12 years ago today, August 24, 2008, was no ordinary day.
The Beijing Olympics closed on this day. Spectators leave the table with excitement or regret; athletes leave, with medals or injuries.
The Beijing Olympics 12 years ago were like a coordinate in the lives of a generation of Chinese athletes.
The first half of their lives were tightly bound to the identity of "athletes", and they briefly shared with the world a period of glory or loneliness, and as for the long later, such as people drinking cold and warm self-knowledge.
Maybe you were also proud of raising the national flag and playing the national anthem, and after the passionate emotions, the story has not yet ended...
When 32-year-old Cheng Fei walks down the street, few people associate the slightly bloated, heavy-paced woman in front of them with the captain of the Chinese gymnastics team 12 years ago.
Once, she had drawn a graceful arc in the air with her graceful body countless times, but now, only the palms of her hands, blurred by large calluses, and her feet with severe bone hyperplasia, vaguely outlined the 24-year struggle.
On the left is the 2008 Olympic Games, 20-year-old Cheng Fei competition photo, right is a recent photo of Cheng Fei
In November 2007, less than nine months before the Beijing Olympics, Cheng Fei was named "Captain of the Chinese Women's Gymnastics Team".
This year, she was 19 years old and held 6 world championships.
In order to prepare for the Olympics, Cheng Fei will take the team members to the gymnastics training hall of the national team every day to train, the content on the wall of the training hall is changed every 4 years, and the team members look at it for 4 years, but no one will get used to it.
Directly opposite the wall of the training ground is the "Championship List".
On November 23, 2005, after 17-year-old Cheng Fei won the gold medal in the women's vault at the 38th World Championships, her photo was forever hung there, on par with Li Ning, Liu Xuan and other gymnasts.
From 2005 to 2007, Cheng Fei won the Women's Vault Championship at the World Championships for three consecutive times
The gymnastics hall also has a 3.2-meter-long and 1.5-meter-high "wall of shame" with more than a dozen domestic media criticism of the gymnastics team at the 2004 Athens Olympics.
Athens is the sad place of Chinese gymnastics. That year, the Chinese team lost almost all the advantages of the project, and finally won only 1 gold, 2 bronze and 3 medals. As the players frequently dropped their equipment, the media jokingly called them the "Chinese Wrestling Team".
Above the "Wall of Shame", a huge banner hangs —
"Lying down to taste the gall for 20 months, unforgettable as 08"
After 2004, "lying down and tasting guts" became the consensus of the gymnastics team, as the captain, in addition to "snow shame", Cheng Fei seemed to have no choice.
"I don't practice anymore, I don't compare, I don't participate in the beating..."
A few months before the opening of the Beijing Olympics, Cheng Fei cried countless times in the dormitory.
But, it's also only in the dormitory.
She will still walk up to the training ground on time, because she knows that there is no way back: "Even if we try to persuade ourselves that the gold medal will not ruin your life, it does not matter if you fail, but in fact, the gold medal is your only one." 」 ”
Before the Beijing Olympics, Cheng Fei had already reached the world's highest podium six times, and the young players called her "Sister Fei", and coaches occasionally used this title to joke.
However, on August 13, 2008, the day of the Olympic women's gymnastics team final, when the youngster Deng Linlin returned to the rest area after completing her own project, the first words heard were:
"Sister Fei just fell."
In the team competition, Cheng Fei was responsible for three items: balance beam, vaulting horse and free gymnastics, including one balance beam, and at the beginning, she fell from the equipment.
In the women's team gymnastics competition at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Cheng Fei fell off the balance beam
It was the only major mistake made by the whole team that day, but in the end, they won the history-making Women's Olympic Gold Medal.
The joy of victory soon diluted the audience's memory. After the game, Cheng Fei generously accepted reporters and dispelled everyone's concerns.
Four days later, the women's kurama final of the Beijing Olympic Games was held.
