On the afternoon of August 6, the women's 20 km race walk at the Tokyo Olympic Games, the defending champion Liu Hong won the bronze medal. 1 hour, 29 minutes and 57 seconds, 20 kilometers of track, every step Liu Hong has taken, has witnessed how she became a "legendary athlete".
Liu Hong is the world record holder for the women's 20 km and 50 km race walk, and is a double champion at both the World Championships and the Olympic Games. After winning the 2016 Rio Olympics, she chose to return to her family. In October 2018, after giving birth to her daughter, Liu Hong, who could not let go of the race walk, chose to make a comeback.
Tokyo is her fourth Olympic appearance. For the "elder of the four dynasties" of the Olympic Games, the meaning and value of this bronze medal no longer need to be defined by its color.
Photo by Xinhua News Agency
In order to alleviate the financial pressure of the family to deepen, the unexpected harvest of professional training methods
Speaking of her talent, Liu Hong believes that it may be related to the family environment. Growing up in the countryside of Jiangxi, there were mountains and water, "At that time, there was a lot of physical exercise, and the pressure to learn was not great." Liu Hong recalled that her childhood life was basically spent swimming in the river and climbing mountains, "so the body is very strong, and the physical condition will definitely be better." ”
In 2002, Liu Hong, a junior high school graduate, faced two choices – to join the professional team or to go to high school to take the university entrance examination. Liu Hong's eldest brother also practiced race walking, and entered the Jiangxi Provincial Professional Team after graduating from the third year of junior high school. Since the family has three children, the eldest brother has tuition and living expenses in the provincial team, so the family needs a loan to be able to afford it. "If I enter the provincial team again, I have to provide for two people, which my mother finds more difficult."
When it comes to the provincial games, because of the coach's health, the race walking team needs to be disbanded. "I suddenly had no direction because I was ready to enter the provincial team." Just when the coach of the Futian District Sports Team came to Jiangxi to select Seedlings, "He took a fancy to me and asked me if I would like to come to Shenzhen." ”
Shenzhen is a city, Liu Hong has heard from the mouths of people working in the village, saying that Shenzhen is good and is a big city. But after hearing that there was no need to pay money to come to Shenzhen, and the tuition and food fees were saved, Liu Hong was more moved, "If you practice well, you can still enter the team to issue subsidies, which can alleviate the economic pressure at home, and send me to Shenzhen the next day." ”
After entering the sports team, it takes three months of trial training to perform well before staying. "I was working very hard and I had to stay." Liu Hong, as the youngest athlete, can only participate in the competition of the junior group, "I often practice by myself, Shenzhen is a very hot environment, but also adhere to long-distance sports, there is a certain degree of adaptation." ”
With the persistence of her dream, Liu Hong persevered and became a full team member after 3 months. At that time, she also won the first place in the 3,000-meter running event of the Shenzhen Municipal Games. Liu Hong recalled, "For me, Shenzhen was my first stop as a professional race walker, which opened the chapter of my dream. ”
Unwilling to play inwardly, Rio won the championship and quickly returned
Liu Hong has always wanted to storm the Olympic gold medal. In 2012, Liu Hong was at her peak, but only achieved the fourth place result. In order to make up for her regrets, Liu Hong insisted on it for another 4 years. But at the time of the Rio Olympics, 29-year-old Liu Hong was already an "old player" in the athletics team. Recalling the preparations for the Rio Olympics, Liu Hong admitted that the voice of doubt at that time was incessant, "At such an old age, can you bear such a heavy responsibility?" "Will the ability still be maintained?"
In the 2015 IAAF Race Walking Challenge de La Coruña, she broke the women's world record for race walking in 1 hour, 24 minutes and 38 seconds. "At that time, in fact, all the championships were won, and the Olympic Games could achieve their own Grand Slams, and I was very motivated and eager to win the championship."
On August 20, 2016, Liu Hong finally realized her dream of the Olympic Games. In the women's 20 km race walk at the Rio Olympics, she won the championship in 1 hour, 28 minutes and 35 seconds. After successfully winning the Olympic gold medal, Liu Hong felt that her life was very complete. "All the medals have been won and it's time to rest." More than ten years of hard work and preparation have indeed made Liu Hong feel tired.
In the same year, Liu Hong chose to fade out of the line and marry Liu Xue. Liu Hong, who returned to the family, soon became pregnant, and in January 2018, Liu Hong gave birth to her daughter Xixi.
During the days of maternity leave, Liu Hong's physical state gradually recovered, and out of her love for athletics, she threw herself into other sports - triathlon, cross-country competitions, Liu Hong went to try it. "I think it's interesting, it makes me think more openly, and I feel that my abilities are stronger than I thought."
