Chinese always have a special affection for the "Olympic Games".
At the 1908 London Olympic Games, Tianjin Youth put forward "three questions":
When will China send someone to the Olympics?
When will Chinese have an Olympic gold medal of their own?
When will China be able to host an Olympic Games of its own?
The first question was answered by Liu Changchun in 1932, and 52 years later, the shooter Xu Haifeng answered the second question.
In 2001, Beijing successfully bid for the Olympic Games, and in 2008, the Beijing Olympic Games were successfully held.
At this point, Chinese finally answered the "Three Questions of the Olympic Games", which took exactly 100 years.
In those years, China was not at the center of the world, and sports was the most direct way to show the power of the country. Looking back at 2008, snow disasters, earthquakes, riots, financial crises...
Many unlit color blocks make up that "springless year", until the Olympic flame is lit in Beijing, illuminating the entire night sky.
Against this backdrop, you can understand why the crowd was desperate for "victory" at the time, and why "their" 2008 was full of misunderstandings, controversies, and regrets.
Chinese, why do you care about the Olympics?
It's a story that's a long, far cry, it's not a story that's just about sports.
And Chinese, why do they always think of 2008 13 years ago?
If Liu Xiang's career as a professional athlete is made into a dial, the arrow of time will definitely have a slight trembling when it slides through 2008 and 2012. Helplessness and pain are Liu Xiang's deepest memories of these two time points.
It's like the huge trail left in the trajectory of his life in 2004 .
After that, his only goal was to catch up with Olympic champion "Flying Man Liu Xiang".
Liu Xiang
Back in 2004, Liu Xiang was 21 years old, and because of his impressive results, he was called "the new king of China's men's 110-meter hurdles" and "new Asian speed" by the media.
Inspired by the "new", the teenager was full of spirits, so when he learned that he was about to represent China in Athens, Liu Xiang showed great calmness and self-confidence:
"To go is to fight, to fight with them." Don't be too nervous, that's a game, hurry up and forget it. ”
When he said this, he had just shocked Asia by beating idol Alain Johnson in 13.06 seconds at the IAAF Grand Prix.
Having crossed the peak of his childhood heart, Liu Xiang was eager to see a higher landscape.
At that time, he did not know that he would become the next mountain, and no one could surpass it so far.
On August 13, 2004, the Athens Olympic Games opened.
After easily qualifying for the rematch with the first place in the group, Liu Xiang described the first Olympic game in his life as "very comfortable and cool". In the face of the next rematch without suspense, he bluntly said that he did not show his full strength, because "there is no need to run so fast".
On August 27, local time, the final day of the men's 110-meter hurdles of the Athens Olympic Games, Liu Xiang behaved unusually quietly that day, and a few hours before the official check-in, he only said one word to the coach in addition to asking for a bottle of water to drink:
"Trust me."
At 9:30 p.m., athletes entered, and Liu Xiang, as the only yellow person standing on the starting line in the stadium, stood out, and it is no exaggeration to say that he was even the focus of the world.
The whistle sounded, the whole audience was quiet, but just when everyone was ready for battle, the runner Trammell rushed to run, and all the players present received a "yellow card warning", and Liu Xiang's rhythm was disrupted.
This "tactical foul" also completely angered him, and he thought "If so, then come on".
A few seconds later, the gunshots rang out, everyone took off smoothly, and the legend of the "Asian Trapeze" began:
"At the beginning of the race, Liu Xiang's starting point was very smooth and he is currently in the first place! Next to trammell and Origals, Liu Xiang is in the leading position! Liu Xiang! Liu Xiang won! Liu Xiang won! Liu Xiang made history! ”
After successfully stepping through the tenth hurdle, Liu Xiang became the first place on the field without surprise. It was an incredible ranking, and what was even more impressive was his final result:
12 seconds 91.
That tied the world record and broke the Olympic record. He won his first Olympic medal and became the only Chinese to actually beat a black athlete on a straight track.