In the eyes of many people, she won this gold medal almost out of pocket. Because, in the three consecutive World Championships before that, the champion of this project has never been sidelined.
On August 17, 2008, Cheng Fei appeared. The day before, she had announced that she had given up the women's all-around competition as a guarantee policy.
Running, jumping, churning, landing...
The first jump, she was like a pin, firmly tied to the mat;
The second jump, the air movements are flowing, the audience is ready to celebrate, but the success or failure of the "vaulting horse" is changing rapidly, and when she lands, she kneels on the mat.
In the women's vault final at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Cheng Fei knelt on a cushion
The audience was stunned...
On that day, the Olympic women's vault gold medal was spent on North Korea's Hong Eun-jeong. Her winning action was: the twig turned 180 degrees on the horse straight body front flip body 540 degrees.
This action has a simpler name, "The Jump of Cheng Fei", the first female vaulting horse in the history of gymnastics named after Chinese.
North Korea's Hong Eun-jeong won the vault gold medal
To this day, "Cheng Fei Jump" is still the mainstream difficulty chosen by top vaulters.
Once, Cheng Fei used this action to "fight invincible hands all over the world". At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Cheng Fei lost to "Cheng Fei Jump".
She mechanically walked out of the field, changed her clothes, walked up to the podium, and put on the bronze medal.
In the free gymnastics event after the vaulting competition, as the first women's free gymnastics world champion in the history of Chinese gymnastics, she only won the seventh place, and the podium has never been so far away.
After the Beijing Olympics, when Chinese heard the theme song "Me and You" again, there was touch, excitement, and pride... But for Cheng Fei, it was extremely sad.
I'm with you Liu Huan and Sarah Brightman from the most character 00:0004:09
For a long time after that, she refused to go out, wearing a hat, mask and sunglasses on the street, afraid of being recognized. Sometimes, at home, I refuse to take off my hat.
Hiding in the shadows under the brim of her hat, she kept asking herself, "Is it over?" Is it over completely ? ”
In a state of repression, she began another 4 years.
She later concluded: "I'm not a competitive person, but a sense of responsibility makes me feel like I have to do it." ”
This sense of responsibility was planted when she was 5 years old.
That year, she asked her mother, "Mom, can you not practice gymnastics?" ”
My mother said, "All the money in our family has been invested in you, and if you can't practice it, our family will have nothing." ”
Cheng Fei's family conditions are not good, gymnastics this road, was chosen by her father for her.
Juvenile Cheng Fei (front row, third from right)
At the age of 4, she entered the Huangshi Gymnastics School in her hometown, and when she was 7 years old, she left home to go to Wuhan for training, and the purple gymnastics suit was small, so she cut it from her shoulder and sewed a black cloth to wear it.
Her father always came to visit her in the morning, and it was only a two-hour drive from Huangshi to Wuhan, but in order to save money, his father always bought a night ferry ticket, boarded at 11 p.m., went ashore at 5:30 a.m., and then took the bus to his daughter's school, while the mother would wait all night for news.
Cheng Fei's foot plate is thick and not conducive to steadily "grasping" the equipment, in order to train herself, she has developed a habit from an early age: as long as she enters the gymnastics room, she will never allow her heels to fall to the ground.
The responsibility to parents, the team, and the country is like years of tight feet, and they dare not relax.
When Cheng Fei chose to enter the London Olympic cycle, she was already 20 years old, and she already belonged to the "older age" in the gymnastics team.
Gymnastics is a high-risk sport, and "older" athletes often practice more and more afraid, and only seek to land safely in the later stages. Occasionally they joke between them, don't get hurt, even if people lie on the mat, they are fine, they can walk off the field.
At that time, Cheng Fei was experiencing ligament strains, finger bone fractures, knee hydrops and sciatic nodules. She once told her mother: "Don't think that I am young, but I am already an old bone." ”
In 2012, a photojournalist captured a close-up of Cheng Fei's legs
4 years, for a female gymnast, is extremely far away. But she eventually made it to 2012.