And such an attempt made Liu Hong more certain that he was talented. In addition, after spending several years abroad, Liu Hong has seen many female athletes who can still return to the field after giving birth to children and create good results. In addition, Liu Hong considered that after she gave birth to a child, if she successfully made a comeback, the topicality of the "pregnant mother" athlete would make her more concerned, "I need this heat, everyone can only pay attention to me, in order to make the heat of the race walk go further." In October 2018, Liu Hong decided to make a comeback.
Comeback training is seven to eight, and late at night you have to get up to milk babies
Mr. Liu Xue is the former track and field team doctor and also has experience in the sports industry, and the husband and wife decided to form a small family team to prepare for the competition. After the child was weaned, Liu Hong started a comeback plan.
When pregnant, Liu Hong weighed 72 kilograms, and although her weight after weight loss was only 56 kilograms, her muscles also fell out, and her bones also needed to be adjusted. In Liu Hong's view, the comeback can only start from the recovery of physical fitness.
Liu Hong can't eat meat outside at will, and basically can only eat some simple vegetables at home, "either spicy and hot, or vegetable salad." Liu Hong also needs to arrange a full amount of exercise to restore her physical strength. Drive to the yoga studio at 7:30 a.m., an hour away and start practicing.
After practicing yoga, Liu Hong will go to the park to practice special projects, stay until noon to eat lunch and rest for half an hour, and then drive to the gym, and use it for physical training in the afternoon. "It takes 4-5 hours to drive between the three places, I go out at 7 o'clock every day, go home at 8 o'clock at night, and feel like the whole person is about to collapse at night."
Because the child was not fully accustomed to weaning at that time, he would get up at night to take care of the child, and the physical exertion coupled with lack of sleep made Liu Hong feel collapsed. Fortunately, after more than ten years of exercise accumulation, the body has a memory. She confessed that the first three months were the most painful, "just rely on your own willpower, you must restrain yourself." ”
Because of insufficient nutrition, Liu Hong's functional indicators are not too good. But fortunately, the weight fell quickly, and I lost weight all at once. Three months later, Liu Hong's weight dropped from 56 kg to 50 kg, and her body fat rate reached 20%, relying on the recovery plan she and Liu Xue explored together, as well as her strong willpower.
Get the process right, and the result is the best
In the national team, Liu Hong walks 20 or 30 kilometers a day. In order to improve Liu Hong's physical fitness, the two decided to reduce the amount of training. "In the past, it was practiced in the morning and afternoon, but now it is a special practice in the morning, and in the afternoon, I do recovery training, such as yoga and other exercises for physical flexibility. The improvement of physical function is actually more helpful for my recovery. ”
Looking back on the training, it simply could not reach Liu Hong's previous amount. On September 30, 2019, in the women's 20 km race walk final at the 2019 Doha Athletics World Championships, Liu Hong won the championship with a time of 1 hour 32 minutes and 53 seconds. This verifies that the training ideas and methods of the two are correct.
In mid-2020, Liu Hong traveled to the Kunming Plateau to prepare for the battle to maintain the best state. Liu Hong said in an interview, "We decided to make some concessions on the training site, since last June, our whole family has gone to Live in Kunming, our daughter is in the local kindergarten, and we have been training in Kunming for a long time." ”
On the afternoon of August 6, the Women's 20 km Race at the Tokyo Olympics was held in Sapporo Odori Park. At the beginning of the competition, Liu Hong took the lead. After 6 kilometers, Liu Hong ranked 5th. After 12 kilometers, Liu Hong rose to 3rd. After 15 kilometers, Liu Hong rose to 1st, which was 1 hour, 08 minutes and 29 seconds. In the last 5 kilometers, Liu Hong's pace dropped slightly, finishing in 1 hour, 29 minutes and 57 seconds, and finally ranked third, winning a valuable bronze medal.
Unlike her previous three Olympic experiences, 34-year-old Liu Hong also enjoys the arena more than ever. In an interview, Liu Hong said, "Do a good job in the process, play your own level, and the result will be the best." ”
"It is not easy for Liu Hong to win the bronze medal. Congratulations too! Han Xingyuan, inspector of the Shenzhen Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television, Tourism and Sports, said, "No matter what the color of this medal, Liu Hong is still a hero in the hearts of the people of Shenzhen and the pride of Shenzhen!" Liu Hong makes a board sample for young athletes! I would like to express my sincerest respect to Liu Hong and the coaching team. ”
Special topic coordinator: Nandu reporter Qiu Moshan
Written by: Nandu reporter Zhang Xinyi Intern Huang Jingyi