That night, Liu Xiang became famous in a battle.
Amid the tsunami-like shouts of the mountains, he was quickly surrounded by the media. He was unprepared for what was happening at the moment, and in front of the camera, he said his post-match testimonials in a blank brain:
"Who says yellow people can't make it to the top eight of the Olympics? I'm going to prove to you today that I'm the Olympic champion. I think dreams will eventually become a reality, and I believe that there will be more miracles waiting for me to create and glory in the future. ”
This is Liu Xiang's 21-year-old dream: to challenge himself and win glory for the country. Even though he had stood on the highest international podium, the success he longed for was still far behind.
At that time, he thought that life was full of "miracles". But he did not know that when he became a "miracle" itself, the story about him was destined to be more tragic and helpless.
At the 2004 Athens Olympics, Liu Xiang won the gold medal in the men's 110m hurdles
After the Athens Olympics, many things other than athletics came to Liu Xiang. He was given business value, but also carried more responsibilities and expectations.
"After Athens, my daily task was to find a breakthrough." But many things backfire.
Liu Xiang hit a bottleneck, and after breaking the world record of 13 years of slumber with a time of 12.88 seconds, he was trapped in the peak of his own creation.
At the 2006 Lausanne Athletics Super Grand Prix in Switzerland, Liu Xiang broke the 13-year-old world record with a time of 12.88 seconds to win the championship
In order to make the gold medal look forward to at the Beijing Olympic Games "held at the doorstep", all his daily training is constantly increasing, because "only in this way can stimulate him".
It was a period of time against the limits of the human body, and many high-intensity training that ordinary people could not imagine filled the days before the Beijing Olympic Games for "Flying Man Liu Xiang", and for all this, he chose to "endure it".
For the first time in his life, Liu Xiang explicitly sensed that "the injury was coming" was a few months before the Beijing Olympics.
He had just finished a league game and vaguely felt "some discomfort in the posterior muscles (muscles on the back of the thighs)", but because he had "never been injured before", he was still convinced that he could complete the Olympic journey.
However, this firmness was completely shattered at the scene of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
Looking back at the TV broadcast video of that year, the audience can still capture the picture of Liu Xiang kicking the mat with his right foot before the official inspection.
But in the tense atmosphere at that time, no one noticed his movements, and it was only in the subsequent interview that the crowd learned the truth through Liu Xiang:
"At that time, it was very painful, the movements I did in training could not be done, and I kicked the mat to kick the foot completely numb, so that I didn't know what the pain was."
But the reality is that the pain not only has not disappeared, but also in a very tragic form, it is displayed in front of everyone's eyes.
"Chinese athlete Liu Xiang withdrew from the competition due to injury."
This was the last sentence Liu Xiang heard in the field, and in the surprised and doubtful eyes of the audience, he bowed his head and turned to leave the runway, leaving everyone with a back wearing a "1356" number plate:
1.3 billion people, 56 nationalities, all dreams about "Flying Man Liu Xiang", all fell short at that moment.
This year, Liu Xiang was 25 years old, which should have been a golden age.
At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Liu Xiang retired from the tournament
Although his memory of 2008 is already mottled, he still clearly remembers the five minutes after he withdrew, "no one dared to come forward to disturb, and the whole world was surprisingly quiet".
He clearly remembers the coldness of the wet towel on his face, and the tears shed when the Olympic volunteers faced him.
"Whoever can beat me up wakes me up." Liu Xiang felt that "all this should not be true."
After leaving the Olympic arena due to injury, Liu Xiang was once again surrounded by public opinion, unlike the praise after the Athens Olympics, this time he was greeted with doubts and insults.
"Liu Ran", "Shadow Emperor", "Retired because he couldn't withstand the pressure"... Many people represented and judged Liu Xiang until 3 months later, when doctors removed three calcides and a bone spur from his foot – his injuries were far worse than expected.
Later, someone asked Liu Xiang why he didn't defend himself after retiring from the competition. Talk about your true thoughts, but also talk about your pain.