In mid-June of that year, a month and a half before the opening of the London Olympics, Cheng Fei's Achilles tendon was broken during a training session.
At that moment, she didn't feel pain, and after all of a sudden, it was unprecedentedly relaxed.
Like 4 years ago, she asked herself again: "Is it over?" ”
"It's over."
There was no grand ceremony of retirement, just turned around and went to the hospital for surgery.
After retiring from the army, she returned to Wuhan to teach gymnastics, but only taught the youngest children, the simplest movements, as for competitive sports, she will never touch it again in her life.
Cheng Fei teaches children to practice gymnastics
Years, to the athletes, in addition to the pain, there are constant farewells. Say goodbye to youth, say goodbye to the arena, say goodbye to the important people in life.
She has rarely appeared in recent years, and the most recent news was a eulogy:
"Never know what you're going to face tomorrow, you're good to go."
In June this year, Coach Lu Shanzhen, the mentor who had tailored the "Cheng Fei Jump" for her, died of a heart attack.
Cheng Fei and coach Lu Shanzhen
When Cheng Fei came out 15 years ago, coach Lu Shanzhen said: "Her appearance has made the world sports world re-understand Chinese women's gymnastics, and more importantly, it has influence. ”
In many gymnastics competitions, the athletes are personally carried by the coach to the equipment, they fly in the air, and the coach opens his arms in case of emergency.
For gymnasts, coaches are often their last line of defense against injury, paralysis, or even death. And when an athlete loses, the coach's grief is no less than anyone's.
After 2008, Lu Shanzhen could not wait for the second "Cheng Fei" until the end of his life.
At 12:05 on August 18, 2008, Liu Xiang stood at the starting line of the 110-meter hurdles final of the Beijing Olympic Games.
It was a high-profile game.
When visiting the "Bird's Nest" under construction, IOC President Rogge once said: "You can imagine how warm the atmosphere will be if Liu Xiang wins the championship here." ”
Richard, a veteran American journalist, once said that Americans are also very concerned about Liu Xiang because "no one has ever taken on the dream of 1.3 billion people in the history of the Olympic Games."
Two days before the competition, on the afternoon of August 16, Liu Xiang left the Temple of Heaven Athletes' Apartment and entered the Olympic Village, and CCTV used helicopter aerial photography.
Also on that day, Liu Xiang was diagnosed with an inflammation of the right Achilles tendon, 3 calcification points made his Achilles tendon lose its elasticity, accompanied by severe pain may break at any time.
But such injuries were strictly kept secret, and coach Sun Haiping walked into the "Bird's Nest" with 3 quick-acting heart-saving pills, "At that time, I wanted to fight!" ”
At 11:50 a.m. on August 18, Liu Xiang appeared in the first round of the first round of the Beijing Olympic Men's 110m Hurdles Preliminary Round Group 6.
The huge stadium was set on fire in an instant, but the referee Chen Jinfeng, who was responsible for the entrance check-in, was still immersed in doubts, and in the past, Liu Xiang was talking and laughing when checking in, and this time he did not go back.
"Never seen him in such a bad state of mind."
Commentator Yang Jian was also aware: "I have never seen him look like this before the game!" ”
The first shot rang out, a player fouled, Liu Xiang must fold back to the starting line with the other runners.
He limped back and struggled, suddenly stopping, tearing off the number on his leg, turning, and disappearing into the shadows at the end of the aisle with the puzzled eyes of 1.3 billion people.
That shadow has not dissipated to this day.
The narrator Yang Jian did not react for a moment, "Ah" a sound, after a few seconds of confirmation, his voice through various signals spread around the world:
"Liu Xiang quit the game..."
Later, an audience member who was at the scene at the time recalled:
There should be exclamations, there are noises, there are curses, and the truth is – no! As soon as the radio sounded, the entire bird's nest immediately fell into a dead silence. After about 10 seconds, I heard someone shouting in the distance: "Refund!" Only a few laughs came faintly, and the bird's nest slowly came back to life.
