After the two Chinese players crossed the line, they did not know that they had won the championship, and they were so uncomfortable that they constantly blamed themselves and slapped their heads. At the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, Meng Guanliang/Yang Wenjun represented the Chinese team in the men's double rowing 500m final. China had never won a single Olympic gold medal in kayaking before, and the two appeared on the fourth channel carrying the hopes of the people of the whole country. On this day, there was a sudden strong wind on the field, and the wind direction was still reversed, which had a great impact on the players.
At the beginning of the game, Meng Guanliang / Yang Wenjun made a mistake in starting, after Meng Guanliang went down the first paddle, Yang Wenjun actually did not keep up, and the two made the wrong paddle, resulting in the first half has been lagging behind. After 250 meters, Hungary ranked first, Russia second and Canada third. The Chinese team is still in fourth place, and at this rate, there is no hope of winning the championship. But they did not give up, just care about the hard work of the oars, just a few tens of seconds later, the two people cooperated more and more tacitly, the frequency is faster and faster, you can clearly see that their boat is constantly narrowing the gap with the top three. Just in the last 20 meters, the competition for the medal was very fierce, and the Russian team was slightly ahead. At the moment of crossing the line, the Chinese team's performance was 1 minute 40 seconds 278, Cuba's 1 minute 40 seconds 350, Russia's 1 minute 40 seconds 442, and in the end, the Chinese team led by a slight advantage and won the championship.
At this time, the two players did not know their results, and unknowingly saw the Cuban players next to them celebrating happily. Self-blame and chagrin, Meng Guanliang and Yang Wenjun hung their heads in frustration, and even slapped their heads in the head, and when the referee told them that they had won the championship, they were still a little surprised and disbelieving. After repeated confirmation with the reporter, Yang Wenjun shed tears of excitement, and Meng Guanliang was also excited and his voice trembled a little. It turned out that the Cuban athletes were celebrating their runner-up, and in this battle, Meng Guanliang/Yang Wenjun made history for China to win the first Olympic gold medal in the kayaking event. The good news is that at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the two defended the men's 500m double rowing championship.