month of joining the team, I fired a total of five bullets, and the rest of the time I was practicing physical fitness or touching guns to practice movements. But it was this only five bullets that raised my interest in shooting. I remember very clearly, one of the five bullets I actually hit the most central 10.9 ring, that moment made me especially want to practice, but also made me feel that I was this piece of material. Now that I think about it, the coach who chose me really has a vision!
On October 19, 2009, Guangdong's Yi Siling won the championship with a score of 504.1 rings in the final of the women's 10m air rifle shooting competition of the 11th National Games. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Jiao Weiping
Although I practiced shooting, but because our family belongs to the ordinary working class, the family still has younger brothers and sisters, plus the training in Changsha at that time, from guns and bullets to venue food and accommodation, everything has to be taken care of by me, I feel that I am completely bearing the training mode of foreign athletes, which has caused a very large financial burden to our family. My parents were also very anxious about this.
In this case, I almost wanted to give up shooting. I even told my dad that I wasn't practicing anymore, I didn't want to go to school, I was going to Work in Guangdong. I was only 15 years old, and my parents were naturally adamantly opposed. In order to continue my shooting career, my father helped me think of various ways, and then successfully contacted the shooting teams in Ningxia and Guangdong, and they were willing to accept me. In the end, because Guangdong was closer to home, I chose to continue training in the Zhuhai team. Later, after a series of selection competitions, I was selected to the Guangdong provincial team.
Over the next few years, my grades improved steadily. In addition to my own talent and hard work, I think this is mainly due to the fact that I always train with my brothers and sisters. Because in the early years, every time I trained with my brother, I always couldn't beat him, and my heart was full of frustration. But in fact, I have never accepted defeat, in order to be able to defeat my brother, I always have a strong and fierce training in my heart. I think it was this motivation that led me to be at the top of the national competitions later on.
On January 17, 2012, China's Yi Siling (right) and Du Li played on their mobile phones after training. On the same day, Chinese players trained at the Russell Shooting Center in Qatar to prepare for the Three-Position Rifle Competition of the Asian Shooting Championships held in Doha on the 18th. Xinhua News Agency (Photo by Chen Shaojin)
After 2008, I joined the national team. At that time, my sister Du Li was already famous, and both Olympic Games had gold medals. Because I am practicing the same project and my level is rising rapidly, many media will call me "Du Li's successor". For such expectations, many people will feel that it will cause some unnecessary pressure on me. But from my heart, this doesn't exist at all, because I am who I am, and I never do anyone else's shadow. In the team, although Du Li and I also have a competitive relationship, I still often communicate with her for advice, and she always patiently answers. In addition, we have always had a good personal relationship, and even been roommates for many years.
I didn't sleep all night before the Olympics
As we all know, the shooting project is the "first gold professional household" in the Olympic games, and our Chinese pays special attention to the opening. During the London Olympic cycle, I was the "number one seed" in the women's 10m air rifle event, both in the world rankings and in combination with the results of domestic and foreign competitions. Coupled with the fact that I and another Olympian yu Dan, another women's air rifle, were young players at that time, I felt that everyone's eyes were on me at that stage.
Although everyone was trying to relieve the pressure on me, the pressure on shoujin on me was still extreme, and the tension was beyond my control. I remember very clearly that my roommate Yu Dan and I stayed up all night before the game, and our heartbeat could exceed 130 minutes. The evening was particularly quiet, and without exaggeration, I felt like we could hear each other's heartbeats. That night I also went to the bathroom countless times, sitting on the toilet and repeating the simulation training of empty guns and guns, and so on all night.
On July 28, 2012, Yi Siling was in the competition. On the same day, in the women's 10m air rifle final of the 30th Summer Olympic Games, China's Yi Siling won the championship with a total score of 502.9 rings, which was the first gold medal of the Olympic Games. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Liu Dawei
After not sleeping all night, my spirit was definitely affected, but the next day I was encouraging myself to do what I should do on the field, how to control my thoughts and movements, and play at my usual level. In addition, many people will ask, do you shooters always pay attention to real-time results on the field? My answer is yes. At the London Olympics, the screen showing the results happened to be right in front of my eyes, and I made a plan for it before the game. The plan I set for myself in advance was that I looked at the screen, and I had to put aside the ring number and the result direction on it, and I had to force myself to control it. Of course, this is easier said than done, and in this sense, I myself admire my ability to withstand pressure, and I have always considered myself a very rational person on the playing field.