The CCTV camera followed Liu Xiang, who did not say a word and walked expressionlessly to the Second Procuratorate. Behind Liu Xiang were two other referees, who wanted to do their duty to stop Liu Xiang.
According to the IAAF regulations, he should have been subjected to routine doping testing, and the course of action at this time was illegal.
Liu Xiang lay down in front of the background wall of the second checkpoint, his hands covered his face, the sobbing became louder and louder, and tears spilled out along his fingertips, and he pulled his coat out of his bag and covered his face.
The referee who followed behind finally chose to be silent, and the IAAF officials on the side had no intention of blocking.
"IAAF officials are people too." Referee Chen Jinfeng said.
For half an hour, the company doctor came to deal with his right foot, which was already swollen to the point of disfigurement, and Liu Xiang did not remove the clothes on his face.
Back in the lounge, a volunteer could not hold back the tears, Liu Xiang covered his eyes again, perhaps from that moment he understood, "I can let myself go, but others can't let me go." ”
On August 18, 2008, Liu Xiang retired from the competition due to injury, and the audience burst into tears. Jiang Shenglian/Photo
"Liu Run!"
"Liu Liar!"
"Cowards can really pretend, and their acting skills are first-class!"
All kinds of insults still reach Liu Xiang's ears through various channels.
Someone even asked him: "Why don't you climb to the finish line?" ”
His number plate "1356" has also been interpreted as "living up to the trust of 1.3 billion people and 56 nationalities".
Reporter Dong Ri na said: "How much athens loved him, how much Beijing hated him..."
Before August 28, 2004, almost no Chinese would pay attention to an athletics competition held in the early morning of Beijing time.
At 2:40 a.m. that day, at the Olympic Stadium in Athens, CCTV Sports Channel was broadcasting the final of the men's 110-meter hurdles, in which a 21-year-old named "Liu Xiang" represented China.
The first time I started, someone grabbed a run foul.
"If someone grabs the second run, they will be directly punished." Yang Jian explained.
With the second gunshot, Yang Jian's tone became higher and higher:
"The race is on! Liu Xiang's start was very smooth, he is currently in the first place, next to Trammell, Oligals, Liu Xiang! In the leading position, Liu Xiang! Liu Xiang! Liu Xiang won! Liu Xiang won!
Liu Xiang won! Liu Xiang made history! A black-haired, yellow-skinned Chinese become a world trapeze artist! Liu Xiang made history, Liu Xiang won the world championship and the Olympic champion! Liu Xiang won the Olympic gold medal! Set a new Olympic record, 12.91 seconds! Of course, this result also needs to be verified, 12 seconds 91! He tied the 1993 Colin Jackson World Record! Liu Xiang! ”
This is the first time an Asian athlete has won an Olympic title in a straight track event.
After that day, no one will forget the Chinese wearing a five-star red flag.
The Olympic gold medal was stored in the bank safe by Liu Xiang, "The gold medal is not pure gold, but if you take the gold to exchange with me, I will not change it." ”
On the flight back from Athens, coach Sun Haiping reminded Liu Xiang: "You have to be mentally prepared, your gold medal, the degree of sensation caused in China, may greatly exceed your imagination." ”
The scene after the plane that day made Liu Xiang unforgettable, he was surrounded by crowds of people, he stepped on many feet, many people also stepped on his feet.
From the entrance of the community to the downstairs of his house, less than 110 meters, he only needed less than 13 seconds to run, but that day, he walked for half an hour.
At that time, Liu Xiang would not have thought that the road later would be more difficult than this road home. Many years later, he uttered this sentiment:
"Athletes end in failure."
In 2012, Liu Xiang appeared again at the London Olympic Games.
Previously, after the operation, he seemed to have returned to the peak, and even had a world record of 12.87 seconds flat over the wind speed, and everyone thought that "Liu Xiang is back!" ”
That year, "Liu Xiang won the championship" was no longer "just needed", but people still began to look forward to it again.