He thought for a moment and then replied, "It's hard, it was really hard back then." ”
A few days ago, at the Tokyo Olympic Games, Su Bingtian broke new history with a time of 9.83 seconds, becoming the first Chinese athlete to reach the men's 100-meter final of the Olympic Games.
In an interview after the game, he described Liu Xiang as an "idol" and a "lucky star" as his meaning to himself.
In 2015, Su Bingtian successfully ran into the best time of 10 seconds at this time, liu xiang was just present to witness
Shortly after this, "We all owe Liu Xiang an apology" once again set off a discussion, and Liu Xiang's response was:
"It's nothing, people grow, I understand."
In fact, Liu Xiang had said this before.
At that time, he retired from the 2012 London Olympics due to a ruptured Achilles tendon, and although everyone regretted it, they still expressed their understanding, and the discussion about "apology" also began that year.
In this regard, Liu Xiang rarely responded, but when recalling 2008, he mentioned only a few words:
"At that time, no one treated me like a human being, they all regarded me as a god, and it was incredible to think about it."
"I was okay with whatever was coming at me, and I did my best."
"I'm relieved."
In 2015, the 32-year-old Liu Xiang announced his retirement.
The last time he stood on the track as an athlete, he didn't wear spikes or go to the hurdles. He just jogged around the track and field field in the company of his former teammates and opponents, and finally waved goodbye to everyone.
Past glory and hurt are left on the runway he loves, he said:
"What's so great about retiring? I am content to be able to blow a gust of wind in an era. ”
At the 2012 London Olympics, Liu Xiang kissed the railing to bid farewell to the arena after retiring from the competition
After the Beijing Olympics, Liu Xiang went abroad to undergo surgery, and the person who introduced him to the doctor was Yao Ming — in the face of pain and doubt, he was a "senior".
If the two people's careers are placed in the same coordinate system, people will see multiple coincidence points in two undulating curves.
But in 2008, they ran in two diametrically opposed directions, one lonely and one brilliant.
Yao Ming led the Chinese team in the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games as a flag bearer
On the day Liu Xiang withdrew from the men's 110m hurdles due to injury, Yao Mingzheng led the Chinese men's basketball team to greece on the Olympic field, a "hero team" that had just won a silver medal in the World Basketball Championship.
Perhaps for some tactical reason, all the main players sat on the bench that night, and Yao Ming, as the core figure, played less than 18 minutes.
In the end, the Chinese team lost to the Greek team 77:91, and ten days later, it will play against a strong team in the European and even world basketball world, the Lithuanian men's basketball team.
From an objective point of view, "failure" seems to be a foregone conclusion, but many fans are not frustrated, because the Performance of the Chinese Men's Basketball Team in previous games has been good enough.
At that time, people who loved basketball did not know that the price behind "perfection" was for a top player to accelerate "aging".
Yao Ming 2008 Beijing Olympic Games
Since the Successful Advancement of the Chinese Men's Basketball Team at the Athens Olympic Games to the Quarterfinals, Yao Ming has always attracted the attention of everyone.
When will the Chinese men's basketball team return to the peak of Asia?
Can the Beijing Olympics once again advance to the quarterfinals?
Can the host team do more wonders?
Many hopes and responsibilities have accompanied Yao Ming throughout his career and reached its peak in 2008. Leading the Chinese men's basketball team to the Beijing Olympics, he has no choice, nor does he need a choice.
"Obey the Chinese basketball coordination at any time, including the Olympic Games, the World Championships, the Asian Games, the Asian Championships... and a series of major events. This is the guarantee that Yao Ming wrote before he went to the NBA, "The national game will be recalled."
Half a year before the opening of the Beijing Olympic Games, Yao Ming fractured his left foot, and the doctor's advice was:
Rest enough, pause the game, or the whole season that follows will be "reimbursed".
And Yao Ming's reply to this is:
"You can treat me any way you want, but please make sure to send me to the Beijing Olympic Games."
