International online news (reporter Wu Ruoxi): At the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, the Chinese women's volleyball team staged a shocking reversal, and Zhang Na, known as the "immortal bird", as the main player, followed the Chinese women's volleyball team to win the gold medal, which is also the Chinese women's volleyball team won the Olympic championship for the second time in twenty years. As the core of the guarantee of the golden generation of the Chinese women's volleyball team, Zhang Na is a legend of the Chinese women's volleyball team and a benchmark for the position of a free person, integrating many honors such as olympic champion and world women's volleyball grand prix champion.
Nine years old and volleyball, to become a professional volleyball player, and then to become an athlete who won glory for the country, Zhang Na worked the field in the first half of her life, constantly challenging herself, and interpreting the spirit of the women's volleyball team flowing in the blood. After retiring, Zhang Na, who served as executive vice president of the China Volleyball Academy, is not only committed to cultivating volleyball talents for the country and promoting volleyball, but more importantly, inheriting and promoting the spirit of women's volleyball. For Zhang Na, this is not only an honor, but also a mission and responsibility.
Zhang Na
Get acquainted with the Tianjin women's volleyball team From the secondary attack to the free man to open the "undead bird" legend
Zhang Na, born in 1980, was selected by the volleyball coach at school at the age of nine and began a relationship with volleyball. At the age of 15, he was selected by the Tianjin women's volleyball team and has been playing in the secondary offensive position in the team. Due to her height disadvantage and the needs of the team, she obeyed the arrangement of coach Zhao Xueqi and transferred from the deputy attack to the free man position in 2000. It is worth mentioning that in the Chinese Volleyball League that year, Zhang Na ranked first in the list of first passes because of her solid basic skills and defensive ability in the back row. In 2003, as the only free person in the team, she followed and witnessed the Tianjin women's volleyball team winning the championship for the first time in the Chinese Volleyball League, which Zhang Na believes is the result of the joint efforts of coaches and athletes of each generation of the Tianjin women's volleyball team.
In recent years, the Tianjin women's volleyball team has won the national championship many times, and has also sent many outstanding athletes to the national team. As a former member of the Tianjin women's volleyball team, Zhang Na felt very deeply: "The Tianjin women's volleyball team does have its own unique features, and there is a spirit that you can't kill me, and I will definitely do my best to fight you back." Like brown candy, we have the spirit of never giving up and fighting tenaciously, which has always inspired us to move forward until we win. ”
In 2001, Zhang Na was selected for the Chinese women's volleyball team under the guidance of Chen Zhonghe, and followed the Chinese women's volleyball team to win the championship in the 2001 World Women's Volleyball Grand Prix Finals, and then won the championship at the 2003 Asian Championship, the Women's Volleyball World Cup, the World Women's Volleyball Grand Prix, and then won the 2004 Athens Olympic Games. At the 2004 World Women's Volleyball Grand Prix, Zhang Na won the Best Free Agent Award.
As a free agent of the team, Zhang Na is mainly responsible for defense and passing. According to statistics, Zhang Na's first pass success rate is as high as 90%. Because of her superb defensive skills, she is known as the "Undead Bird". Such achievements are not achieved overnight, but are achieved by practicing hard for countless days and nights. When she first entered the national team, the "devil training" she underwent made Zhang Na still impressed, "Because of the needs of the team, only I am a free person, daily training is very hard, and I will often be taken away by the coach alone to exercise defensive ability." ”
In addition to testing the basic skills of athletes, the position of free man also challenges the individual ability of athletes, "because it is a counter-attack position, only after others send the ball and dunk the ball, you can pick it up, there will be a pass and defense." Zhang Na believes that a pass is the lifeline of volleyball, because the ball must be given to the second pass through the hand of the first pass, and then organize the attack, so for the free people, it is necessary to have a strong heart, especially when the game is not going well, the free people should play a role in boosting morale. It is precisely because of this that in the game, the free person Zhang Na often turns the opponent's ferocious attack into danger with accurate judgment, decisive attack and harmonious skills, providing conditions for the attack of the Chinese women's volleyball team and achieving the legend of the golden generation. Until her retirement after the Beijing Olympics, Zhang Na was the best free person irreplaceable for the Chinese women's volleyball team.