Gunshots, a new "seven-step upper rail", stepping over the first bar, he pedaled hard, his foot stepped on the railing, the Achilles tendon broke, and history repeats itself.
Kneeling on the runway, he suddenly smiled: It's good, it's good.
When he exited the race, he suddenly decided to make one last move to the finish line, even if it was on one foot.
When he jumped to the tenth railing, he bowed his head and kissed the railing, and at that moment, all the ambition, all the unwillingness, all the unspeakable, the bitterness, were over.
It was all over, only scolding.
In 2018, around the 10th anniversary of the Beijing Olympic Games, a comment suddenly caught fire:
"Liu Xiang is the only athlete to really surpass black people on the straight track, and even set a record that even white people have not done, Liu Xiang has participated in 48 world championships, 36 championships, 6 runners-up, 3 third places, but some people only remember him retiring 2 times."
More and more people are rethinking what a champion is. What is a hero?
After 12 years, most people accepted that the "hero" was also a "mortal" after landing, and many people went to Liu Xiang's Weibo to express their apologies, but he has not yet confided a single word about forgiveness.
More than a decade later, people still can't forget Liu Xiang's victory in Athens, and can't forget the way he left the arena in Beijing; people seem to finally remember that Liu Xiang will also be painful, hurt, helpless and desperate.
At the Beijing Olympics 12 years ago, in addition to Liu Xiang, there was another Chinese who was shelled by Chinese - Lang Ping.
That year, Chen Zhonghe and the Chinese women's volleyball team led by Chen Zhong and the Chinese women's volleyball team faced the American women's volleyball team led by Lang Ping at the Capital Gymnasium.
In 1978, the 18-year-old Lang Ping was selected for the then Chinese women's volleyball national team, and the following year, the 21-year-old Chen Zhonghe became a sparring partner in the team.
The two men have been comparing on the volleyball court for a lifetime, and they have also felt sorry for each other for a lifetime.
Lang Ping and Chen Zhonghe in their youth
In 2005, the American Volleyball Association extended an olive branch to Lang Ping, who was very hesitant, she knew very well what it meant: "I am old, and I really don't want to be scolded when I return to China in the future." ”
That year, she asked a lot of people for their opinions, including Chen Zhonghe. With the support of the old guy, Lang Ping took over the burden of the American team.
From the day the decision was made, Lang Ping thought that one day the two people would meet in the narrow road of the arena.
Just didn't expect that this day would be in 2008, at the Olympic Games, in Beijing, in their own homeland.
At 8:00 p.m. on August 15, 2008, the much-watched Chinese and American women's volleyball team blew the game whistle.
Before the game, the media have played the headline "'Peace War' is not 'Peace'", as if Lang Ping and Chen Zhonghe have reached the level of sword fighting.
The game that day was unusually glued, playing a full 5 rounds, and it was not until the last minute that the winner was decided.
In the process, the audience in the stands spontaneously sang the national anthem, and the five-star red flag flew in all corners of the stadium. Dressed in the coaching uniform of the American team, Lang Ping seemed to turn a deaf ear to everything around him and meticulously arranged tactics.
Only by doing our best is the spirit of the women's volleyball team.
The referee whistle sounded, the members of the American women's volleyball team hugged together to celebrate the victory, the mineral water bottle fell from the stands, and Lang Ping just sat on the side, under the expressionless face, it was extremely complicated feelings.
At the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, the American women's volleyball team defeated the Chinese women's volleyball team, and Lang Ping's face was expressionless
The insults were so loud that some people said: "She should end her glory in the moment of retirement!" ”
In 2008, the Chinese delegation included more than 30 foreign coaches.
That year, more than 30 foreign coaches became good friends of Chinese, while Lang Ping was called a "traitor" and a "traitor".