Perhaps even Yao Ming himself could not accurately predict what he would lose after making such a choice. But even so, he insisted:
"If the NBA is going to be reimbursed next season, then I apologize to the Rockets, but I can't miss the Beijing Olympics, the meaning is different."
2008 Beijing Olympics Yao Ming directly against Kobe Bryant
At 10:00 p.m. on August 10, 2008, the Sino-American war began.
Prior to this, the U.S. men's basketball team had not won the championship in a world competition for many years, and the Olympic battle was regarded as a "battle of redemption"; while the Chinese men's basketball team was beaten by the Russian team in the last internal teaching game before the game.
In contrast, the Chinese men's basketball team is not optimistic.
Before the official match, Yao Ming gathered the team members together and said something like this:
"The point of putting our hands together is to give ourselves to this team, and at the same time to carry this team on our shoulders, to lift this team to the highest place we can lift. That's it, that's what we're here for. ”
Entering amid shouts and playing in shouts, this night, the Chinese men's basketball team completed the game against the American Dream Eight team with an unexpected performance:
Yao Ming opened with three points, Sun Yue blocked Howard, Yi Jianlian dunked Anthony's basket hit, Chen Jianghua shook Kobe Bryant to win a one-two layup...
After two successful interceptions of Delong Williams, Yao Ming received a "foul", and at that time, his morale soared, and he chose to shout at all the American players on the field:
"I still have three fouls to play with you!"
Later, this half-demonstrative and half-joking "provocation" became a very proud thing for Yao Ming:
"I want to tell the players that everyone is the same and we don't need to look up at any team."
"Less to lose is to win, this is our home field, no one is allowed to play wild, we are like this."
On this night, the Chinese men's basketball team completed the match with the American men's basketball team with the smallest score difference in history 70:101, and since then it has been like a bamboo.
"I've been to the Olympics twice and none of them have played at home like I did in 2008. I resonated with the audience and the whole country. When I was in the gym, I really felt like I had 1.3 billion people in my heart. You really aren't alone in the fight, you can really play at a super level. ”
After completing the "battle of life and death" with Germany, the Chinese men's basketball team successfully entered the top 8, while Yao Ming's foot injury was so serious that he could hardly exert his strength, and the blood flowed out even wet his shoes.
At that moment, he seemed to realize something.
After the Beijing Olympics, Yao Ming rarely appeared on the field.
In 2011, he was officially retired after a third stress fracture of his left foot, a bone stress fracture injury caused by overuse.
This year, he was 31 years old, the golden age of basketball players.
In 2018, the "2008 Strongest Men's Basketball Team", which had played together in the Beijing Olympics, reunited after a gap of ten years. When the host asked "What are the most memorable memories of all these years?" When the player Wang Zhizhi replied:
"If you give me another chance, the ball that Sun Yue passed to me, I want to be able to take a half step back, (stepping on the three-point line) shoot a three-pointer, and we still have a chance to win."
Unfortunately, there is no if.
At the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, The Chinese men's basketball team Wang Zhizhi and the American men's basketball team Anthony
To this day, the performance of the Chinese men's basketball team at the Beijing Olympic Games is still talked about.
People marveled at the courage and enthusiasm of the Chinese men's basketball team that year, "although tens of millions of people are looking forward to it", but also missed every young person at that time.
Now, Yao Ming has stepped off the battlefield and become the president of the Chinese Basketball Association.
The brothers who fought together that year, only Yi Jianlian is still fighting on the pitch, but he is also 34 years old.
Yi Jianlian, 21, and Yao Ming, 28, at the 2008 Beijing Olympics
Yi Jianlian, 32, and Yao Ming, 39, of the 2019 World Cup
In the 2019 World Cup, the Chinese men's basketball team lost to Poland 76:79 due to a service error in the group stage, and then lost to Venezuela, losing to Nigeria in qualifying, creating the worst World Cup record in history and losing the qualification to the Tokyo Olympic Games.
