On the afternoon of August 1, the final of the first solo event of diving at the 2020 Olympic Games ended at the Tokyo Aquatic Center. Without any accident, the two post-90s veterans Shi Tingmao and Wang Han, who represented China's "Dream Team", scored 383.50 points and 348.75 points respectively, winning the gold and silver medals in the women's 3m springboard final, continuing the strength of the Chinese diving team since the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games, and achieving the ninth consecutive Olympic championship in the project. Shi Tingmao, who won the championship, became the fourth athlete to successfully win the championship in this event after Gao Min, Fu Mingxia and Guo Jingjing. As in the Rio Olympics, Shi Tingmao once again ended the Olympic journey with two golds, increasing his Olympic title to four, equaling his predecessor Guo Jingjing, second only to Wu Minxia and Chen Ruolin, who won 5 Olympic champions. Moreover, Shi Tingmao is also the second athlete after Guo Jingjing to complete the women's 3m springboard single and double events in the Olympic Games.
After winning the championship, Shi Tingmao cried with joy. As a veteran born in 1991, if only the single event is counted, Shi Tingmao is undoubtedly the oldest female player in the "Dream Team" to win the Olympic Games, surpassing Guo Jingjing, who won gold at the Beijing Olympic Games, and Wu Minxia at the London Olympic Games, both of whom were 27 years old when they won the championship. Even counting the doubles, Shi Tingmao is the third-oldest Olympic champion on the Chinese women's diving team, behind Wu Minxia (31), who won the doubles title at rio, and his teammate Wang Han at the Tokyo Olympics (a difference of 7 months).
Mr. Shi was 25 years old when he first competed in the Olympics. If you compare it to Chen Yaoxi, who just won the gold medal in the women's double 10-meter platform just a few days ago, chen Taoxi, who is only 16 years old, or look at the Guangdong little girl Quan Hongchan who is about to participate in the single 10-meter platform competition, Shi Tingmao's eyes are all about herself ten years ago, but when she was a teenager, she did not enter the national first team. It was not until the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou that Shi Tingmao, who was nearly 20 years old, had the opportunity to experience the feeling of a formal international comprehensive competition under the purpose of the diving team's almost training, and it was only a weak Asian event. Therefore, Shi Tingmao is particularly envious of those young players who can represent the "Dream Team" in the World Series early.
On November 22, 2010, Shi Tingmao/Wang Han won the Asian Games women's doubles 3m board final
For veterans like Shi Tingmao, experience is certainly their advantage, but at the same time, they face greater challenges and pay more than young players in terms of physical fitness and post-training recovery. Shi Tingmao was very emotional that the little teammates around Chen Taoxi, Zhang Jiaqi, and Quan Hongchan had met a good time, and they were so young, the combined age of the two people was the same age as himself. Shi Tingmao said: "Now our training conditions are so good, the state is so supportive, in terms of equipment, equipment, participation opportunities and other aspects are very thoughtful, these children are really happy." But they are still young, a lot of things need to take time to understand, but also need to accumulate experience in the game, these are my strengths, I will try to give them some advice as much as possible. ”
Stingmao at the Rio Olympics
In fact, after winning the Rio Olympic Games, Shi Tingmao has already fulfilled his wish, and it is a double crown at once. At the same time, various honors have followed, such as her election to the 2016 FINA Female Diver of the Year, and this year, she was also awarded the National May Day Labor Medal by the All-China Federation of Trade Unions. After Shi Tingmao, who has gained fame and fortune, began practicing gymnastics at the age of 5, began to learn diving at the age of 8, and nearly 20 years of hard training, he can actually receive it when he sees it, and he is injured. The increase in age also makes her no longer have more space to recover like a small player.
Shi Tingmao's heart is not unshaken, but the needs of the national team and his love for diving have made this Chongqing girl persist with tenacious perseverance, and once she said in an interview with reporters, "My grandfather said that in my name, 'Ting' means 'country', 'Mao' refers to hard work, and naming me 'Tingmao' is to hope that I can work hard to contribute to the country." Therefore, she and Wang Han, the two big sisters of the diving team of the same age, together with their own efforts, continued to maintain the honor of the women's 3m springboard event for the Chinese team, and the performance was impeccable, the stability of the copper wall, in the Olympic cycle from Rio to Tokyo, it was impossible to find any report that they lost in single and double competitions, so that the medals fell to the hands of other teams.
Now Shi Tingmao, in addition to being the four gold medalists in the Olympic Games, is also a doctoral student in the School of Physical Education of Southwest University, and she will play for her hometown in the Shaanxi National Games in a short period of time, but she has not made a clear statement on how to go in the future. Whether she still wants to stick with it until three years later, she has perfected her career.
Text/Beiqing Sports Liu Ailin