After the Beijing Olympics, Lang Ping's contract with the Americans expired. At the same time, the Chinese women's volleyball team has gone to an unprecedented low.
In 2012, the Chinese women's volleyball team lost to Japan, Thailand, and South Korea, ranking fourth in Asia for the first time, and some people said that the Chinese women's volleyball team at that time could not be lower.
During the London Olympic Games that year, she was invited to serve as a commentator on the volleyball competition and witnessed the dismal ending of the Chinese women's volleyball team "ranking fifth".
After the narration work, the reporter's camera was aimed at her, and she tried desperately to control her emotions, but the tears still came out of her eyes, and she blocked the camera with her hands and rarely refused the interview.
At the 2012 London Olympics, the Chinese women's volleyball team won the fifth place, and Lang Ping declined to be interviewed
Perhaps, no one in this world loves the Chinese women's volleyball team more deeply than she does.
After London, she used her personal connections to invite the right coach to revitalize the women's volleyball team, and Chen Zhonghe said that he was almost moved by her and went out of the mountain again.
But everyone knows who is the most suitable candidate, including Lang Ping himself.
The reason why it is unable to decide is because of the body.
Few people know that Lang Ping holds a disability certificate.
When traveling by car, Lang Ping will hang a disabled person's sign on the car
"Below my neck, there is no place intact", forty years of volleyball career, brought her in addition to glory, but also an injury.
Over the years, she has performed more than a dozen surgeries, large and small. In the 1990s, when she first coached the Chinese team, she fainted twice.
She knows that "inauguration" and "competence" are two different things.
Lang Ping after surgery
In April 2013, when his old teammate Chen Zhaodi died of illness, Lang Ping said: "During that time, everyone saw me and said that life is short, and we must take care of it. ”
While pondering this sentence, she received a call from Yuan Weimin, and the old coach was still as straightforward as ever: "Lang Ping, our Chinese women's volleyball team is not going to ask for a foreign coach, right?" ”
The Chinese women's volleyball team cannot be handed over to foreigners, and foreigners will never be able to understand this team. Yuan Weimin's words completely ignited Lang Ping.
On 25 April 2013, she became head coach of the national team. At that time, the Chinese women's volleyball team had been reduced to a second-rate team.
Less than 100 days after Lang Ping took office, the Chinese women's volleyball team lost to Thailand and South Korea in the Asian Championship, winning the worst fourth place in 38 years, and was ridiculed by fans as "384".
"We have to face the result of losing, and we have to pay the tuition fee for growth." She does not seem to be in a hurry to make achievements, but constantly "panned" from the provincial teams to "raw melon eggs".
When they first entered the national team, Zhu Ting and Yuan Xinyue even had to teach Lang Ping hand-in-hand in the style of slamping.
Soon, the prototype of an unprecedented "big national team" has emerged.
At the time of the Rio Olympics, the average age of the Chinese women's volleyball team was only 24 years old. Lang Ping said that this team was originally aimed at Tokyo, but did not want to reach the target in advance.
She said: "It can't be said that after these four years, some people have retired, and then there is a blank space. ”
Later things everyone knows, 2016, Brazil Rio Olympics, the Chinese women's volleyball team, champion.
After the game, people can't forget Lang Ping's excited tears.
One day, Lang Ping will bid farewell to the Chinese women's volleyball team, and she is already worthy of the present and the future.
Since 2002, director Liang Mai has made documentaries for Lang Ping four times, and when asked what has changed in Lang Ping over the years, Liang Mai said:
"She's old."
In this half of his life, after several storms, Lang Ping could handle it calmly. But in recent years, she has more and more times choked up in front of the camera, which may be the change brought by the years.
At the end of this year, Lang Ping will turn 60, and she originally planned to retire after the End of this year's Olympic Games, but now she has to wait another year.
This year may be the last year in which Chinese audiences and Lang Ping accompany each other.
Four years ago, just after the Rio Olympics, there was a report with the headline:
"If Lang Ping does not renew his contract, please cherish the wealth she left behind."