After the game, the media used "complete defeat" to describe the World Cup journey of the Chinese men's basketball team, and when faced with a sharp question from the reporter who should be responsible for this, Yao Ming said a word in a categorical manner: "I".
"The sky is falling, and there are tall men on top."
For a long time, people liked to use such words to express their expectations and admiration for the "giant Yao Ming", and Yao Ming himself was willing to use this as a footnote to his career.
However, the hero will also grow old, when Yao Ming completely leaves the court one day, where should the Chinese men's basketball team go?
Where is China's next Yao Ming?
Group photo of the Chinese men's basketball team at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games
At the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, the Chinese men's basketball team also gained excitement and joy, as well as gymnasts.
On the day of the Chinese men's basketball team against Spain, the Chinese men's gymnastics team won the team championship by beating the old rival Japan and winning the 10th gold medal for the Chinese team.
After the defeat at the Athens Olympics, the Chinese gymnastics team was deeply saddened and frustrated for 4 years, and on that day, they finally lost their shame.
The men's team won the opening red for the Chinese gymnastics team, and the women's team doubled in confidence.
In the women's gymnastics team final held on the same day, this group of girls with an average age of less than 19 years old won the gold medal with 188.900 points, and this was the first time that the Chinese women's team won the Olympic women's team championship.
Because of their outstanding performances, these two teams that surprised countless people at the Beijing Olympic Games were called "the golden generation of Chinese gymnastics" by many people.
To this day, in 2008, they are still the goal of continuous learning and pursuit of future generations.
The moment when the men's gymnastics team won the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games
However, reality is always imperfect, and behind all seemingly happy endings, there must be stories of frustration.
In 2008, those slightly sad moments were concentrated on Cheng Fei's body.
2008 Beijing Olympic Games
Cheng Fei, who was just 20 years old
"Sister Fei just fell."
It was the first thing 17-year-old Deng Linlin heard when she returned to the rest area on the day of the team finals.
A few minutes ago, Cheng Fei, who was in charge of the balance beam, vaulting horse, and free gymnastics, made a mistake on the balance beam and fell off the equipment at the beginning of the game.
It was the only major mistake made by the whole team that day.
Four days later, the women's kurama final of the Beijing Olympic Games was held. Although there were mistakes before, everyone was not nervous, because the upcoming project was Cheng Fei's "best skill", and she had never lost her hand before.
Running, jumping, churning, landing...
At the end of the first jump, Cheng Fei was like a pin, firmly tied to the mat;
The second jump, the air movements are flowing, the audience is ready to celebrate, but the success or failure of the "vaulting horse" is changing rapidly, and when she lands, she kneels on the mat, and the whole audience is stunned.
It was this jump that became Cheng Fei's last memory of the Olympic Games.
Four years later, in 2012, at the age of 24, she retired from the army a month before the opening ceremony of the London Olympics due to injury.
There was no ceremony, no news, she just went to the hospital with a full body of pain for surgery, and then said a sentence with relief:
"It's over."
Looking back, Cheng Fei in 2008 was "unlucky".
But the reality is that compared with the lucky Olympic champions, more on the training ground and on the field are the frustrated "Cheng Fei".
3 years old to lay the foundation, 4 years old to practice movements, 16 years old to officially participate in the competition, 20 years old to face retirement.
This is almost the career of all female gymnasts, too many people stay outside the Olympic arena, too many people's dreams have ended before they even start...
How can a medal define them? They were also heroes.
The moment when the women's gymnastics team won the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games
Unlike others' clear memories of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, either painful or exciting, Lang Ping's memories of the event have always been complex.
This year, Lang Ping was 48 years old, announced his retirement for 22 years, and became the coach of the women's volleyball team for 19 years. In all her previous career, she never imagined that she would one day face such a scene:
At the Beijing Olympic Games, as the head coach of the American women's volleyball team, he led the team to challenge the Chinese women's volleyball team.