The moment I walked off the field, I was so relieved that I cried out after completely relaxing, it was really not easy. Although I know that I have the strength to win the championship and my heart is also eager, when I really achieve the "Grand Slam", it is still a bit unbelievable. I was so excited that I had finally fulfilled a mission that the state had entrusted to me. Of course, in hindsight, although I won the championship in the end, I feel that I still have a small regret. Because in the preliminary 40 rounds I got 399 rings and ran a shot to hit 9.9 rings. Just this 0.1 ring, let me miss the record-breaking full ring, but fortunately this did not have any impact on my final performance.
Yi Siling (left) celebrates victory with her coach on July 28, 2012. On the same day, in the women's 10m air rifle final of the 30th Summer Olympic Games, China's Yi Siling won the championship with a total score of 502.9 rings, which was the first gold medal of the Olympic Games. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Li Gang
Four years later, at the Rio Olympics, I was the number one seed, and there was no doubt that my goal was to defend my title, but the road to defending it was very bumpy. During the pre-rio Olympics preparations, during the limited pre-race training time, most of my bullets failed to land on target due to an unexpected condition of my gun. At that time, head coach Wang Yifu and the support team raced against the clock to repair my gun, and finally the bullet could be targeted, and the stone in my heart fell to the ground, but there were less than five minutes left for my pre-game adaptive training.
Although the gun was barely fixed, I noticed that the gun jumped abnormally after firing each bullet, so I knew in my heart that there must still be something wrong with the gun. In this unfavorable situation, I was lucky enough to reach the final with an eighth-place finish, including a valuable bronze medal in the final, and for me, the trip to Rio was regrettable, but overall very satisfied.
In particularly good shape a few months before pregnancy, 2021 will lead the team to the National Games
At the 2017 Tianjin National Games, I was five months pregnant. From the moment I knew I was pregnant, I communicated with the obstetrician in charge of my obstetrician for the first time, expressing my desire to participate in the National Games, and after receiving a positive reply from the doctor, I was more determined to participate in the competition. On the one hand, I am a sport that I love because of shooting, and on the other hand, I want to leave a precious memory for myself and my children.
In the national games shooting women's 10m air rifle individual qualifier, Yi Siling of the Guangdong team, who was five months pregnant, missed the final with a score of 416.5 rings. After the game, she said: "It's a great feeling to be able to carry a child to the National Games. Communicate with the child every day, tell him (her) to be obedient, and not to kick his mother in the stomach during the game. ”
It may be related to physiological changes, and many people's experience has proved that in the early stages of pregnancy, athletes in many sports will be surprisingly good. For example, the gold medalist of the women's 10m air rifle at the Beijing Olympic Games, Caterina from the Czech Republic. Emmons, who was also three months pregnant when he won the championship. I was in the second to fourth month of my pregnancy and I was in great shape. But in the fifth month, my stomach began to show, the shooting suit also needed to be changed, and the fetal movement became more and more obvious, which had a special impact on our project that desperately needed "static", and when I shot the gun, it was as if there was a stream of air in my stomach to run out, but fortunately, I finally compared this game.
On August 31, 2017, shooting Olympic champion and pregnant Guangdong team Player Yi Siling (right) and liu Hong, also pregnant race walking Olympic champion, watch the women's 10m air rifle individual final at the 13th National Games in the stands. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Wang Lili
I had my first child after the 2017 National Games, and in 2019, I had my second baby. As a female athlete, I know the impact of marriage and children on my career, but the arrival of two babies has brought too many happy times to my family and me, especially when I go home every day, I can hear the milk of two babies calling "Ma ~ Ma ~ Ma ~", and the happiness is directly bursting. "Willing to give" is the shooting project to give me the wisdom and attitude of life, I think my current life is the best interpretation of "willing".
In the past few days, although you have not been able to see me on the shooting field at home and abroad, from this year onwards, I will appear on the scene of the competition as a coach of the Guangdong team. For the future, I will also focus on the publicity and popularization of shooting sports, so that more people can approach shooting, understand shooting, experience shooting, and contribute their own modest efforts to the development of shooting sports in China.
Issued: Cao Jianjie
Source: Xinhua News Agency