This sentence, at this time next year, or in the future, is also worth remembering.
At the 2008 Olympic Games, the U.S. men's basketball team had a "dream eight team": James, Kobe, Wade, Paul, Howard, Anthony, Kidd, Bosh;
The Chinese men's basketball team also has a "golden generation": Yao Ming, Yi Jianlian, Sun Yue, Wang Zhizhi, Wang Shipeng, Zhu Fangyu, Chen Jianghua, Li Nan, Liu Wei, Du Feng, Wang Lei, Zhang Qingpeng.
Chinese men's basketball team in 2008
The two teams met in the first game of the group stage, and the two sides were weak, but they enjoyed a battle.
Kobe Bryant was 30 years old, participating in the Olympic Games for the first time, and before the game he joked that if the U.S. men's basketball team lost to China, he would become a Chinese citizen.
But in the game, Yao Ming's performance was not like a joke, and he unceremoniously gave Kobe Bryant a cover.
Yao Ming and Bryant at the 2008 Beijing Olympics
12 years later, the classic picture of the past is still talked about today, but in the end it cannot escape the fact that things are not human.
In addition, the game 12 years ago, the reason why it attracted attention, there is another reason -
When a healthy-looking Yao Ming started, everyone was relieved.
In February 2008, Rockets general manager Morey announced the news that a hair-thin rift had appeared in the left ankle of Yao Ming, the strongest center in the NBA, and this crack, called a "stress fracture" academically, was enough to scrap Yao Ming's entire season and even affect his entire career.
Regarding the treatment plan, Yao Ming only made one request: "You can treat it any way you want, but you must ensure that I can play the Beijing Olympic Games." ”
Stress fractures require a long period of recuperation, the Rocket team doctor jumped in anger, americans have a hard time understanding why the big man of 2 meters 26 in front of him suddenly became so stubborn: "You are so obstinate, you will not be able to play in the future!" ”
After a brief silence, Yao Ming said: "If I can't represent my country in the Olympic Games this time, it will be the biggest regret of my life." ”
Six months later, the 28-year-old Yao Ming led the Chinese men's basketball team to resist the United States team for nearly half, fought the Spanish team to the final moment, and even smashed the "German chariot" of the year, and the Chinese men's basketball team ranked among the "Olympic Top 8" for the third time after 1996 and 2004.
At 8:00 p.m. on August 16, 2008, the Chinese team met Germany in the penultimate group stage. It was a game of fate, and once it was lost, the Chinese team would miss out on the top 8.
That night, the Chinese team defeated the German team 59-55, and Yao Ming scored 25 points alone.
The moment he laid the stage for victory, he roared with rage and walked down the field with his left foot.
Back in the locker room, he took off his shoes, blood staining his socks.
Someone once saw Yao Ming's X-ray at that time: more than a dozen steel nails were inserted horizontally and vertically in his ankles, some were later removed, and some remained there forever.
This scene was bumped into by an NBA reporter, who said: "The Chinese national team is a person, a word: Yao Ming." They did nothing but overuse Yao Ming. At first, it was very harsh, but there was no way to refute it.
At that time, it was less than 3 years before Yao Ming was forced to retire.
On November 12, 2010, the Rockets took on the Washington Wizards on the road, and on that night, which was called the "China Derby" by the media, Yao Ming started, and everyone was looking forward to his showdown with another player from China, Yi Jianlian.
After the opening, Yao Ming only grabbed 1 rebound and 1 block in 6 minutes, and even before he could score, he was knocked to the ground by opposing center McGee twice in defense, and was replaced in the first quarter before halfway through.
It was the last game of Yao Ming's career.
On July 20, 2011, the press conference "Ming Xie" was held in Shanghai, and more than 300 reporters from more than 150 media at home and abroad were on the scene early.
Yao Ming, 30, made a retirement declaration on the platform: "As a basketball player, I will end my sports career and officially retire." ”
The reporters did not capture any emotion in his face, but they clearly felt that an era was slowly coming to an end.
