On July 27, in the men's 100m backstroke final at the Tokyo Olympics, Zhejiang's Xu Jiayu swam 52.51 seconds and ranked fifth regrettably failing to win a medal.
In Xu Jiayu's hometown of Wenzhou, his parents and relatives and friends were gathering to watch the game live, "From the first shot of his preliminary round, our whole family cheered him on together." For her son's performance in the final, her mother Yu Zhenzhen had some regrets: "The level of the opponents is very high, the competition is also fierce, and his results in this year's tour are OK, but unfortunately in the end it is still a little worse." ”
Since the 2016 Rio Olympics, it has become a tradition for families to gather in front of the TV to watch Xu Jiayu's games. After so many years, Yu Zhenzhen and Xu Jiayu's father Xu Jinrong have only been to the scene once to watch their son's game. "In 2018, the Hangzhou Short Pool Swimming World Championships, just at the doorstep, his father and I went to the scene to see, and as a result, he failed to win the gold medal in the 100-meter backstroke." Coincidentally, before the 2017 Budapest World Championships and the 2019 World Championships in Gwangju, South Korea, Yu Zhenzhen and Xu Jinrong did not go to the scene to see, and their sons won the championship instead.
"His dad thought it would put pressure on him to go to the scene, and after that time he never went to the scene to watch him play again." Although people are not on the scene, every time they watch their son play, the couple will still be very nervous. "My heart was all tugged together, but fortunately the game was over in more than fifty seconds, otherwise I was really afraid that I wouldn't be able to hold on."
However, compared with the results, Yu Zhenzhen is more concerned about Xu Jiayu's body, "I saw the news, he threw up after the preliminary swim on the spot, and then he was pushed away in a wheelchair, and he was particularly anxious at the time, and he was also worried about him." Afraid of disturbing her son's preparation, Yu Zhenzhen endured not contacting her son, "Mainly afraid of disturbing him, this time still hopes that he can concentrate on preparing for the game, and it is not too late to say anything until the end of the game." ”
Yu Zhenzhen said that during this time, she only chatted with her son before he left, "The epidemic in Japan is still quite serious, so I told him to wear a mask, pay attention to maintaining a social distance of one meter, usually do not touch everywhere with his hands, and remember to wash his hands frequently." However, when Xu Jiayu arrived in Tokyo, Yu Zhenzhen never took the initiative to contact her son.
People familiar with Xu Jiayu know that he first learned to swim under the influence of his mother Yu Zhenzhen. Yu Zhenzhen was a member of the Wenzhou Swimming Team a few years ago, focusing on butterfly swimming, but swimming eventually failed to become her profession, fortunately, this unfulfilled dream was continued in Xu Jiayu. "When he was 4 years old, I took him for a swim and he liked it after swimming twice. After that, I was often asked, 'When will my mother take me swimming again?' ”
In Yu Zhenzhen's memory, when Xu Jiayu first learned to swim, she was particularly dependent on her because of her young age and late development. "I have a lot of courage, and I have to accompany him everywhere I go." In 2008, at the age of 13, Xu Jiayu was selected for the Zhejiang Provincial Team, where he began to learn backstroke under Xu Guoyi, and he also began to try to live alone.
"Sometimes I call him and I may cry as I talk." Therefore, every weekend, Yu Zhenzhen will bring delicious food to see her son, so that it will be two years. At that time, there was no high-speed rail, every Friday night, she would take the green-skinned train at 19:40, and the next morning at 4:40 a.m. to Hangzhou, "often arrived too early, the bedroom opened at 7 o'clock, and could only wait at the door." On Sunday, she took the train at 9 o'clock in the evening and arrived in Wenzhou at about 7 a.m.
After Xu Jiayu was selected for the national team, Yu Zhenzhen's chances of seeing her son became less frequent, usually seeing each other at most once a year. "The last time I saw him was last year, so I stayed at home for a day or two." Although the number of meetings has decreased, every time they reunite, Yu Zhenzhen can find that her son has become more mature. "He was very sensible and filial, and every time he went out to play, he would buy me and his dad gifts when he came back. When he was at home, as long as I went out shopping or shopping, he would offer to accompany me and let us go out on a trip. ”
After the 100-meter backstroke competition, Xu Jiayu will also play in the men's 200-meter backstroke and the men's and women's 4×100-meter medley relay, and Yu Zhenzhen also hopes that her son can have a better performance in the next competition.
Source: Hourly News
Source: Zhejiang Online