In 2004, the Chinese women's volleyball team took a group photo at the award ceremony of the women's volleyball team at the Athens Olympic Games. Xinhua News Agency photo
Athens Olympic Games won the golden generation of the Chinese women's volleyball team
The 2004 Athens Olympics was Zhang Na's first Olympic trip. At the moment of stepping into the Olympic Village, she became so excited that she couldn't help shouting: "Olympic Games, I'm coming!" "At that time, the head of the Chinese Olympic delegation was Yuan Weimin, who was the founder of the spirit of the women's volleyball team, who led the Chinese women's volleyball team to win the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games." The predecessors can get world-renowned results under such difficult conditions, we must carry forward and inherit this spirit of women's volleyball, no matter what the competition situation, we must persist to the end, to fight, the Chinese women's volleyball team is a very strong execution team. The Chinese women's volleyball team at the Athens Olympic Games is a team dominated by young players, and before the competition, everyone's goal is the same, that is, "raising the national flag and playing the national anthem!" ”
In this Olympic Games, the battle between the Chinese women's volleyball team and the Russian women's volleyball team for the championship is still unforgettable, the Chinese women's volleyball team started with a 0:2 score behind Russia, reversed in a desperate situation, and won the championship after twenty years, and the women's volleyball players hugged and cried. Zhang Na talked about that experience is very excited, she admitted that in the case of falling behind in the big score, in addition to the inspiration of the spirit of the women's volleyball team, psychological quality is also very important, athletes must have a strong heart.
The women's volleyball players of the Athens Olympic Games are a generation that has been carried forward from the top to the bottom, known as the "golden generation" by fans, and they have also practiced the spirit of the women's volleyball team. Zhang Na revealed in the interview that the women's volleyball girls who participated in the competition together formed a deep friendship, "Everyone will often contact, our team comes from the south of the sea, at that time, not only our 12 girls, but also our leaders and coaches, we are a team, after retiring, everyone shines in their respective positions." And we will strive to get together every year, and everyone is also very concerned about the current Chinese women's volleyball team, hoping that they will become more and more excellent! ”
After the ordeal of the Beijing Olympic Games, she returned to the National Volleyball League and became pregnant
In the year before preparing for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, Zhang Na was accidentally injured in the cervical spine, and half a year of conservative treatment did not work, so Zhang Na underwent artificial cervical disc replacement surgery, but the operation would have the risk of high paraplegia. In order to stand on the field of the Beijing Olympic Games, she finally chose surgery. "What I yearn for most is to compete in my own home country, and the hosting of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games is what all Chinese athletes want to see."
In October 2007, Zhang Na underwent artificial cervical disc replacement surgery, and returned to the team of the Chinese women's volleyball team in February 2008, when she caught the Spring Festival, she was in the queue with everyone for the New Year. Years later, I began to resume training, followed by training with everyone, and finally stood on the field of the Beijing Olympic Games, "I am very lucky to be able to fight with everyone on the field of the Beijing Olympic Games." ”
After the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, due to cervical spine reasons, Zhang Na retired from the Chinese women's volleyball team and chose to return to the Tianjin women's volleyball team again, representing the Tianjin women's volleyball team in the 2009 China Volleyball League. In that year's national league, Zhang Na finished playing in a pregnant state. Although there were already candidates in the free agent position at that time, Zhang Na took the initiative to play in the final and played a key role in the game, helping the team reverse the situation and win the final victory, "Which is equivalent to me taking my son and my teammates to the highest podium in the country, which is very meaningful." Although Zhang Na talked about these things very lightly, the hardships paid by her were only known to her, and fortunately, volleyball did not fail her.
"National Honor - Chinese Women's Volleyball Spirit Exhibition" Group Photo Source: Zhang Na Weibo
Promote the sport of volleyball to inherit and carry forward the spirit of women's volleyball
Over the years, Zhang Na has been committed to promoting volleyball and promoting the spirit of women's volleyball. After retiring from the army, Zhang Na first came to work at Nankai Middle School in Tianjin, and in 2019, she was transferred to the China Volleyball Academy as the executive vice president. From beginning to end, she could not give up the deep-rooted volleyball complex, "Although I did not become a coach, but became a sports person in the education circle, but this does not affect my love of volleyball." 」 I teach many students, through their own practice to publicize and promote the spirit of the women's volleyball team and sportsmanship, to carry out campus sports, so that teenagers realize the importance of physical health. ”
In 2019, the Chinese women's volleyball team won the championship in the World Women's Volleyball League, which is the tenth world championship in the history of the Chinese women's volleyball team, and the spirit of the women's volleyball team of "the motherland first, unity and cooperation, tenacious struggle, and never say defeat" inspired the people of the whole country. Zhang Na is mainly responsible for administrative work at the China Volleyball Academy, and in 2020, the China Volleyball Academy undertook the "National Honor - Chinese Women's Volleyball Spirit Exhibition", which showed the glorious history and struggle of the Chinese women's volleyball team to win ten world championships in the past 40 years from all angles, which was unanimously praised by everyone.
Zhang Na introduced that the China Volleyball Academy is committed to solving and improving the academic education of volleyball players, cultivating outstanding coaches and referees in the country, and persistently cultivating more talents for Chinese volleyball and winning glory for the country. In addition, the International Exchange Center of China Volleyball Academy is under construction, and after its completion, it will vigorously carry out youth volleyball training, so that more people can feel the charm of volleyball and experience the spirit of the Chinese women's volleyball team.
Source: International Online