Some people sighed that if there was no forced comeback that year, perhaps this ceremony could have been postponed for many years.
But if he could do it all over again, Yao Ming's choice would still be more or less the same.
From that day on, the words of the American journalist began to be confirmed. The Chinese men's basketball team, which lost Yao Ming, has lost five games in two Olympic Games in succession.
12 years ago, Chinese fans thought they had caught up with the "golden age" of the Chinese men's basketball team, but they did not think that it was the last glory.
On September 17, 2018, at the Asia-Pacific Qualifiers of the Men's Basketball World Cup, the Chinese men's basketball team met the Jordan men's basketball team at the home wukesong stadium.
At halftime, the Chinese men's basketball team in 2008 came to the center of the field, and several people lined up in a row, except for Yi Jianlian, who were no longer players.
Some members of the "08 Men's Basketball Team", from left: Wang Zhizhi, Yao Ming, Wang Lei, Yi Jianlian, Li Nan, Sun Yue, Zhu Fangyu
When several old men in suits talked about the past, the Chinese men's basketball team seemed to see hope again.
Yao Ming said: "I know that our legs can't run anymore, but my heart is still flying!" ”
A year and a half ago, he became the president of the Basketball Association, stepped on his merit book, and took a hot potato.
During a dinner, CCTV sports host Yu Jia asked why he made such a choice, and Yao Ming said: "If the country lives and dies, it is better to avoid it because of misfortune." ”
Hearing such an answer, Yu Jia was almost shocked: "I haven't heard anyone say this for a long time." ”
In the documentary "Yao Ming the Dream Builder", the host Yu Jia relayed Yao Ming's words
After taking office, Yao Ming carried out a drastic reform of the Chinese men's basketball team, a Chinese team was dismantled into red and white teams, CBA professionalization, 3-a-side basketball... He chose for himself the hardest path to take.
In 2019, the Men's Basketball World Cup was held at home, and the Chinese team playing at home performed high and low: won the first international competition in nine years; lost; collapsed after defeat; difficult and dangerous victory over South Korea...
On September 8, the Chinese men's basketball team lost to Nigeria at 73:86 and did not qualify for the Tokyo Olympic Games.
This makes the Chinese men's basketball team have to fall into the situation of "hand-to-hand combat" in the men's basketball team, the Czech Republic, Greece, Turkey... There are many strong enemies, and the possibility of the Chinese team "coming back to life" is minimal.
Since the return of the Chinese sports delegation to the Olympic Games in 1984, the Chinese men's basketball team has never been absent.
But this time, they may not really be able to play anymore.
After the game, the reporter asked Yao Ming: "If the responsibility must be borne by someone, who will it be?" ”
Without a moment's hesitation, Yao Ming said, "Me! ”
Such an unadorned answer, for a time the crowd was dumbfounded. Perhaps, it is still too early to conclude the future of the Chinese men's basketball team.
In the final of the 2018 Asian Games, the Chinese team performed very generally at first, trailing Iran by 16 points.
But at half-time, Chairman Yao said to the other side in the players' tunnel: "Prepare a new pair of shoes, a new pair of lungs, and my people will run to your death in the second half." ”
In the second half, the Chinese team really achieved a stunning reversal.
Because it's him, people are always willing to watch the game.
On the night of the closing of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, the crowds on the streets of Beijing did not dissipate for a long time
The final whistle has been ringing for many years.
Everything seemed like yesterday, but we obviously went so far.
The Olympics 12 years ago, just 16 matchdays rushed by, but it has been unforgettable for generations.
For the Olympics, athletes have prepared for four years and four years, each four years will be waved goodbye, and the next four years there will be a new legend.
The Olympic Games is the end of many athletes' entire sports careers, they end here, perhaps the last battle is not perfect, but please always pay tribute to the champions, but also accept their ordinariness after landing.