The Paper's reporter Ma Zuoyu and Pu Yaolei are from Tokyo
Gong Lijiao in the game.
21 is Gong Lijiao's favorite number, so in 2021, in the 21st year of practicing shot put, Gong Lijiao fulfilled his Olympic gold medal dream.
On the morning of August 1, at the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo, Gong Lijiao threw her personal bests of 19.95 meters, 19.98 meters, 20 meters 53 and 20 meters 58 in the women's shot put final, winning her first Olympic gold medal without suspense, showing "China's power"!
"It was my peak, as long as I stayed competitive and not injured, I would have won half of the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics." This is a bold statement made by Gong Lijiao in an exclusive interview with the surging news before.
Now, it's all a reality, and she holds the gold medal firmly in her hands in Tokyo.
Gong Lijiao is domineering.
10 seconds of stunning opening, gold medal dream tokyo
Before Gong Lijiao came to Tokyo, she had already shown an excellent competitive state.
At the women's shot put event at the 2021 National Athletics Championships and Tokyo Olympic Trials on June 13, Gong Lijiao threw an excellent result of 20 meters 31 to win the championship, while creating the best in the world this season.
At that time, Gong Lijiao was also the first female shot put player to shoot the 20-meter mark this season.
Two weeks later, at the National Athletics Championships, Gong Lijiao set a new world best of the season, throwing 20 meters 39.
Just looking at Gong Lijiao's winning results, it is not enough to show her strength - in six throws, her last three shots are above 20 meters, which are 20 meters 18, 20 meters 30 and 20 meters 39. Even the worst 20m 18, in this year's women's shot put world rankings, surpasses all other opponents.
With such an aura, Gong Lijiao stood on the track and field of the Tokyo Olympic Games. In the qualifiers, Gong Lijiao took the lead in the debut, the first shot threw a score of 19 meters 46, far more than the 18 meters 80 promotion results, only 10 seconds, Gong Lijiao "clocked out of work" and completed the opening show of the Tokyo Olympic Games.
But in the Olympic arena, Gong Lijiao is not without opponents.
In late June, 30-year-old American Ramsey won the Olympic Trials with 20 meters 12 meters, becoming the second athlete this season to throw more than 20 meters. In addition, there is Valerie Adams, the sister of NBA center Adams.
But in Tokyo, Gong Lijiao defeated all his opponents in the most direct way. As Gong Lijiao said in a previous interview, "I am looking forward to competing with Adams, because many people say that every time I win the World Championship because she did not come, she gave it to me." So I want to be able to play with her, to catch up with her, which is called strength crushing. ”
The elders of the four dynasties, in the twists and turns, go to legend
"Crushing" all opponents in a head-on confrontation has always been what Gong Lijiao hopes to do, after all, the past three Olympic Games have been too tortuous for Gong Lijiao.
At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Gong Lijiao threw 19 meters 20 meters in the final, and the final result was only 5th. But the dramatic turning point was that the two Belarusian players who won the silver and bronze medals in the event were found to have used illegal drugs, and Gong Lijiao was replaced as a bronze medalist, and 11 years later, in 2019, he received a medal.
At the London Olympics 9 years ago, Gong Lijiao threw a good result of 20 meters 13 in the first throw, and threw 20 meters 22 in the fifth throw. Seeing that a medal was about to be collected, in the last shot, the Russian Klodko, who made all the mistakes in the first three shots, actually threw 20 meters 48 in one fell swoop... Gong Lijiao and the bronze medal were lost.
Even more dramatically, just seven days after that Olympic competition, the then champion Belarusian Ostapchuk was found to have used the illicit drug methyl isotestosterone, and the gold medal was withdrawn by the International Olympic Committee, and Gong Lijiao won the bronze medal in the Olympic women's shot put.
In August 2016, London Olympic shot put silver medalist Klodko was found to be taking banned drugs after a new round of re-examinations – Gong Lijiao became the Olympic silver medalist again.
"It's so unfair to me." Gong Lijiao was quite emotional when talking about her Olympic journey at that time, "Five years ago, I was still vivid, and I only told me the second place after I went back, and I believe that this year's lucky god will definitely be on my side." ”
But in Rio, Gong Lijiao suffered Waterloo — in her own words, "I was so eager to win the championship, and the blow was still relatively big." ”
Gong Lijiao said frankly, "I felt particularly sad to miss a medal at the Rio Olympics, and I was even depressed for a while. ”
However, Gong Lijiao got back on her feet in the Fall Olympic Arena, and she once revealed to the surging news reporter that from 2019, the team also invited American psychologists to give her a psychological massage.
Thus, Gong Lijiao began her journey of domination in women's shot put - winning the women's shot put gold medal at the World Championships in Athletics for two consecutive years and winning the "Diamond Award" of the World Athletics Federation Diamond League for three consecutive years.
As long as the motherland needs me, I will meet
If it were not for the impact of the epidemic, Gong Lijiao might have been able to "realize his dream" earlier.
"In fact, at the beginning, I didn't know that the Olympic Games were going to be postponed, and I was still preparing, and I was in good shape at that time. After knowing the postponement, I was indeed a little frustrated, and more or a little unwilling. ”
In the face of the one-year postponement of the Olympic Games, Gong Lijiao said in an interview with CCTV, "I felt that this gold medal had been in my hand, and I suddenly fell to the ground with the feeling." ”
It is worth mentioning that during that time, Gong Lijiao, who was in good shape, also thought of being able to complete the "Grand Slam" - that is, indoor athletics championships other than the Olympic Games.
"If I can win the indoor championship and then win the Olympics, then I can win the Grand Slam."
But as a result, the indoor athletics championships were cancelled, the Olympic Games were postponed, and Gong Lijiao, who was 31 years old at the time, could only continue to bury his head in training, "Fortunately, it was not canceled, and I was fine with the postponement, although the physical strength and physical fitness may have declined, but the good things are more grinding, and I have more time to prepare, and I am more stable." ”
In front of the media, Gong Lijiao has always been so positive and optimistic and full of domineering, but in fact, Gong Lijiao outside the camera also fully understands the cruelty of competitive sports and the uncontrollable contingency. She herself said, "No gold medal is a casual one. ”
However, Gong Lijiao's persistence and hard work, as well as her positivity and optimism, finally exchanged for the long-awaited Olympic gold medal - this gold medal is an affirmation of what Gong Lijiao has done, but it is not the end of her shot put career.
Gong Lijiao also has the momentum to "break the 21-meter mark", and she also wants to bring the women's shot put ball, which represents the strength of China, better and carry the sport on her shoulders.
"Our women's shot put is more difficult now, the teachers and sisters below me are unstable, and it is very difficult to throw 18 meters," Gong Lijiao once told the surging news reporter, "As long as the motherland needs me, I will meet." ”
Editor-in-Charge: Ascendas
Proofreader: Zhang Liangliang