Because there is a spirit of not accepting defeat, it can swim better and better
——Remembering Ma Jia, the first gold medalist in Hebei in the swimming event of the 11th National Paralympic Games
On October 23, Ma Jia was competing in the women's SB11 class 100m breaststroke at the 11th National Paralympic Games. Hebei Daily reporter Zhang Hao photographed
On the morning of October 23, on the first competition day of the swimming event of the 11th National Paralympic Games, Hebei athlete Ma Jia won the women's SB11 class 100-meter breaststroke championship, exceeding the world record, which was also the first gold medal of the Hebei delegation in the swimming event of the Paralympic Games.
Many Chinese know ma jia, a Hebei girl, probably from the women's S11 class 50m freestyle at this summer's Tokyo Para games, Ma Jia won the world championship in the rematch.
In the women's S11 50m freestyle at the Tokyo Paralympic Games on August 27 this year, Ma Jia, who swam a personal best of 29.46 seconds and set a new world record, received news of a rematch.
Dramatically, in the rematch, she broke herself again, breaking the record she had set two days ago with a time of 29.20 seconds and winning the pool with absolute strength.
It was precisely because of this rematch that Ma Jia once received the attention of the people of the whole country at that time, and many netizens also liked this Hebei girl from then on, and Ma Jia's legend in the pool was far more than this.
From "dry duck" to national champion, it is inseparable from gritting teeth and persevering
On October 23, Ma Jia greeted the audience at the scene of the women's SB11 level 100m breaststroke competition at the 11th National Paralympic Games. Hebei Daily reporter Zhang Hao photographed
Ma Jia, 23, from rural Xingtang County, Hebei Province, suffers from congenital visual impairment. Because of the various inconveniences caused by disability, Ma Jia admitted that when she was a child, she was very inferior and unwilling to communicate with people.
According to Ma Jia's coach, Ma Jia was only noticed during the second selection, and due to her good physical condition, Ma Jia began to enter the Shijiazhuang Disabled Swimming Team for trial training.
Ma Jia had never practiced swimming before. She still vividly remembers that when she first walked to the pool and the coach asked the team to jump into the water from the starting platform, she had to jump her scalp, and her body was slapped by the water. Bigger challenges lie ahead. A waist, abdomen and lower limb strength training should be jumped around the basketball court frog ten times, a pool training session to swim five or six kilometers... The physical training made this thin girl suffer a lot.
According to Ma Jia's recollection, at that time, after a day of training, he couldn't stand up on the ground, and he felt that he couldn't hold on. In addition, at that time, she was not used to living alone outside, she was very homesick, and after training at night, she often shed tears in the bed, and even did not want to practice for a while.
Ma Jia's mother, Liu Hongxia, also suffers from visual disabilities, because she does not want her daughter to be "trapped" at home like herself, and can only encourage her to persevere, hoping that she can become self-reliant and self-reliant through participating in sports.
Ma Jia finally did not live up to her family's expectations and gritted her teeth and persevered. The first time she participated in a national competition, she won the championship. Since then, Ma Jia has trained harder and paid more in return – 6 gold medals at the 2014 National Paralympic Swimming Championships, 3 gold medals at the 2015 National Paralympic Games and breaking the national record for the women's 100m breaststroke, 8 gold medals at the 2017 National Para swimming championships...
It was a bit "clueless" to know that the replay was re-entered and then win again
Looking back on the experience of this year's Tokyo Paralympic rematch, Ma Jia is still impressed.
Ma Jia said: "When I rushed to the finish line and learned that the time was 29.46 seconds, I couldn't help but cheer 'so fast'! "It was Ma Jia's best result at the time, and she couldn't imagine appearing on the highest court. Even before the race, Ma Jia did not expect to win the championship, which felt incredible.
However, after the game, Ma Jia and his silver medal teammates were not notified to go to the podium for the award ceremony. At that time, Ma Jia was very anxious and did not know what was going on. Later, it was learned that it was a Dutch player who complained to the organizing committee and was recognized, so the final result was cancelled and the rematch was carried out.
Ma Jia said: "The moment I received the news of the rematch, I was still a little 'confused'. ”
However, Ma Jia quickly adjusted her mentality, abided by the regulations of the organizing committee, and actively cooperated. Ma Jia said: "I was still more confident at the time, I played better than once in this competition, and achieving results is a huge breakthrough for me. My personal best of 29.46 seconds, since I can swim once, I should be able to swim a second time. ”
To Ma Jia's surprise, she swam 29.20 seconds in the rematch, breaking the world record again. After the race, Ma Jia finally stood on the highest podium, and the dream became a reality.
"Listening to the national anthem ringing in my ears, imagining the red flag slowly rising, the scene of more than ten years of training life is like a movie turning over in my mind." Ma Jia said that the reason why he can achieve the current results is because he has a spirit of not accepting defeat, so he can swim better and better.
Quarantine period to prepare for the National Games, find a "sense of water" in the bathtub
Ma Jia (third from left) presented the awards at the Women's SB11 100m Breaststroke Competition at the 11th National Paralympic Games. Hebei Daily reporter Zhang Hao photographed
After returning from Tokyo, Ma Jia entered the quarantine period, and she strictly followed the training schedule, using auxiliary equipment to strengthen physical exercise in the room, and actively prepared for the 11th National Paralympic Games.
"In fact, there has been no systematic training for a long time, and at that time, my heart was also a little bottomless." Even every day, I would bubble in the bathtub of the isolated hotel and look for the feeling of water. Ma Jia said: "For the results, my mentality is the same as participating in the Tokyo Paralympic Games, the ranking is not important, train well, and compete with myself." ”
On the morning of October 23, after Ma Jia won the women's SB11 class 100-meter breaststroke championship at the 11th National Paralympic Games, she said in an interview with the media: "Strive for a good result in the next competition, and hope to break through myself again." (Reporter Kong Siyuan)