Lang Ping coached in the United States
Lang Ping rarely allowed herself to tangle because she was used to being firm. But only in 2008, she had a swing between "feelings" and "reason".
Lang Ping is very clear that as a professional coach, she has the responsibility to lead the coaching team to a higher podium, but as a former Member of the Chinese Women's Volleyball Team, she really can't abandon everything just for victory.
In the contradiction, before the start of the U.S. women's volleyball team against the Chinese women's volleyball team, Lang Ping said the following words to the players:
"Playing the Chinese team today, you all know my feelings for the Chinese women's volleyball team, so I won't say too much during the game, you can watch it yourself."
Soon after this was said, the American team defeated the Chinese team and regained the Olympic silver medal again after 24 years, and the criticism of "Lang Ping is a traitor" was also raging at this time.
In the face of questions, Lang Ping responded: "I coached the United States, absolutely not to defeat the Chinese team. I took the job as a professional coach and wanted to contribute to the volleyball career. But wherever I go, I always remember that I am a Chinese. ”
However, under the public opinion environment at that time, her speech was quickly drowned, until 2013, Lang Ping officially served as the head coach of the Chinese women's volleyball team, and her determination was seen by everyone.
Lang Ping of the 2021 Tokyo Olympics looked at the Chinese women's volleyball team and smiled
From the "women's volleyball main attacker" to the "women's volleyball head coach", Lang Ping felt that he had changed.
In the past, she only knew "rush, kill", but now she thinks more about patience and acceptance, and she knows that the future has a long way to go.
"When I decided to become the head coach of the Chinese women's volleyball team, it was already 3 o'clock in the evening. I calculated that there are still 4 years to go before retirement, and I can still do something, even if it is just to leave some experience and training methods for the Chinese women's volleyball team, but also bring a young coach, so I think it is still worth it. ”
In the process of coaching the Chinese women's volleyball team, August 21, 2016 is a highlight moment that needs to be remembered.
On this day, Lang Ping led the Chinese women's volleyball team to a 3-1 victory over Serbia and successfully won the championship at the Rio Olympic Games.
Cheers, reversals, miracles, gold medals.
After the game, people vividly described the glory and difficulty of the Chinese women's volleyball team along the way, but only a few months ago, this group of young women's volleyball girls was also described by some media as "a mess".
2016 Rio Olympic Games Chinese women's volleyball team won the championship group photo
Recalling the moment of winning the championship, Lang Ping had mixed feelings:
"According to the regulations, the coach can only watch the players in the audience receive the award, the coach does not have a medal, I was very lost, standing below looking at the women's volleyball girls, I think they are very beautiful."
That night, Lang Ping stood in the audience, his bright eyes looking at the podium, and he was sure to see his shadow when he was 21 years old.
In 1981, the year when the Chinese women's volleyball team won the world championship for the first time, Lang Ping was 21 years old (2 from the left holding the trophy)
In 2016, the year when the Chinese women's volleyball team won the Olympic Championship, Lang Ping was 56 years old (in the middle of the first row)
"We are very determined, what have we been doing for so many years?" Just for this day. ”
This is what Lang Ping said when he recalled that in 1981, the Chinese women's volleyball team won the world championship for the first time.
35 years later, the same firmness was reproduced by the young new women's volleyball girl:
"Don't be afraid to lose after you play, and don't want to lose. What are we here for? We're here to win. ”
After the Rio Olympics, Lang Ping was determined to lead the women's volleyball team to fight in Tokyo again.
In the past four years, the Chinese women's volleyball team has become more and more courageous in major competitions, and they are full of confidence in the Tokyo Olympics, but they do not want to be completely disturbed by the sudden epidemic.
Looking back at the performance of the women's volleyball girls in this year's Olympic Games, it seems difficult for everyone to say the word "satisfied".
After the start of the group match, the Chinese women's volleyball team suffered three consecutive defeats and walked out of the "final circle" in advance, setting the worst result in the history of the Olympic Games, which made people infinitely lamentable.
