The Paper's reporter Pu Yaolei and Ma Zuoyu were sent from Tokyo
Hou Zhihui finally put on the gold medal.
When India's Mirabay chose 117 kilograms in the last trial and gave up the championship in advance, Hou Zhihui was still immersed in his own world, excluding all external interference.
Until she saw coach Wang Guoxin walking towards her, with a sad face with an unconcealed excitement, she knew in her heart that this gold medal had been won.
In the embrace with the coach, Hou Zhihui's tears came out of his eyes, but this was the happiest tear. This time, she didn't have to cry because she didn't qualify for the Olympics because of her injury, as she did in Rio.
Turning tears of pain into tears of joy, she crossed not only five years, but also countless sweat and despair - but it was all worth it.
Hou Zhihui celebrated winning the championship.
Victory will be late, but not absent
Hou Zhihui stood on the women's 49 kg field at the Tokyo Olympics, but she was wearing the same competition uniform as she was issued at the Rio 2016 Olympics.
Fast forward to that summer five years ago, when she was supposed to wear this dress to win the gold medal for the Chinese delegation, but the vision turned into a cruel blow in an instant.
Originally, she had already followed the Chinese delegation to Rio, but on August 1, when the opening of the Olympic Games was just around the corner, her participation was temporarily replaced and turned into Meng Suping, who participated in the women's 75 kg or more class, the Olympic stage, which suddenly moved away from her.
What made the delegation finally make the decision to replace people was the hidden danger of Hou Zhihui's injuries and illness at that time. She had a knee injury before the Olympics and hesitated when the weightlifting team decided on the roster.
At the same time, the 75 kg or over class was banned for having a strong opponent, which increased the hope of the Chinese team to win gold in the project, and Hou Zhihui became the one who was "sacrificed".
Later, Hou Zhihui used "collapse" to describe her feelings at that time, coach Zhou Jihong wanted to hug and comfort her, Hou Zhihui said "you don't want to be so good to me" refused.
The pain in her heart was known only to herself.
At that time, Hou Zhihui, who was only 19 years old, cried for a whole noon, but this time, she finally did not have to taste the pain anymore.
After winning the Gold Medal at the Tokyo Olympics, Hou Zhihui also cried, but she said that she "only cried a little": "After all, I am still more happy." ”
After winning the championship, the first thing she wanted to do was to "hurry back to the room and take a rest", contact her parents and family, and share this great joy with them - "it is also a completion of her dream." ”
Wearing a Rio Olympic games uniform with a somewhat "misplaced" time, Hou Zhihui's body seems to really carry the fierce energy that makes up for the regrets of five years ago - all 6 trials were successful, breaking two Olympic records and winning the championship. Hou Zhihui said that he may also have really "brought the faith of 2016" with him.
This gold medal, which she had planned to hold in her hand five years ago, was a little late, but she finally took it back.
Five years, sweat and despair
It seems that Hou Zhihui's gold medal came without effort, and the strongest opponent, Mirabai, could only give up surrender early.
But before the game began, Hou Zhihui was constantly having small problems.
"I slept late the night before and didn't sleep very well." What makes it difficult for her to sleep is not only excitement but also nervousness. This long-awaited trip to the Olympics has actually kept her nerves in a state of high tension.
And when the race was approaching, there was a thrilling scene - when weighing, she weighed more than 0.1 kilograms, she hurried to run under the hot sun, let herself sweat quickly, and then wiped the sweat dry and weighed, and then she would meet the weight requirements.
Fortunately, these episodes did not affect her on-field performance in the end, and no one was able to pose too much of a threat to her. After the game, on the Internet, the pictures of her drinking water from the thermos and the coach giving her the smell of oil became a hot search, creating an atmosphere in which the gold medal came to be weightless.
But the spirit and body that can lift such a weight, of course, cannot be easily obtained.
"To practice well, not to fight luck, the success of the six tests is not a casual practice." Coach Kingdom said this to reporters after the new game. As the closest person to his disciple, he knew how much Hou Zhihui had paid along the way.
After the rio Olympics took a hit, the shadow of injury did not leave Hou Zhihui. In 2017, her knee was injured again, and various treatment methods were basically used over and over again, and she herself could not see clearly whether there was a new peak in the future.
Even more terrible than physical injuries are psychological exhaustion and confusion. In an interview earlier this year, she recalled that time: "In recent years, I have often wondered if I was too bad, and I was often cranky, unstable, and more and more suspicious of myself when playing. ”
Until the Tokyo Olympics, she was still doubting herself - is she capable of winning the championship? Is there any qualification for the championship? At this time, coach Wang Guoxin pushed her hard.
"(Hou Zhihui) it is easy to do nothing as soon as she arrives at the standoff, and she also told me before today that she felt a little flustered. I said you can rest assured, listen to me without thinking about anything, and I will teach you how to work hard. ”
"After all, this is a big competition, the pressure is too great, this is what ordinary people may not feel, at this time we must firmly support her."
From green to mature, this is the time of harvest
In fact, the time for the kingdom to bring Hou Zhihui was not very long, and Hou Zhihui only came to his group in June last year. At first, Wang Guoxin chose to focus on the psychology of the disciples rather than on the technique.
"The first thing I take her is to build trust, the most important thing between people is communication and trust, without communication and trust, all the motivation cannot be mobilized and played."
On the one hand, what Hou Zhihui needs to get rid of is the painful memories of the Rio Olympics: "The shadow of that blow in 2016 on the child is too great, and several times she will feel that there is no hope in practice, and she has suffered so much (can't see the future)." ”
On the other hand, Wang Guoxin also wanted to change Hou Zhihui's slightly immature personality.
Previously, Hou Zhihui had a more urgent temper, was prone to be stubborn, and was therefore prone to conflicts with others. For such a situation, Wang Guoxin chose to use the "combination of soft and hard" method to resolve.
Hou Zhihui bowed in thanks.
"Strict and love must coexist, just love is not enough, this child used to be much more spoiled, but when it comes to my side, playing a big card is definitely not OK." If you're going to mess with me and come with your personality, it's impossible. But if you want to be reasonable, you can talk about anything, and we are equal. ”
"She once said that she eats soft and not hard, and I told him that I am more ruthless than you, but we have one, to be reasonable, not to be more temperamental." 」
While adhering to scientific strictness in training and speaking with actually improved achievements, Wang Guoxin will really care about his disciples, and even sometimes he will do the work of a physiotherapist to help disciples relax their muscles.
"In my heart, she is her own child, even closer than my children, and she really treats you as a parent." 」
From the previous frizziness and greenness to the current gradual stability, Wang Guoxin witnessed the growth of his disciples, "This time (the Olympic Games) I felt that everything was smooth and mature. ”
When the gold medal fell into the bag and the two masters and apprentices embraced together, Wang Guoxin couldn't help but shed tears and said with emotion: "'Monkey' (Hou Zhihui's nickname), we have suffered hardships, all of which have been rewarded." ”
Tears slid down their eyes, and a new champion was born from tempering and transformation.
Editor-in-Charge: Ascendas
Proofreader: Ding Xiao