Illness, accidents, frustration, disappointment.
Many not-so-positive words constitute the Chinese women's volleyball team's journey to the Tokyo Olympics, and also end Lang Ping's final battle as "head coach".
Lang Ping, 61, is retiring.
Lang Ping at the Scene of the Tokyo Olympics
In the face of parting, Lang Ping frankly said that "the dream of volleyball is almost realized", she does not deny that she still has regrets, and believes that there will be "back waves" to create glory in the future, but she thinks that "I will accompany my family in the future." ”
The Chinese women's volleyball team members at the Tokyo Olympic Games bowed and thanked Lang Ping
From the 2008 Beijing Olympics to the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, 13 years of sun and moon rotation, some of the glory has been sealed in the past, and some stories continue to this day.
Leaving the arena, Liu Xiang and Yao Ming invariably began the cause of children's physical education.
They want children to know that a healthy body is the foundation for moving to a higher level, and "sports" is never only "physical strength", but also "faster, higher, stronger" spirit of inquiry.
After retiring from the army, Yao Ming set up the Yao Foundation to help more children complete their basketball dreams
Leaving the arena, the former Olympic veteran has embarked on a longer-term "future plan". Through 13 years, these lights emitted by 2008 also illuminate 2021.
Looking closely at the Tokyo Olympics, it is not difficult for people to find many tacit linkages between the "past" and the "future".
When guo Jingjing, the "diving queen", was preparing for the Beijing Olympics, she took a group photo with a little girl before a training session.
Later, this shy child also won the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics, her name is Zhang Jiaqi;
Zhang Jiaqi, who was only 4 years old before the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and Guo Jingjing, 27 years old
Zhang Jiaqi, a 17-year-old who is already a world champion at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, and his partner Chen Yaoxi, 16 years old
On the day that Su Bingtian refreshed the speed of Asia, Liu Xiang wrote on Weibo that "in the final, please lend him a little good luck."
Exactly the same thing he had said at the Athens Olympics, and then the "Chinese flyer" appeared.
Liu Xiang cheered himself on at the 2004 Athens Olympics
Liu Xiang at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics adds oil to Su Bing
Malone became the first olympic table tennis men's singles champion and became the first male table tennis player in history to "double-lap Grand Slam".
2021 Tokyo Olympics Ma Long wins the title "Bixin"
Few people know that his former coach in charge was called Ma Lin, who won two gold medals in the Beijing Olympic Games: "Men's Team" and "Men's Singles";
At the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, Marlene won the championship
Yao Ming led the Chinese women's basketball team to the Olympic Games.
Like the Chinese men's basketball team in 2008, the women's basketball girls also successfully advanced to the top 8;
Yao Ming and the Chinese women's basketball team
……
The veteran is still there, passing on the torch;
New people are born and live forever.
This explains why people can still get a lot of collective resonance even in 100-meter races, weightlifting, fencing, shooting, which seem to require "going it alone".
Rather than individual heroism, Chinese worship the same boat, honor and disgrace.
The Tokyo Olympics are coming to an end, and the Chinese team is about to return home with a full load.
As in 2008, it was still a battle of laughter and tears. But the difference is that people outside the arena have already gone through the days of "no gold".
This is a further understanding of sportsmanship and a manifestation of collective self-confidence:
We are not afraid to lose, but we are always ready to win.
What is even more gratifying is that compared with the past, in the process of this Olympic Games, in the face of the situation of missing gold medals and medals, Chinese netizens have given understanding, tolerance and encouragement time and again.
Tokyo Olympics Chinese national team group photo Looking back at 2008, everyone can find their own exclusive memories. For you in 2008, is it tears, is it regret, or is it a year that never goes back?
Based on 2021, everyone has expectations. Everyone should work on this, because only then can the tears and sweat of the past be meaningful.
Goodbye, Beijing Olympics;
Goodbye, forever 2008...