(Observer Network News) "One shot is set! Gong Lijiao! When the shot put flew over the 20-meter line, the CCTV commentator shouted excitedly.
This morning (August 1st), in the women's shot put final at the Tokyo Olympic Games, China's Gong Lijiao threw a personal best of 20 meters 58 to win the championship. This is the first Olympic gold medal of Gong Lijiao's career and the first gold medal won by the Chinese athletics team in this Olympic Games.
After the game, thinking of his experience of finally realizing his dream after 21 years of hard training, Gong Lijiao burst into tears. She cried and said, "I have been waiting for this moment for more than twenty years, people must have dreams, in case one day it is realized, I have achieved it!" ”
Gong Lijiao was interviewed after the game and cried with joy The video was transferred from CCTV
"There is nothing more worth holding on to than a dream"
"It's too hard, it's really too hard, and this gold medal belongs to everyone on our team. As I got older, a lot of injuries and unexpected conditions, I felt like I had a long time to calm down after the 2016 Rio defeat before I got back on my feet. ”
As Gong Lijiao said, in such a difficult situation, it is the desire and dream of the Olympic gold medal in her heart that has supported this Olympic "four dynasties veteran" to this day.
Gong Lijiao cried after the game and said: People must have dreams, in case they are realized!
"Dream" is also a high-frequency word on Gong Lijiao's social media. Since 2015, Gong Lijiao has always used this sentence on her account to encourage herself and everyone - "nothing is more worth adhering to than a dream".
Gong Lijiao has been encouraging herself and everyone on social media for several years
Her dream actually stemmed from a "heartless willow insertion".
When Gong Lijiao was in the sixth grade of primary school, she accompanied Fa Xiao to throw a shot put ball, she also walked up and threw it once, and was inadvertently discovered by the physical education teacher, and has since entered the shot put career. "I believe I can throw a little farther," Gong Lijiao often said to himself at that time.
Gong Lijiao, who has been associated with shot put since childhood, entered the Shijiazhuang Sports School in 2001 and embarked on a formal training path.
Gong Lijiao's childhood ID photo screenshot from @ China Sports
In 2007, at the age of 18, Gong Lijiao debuted on the stage of the World Championships and finished seventh at the Osaka Athletics World Championships. Gong Lijiao said, "There is nothing more worth holding on to than a dream, and I will continue to move forward." ”
However, embarking on the road of dreams also means facing thorns that are difficult to avoid on the side of the road. As a veteran who has participated in the Olympic Games for four times, his previous Olympic journey is full of regrets for Gong Lijiao.
At the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, the runner-up and third runner-up were found to be taking banned drugs, and Gong Lijiao won the bronze medal.
At the 2012 London Olympics, the gold medal of the champion Ostapchuk was withdrawn, the silver medalist of the project tested positive, and Gong Lijiao once again won a silver medal.
Since then, with the regret of ranking fourth in the 2016 Rio Olympics, Gong Lijiao has entered his fourth Olympic cycle.
More than twenty years of hard training, dreams and love have supported her to today Screenshot from CCTV
In the final sprint stage of preparing for the Tokyo Olympic Games, Gong Lijiao said on social media, "In my 22-year career, I have been running on the road to chasing my dreams. For me over the years, the hardest thing is the ordeal of training, and the most desired thing is the top podium. In the final sprint stage, I will definitely maintain the best competitive state and give my all!
I hope that my trip to Tokyo will be like a dream and a wish, and I can successfully achieve the glorious goal of raising the national flag and playing the national anthem at the Olympic Stadium! ”
Gong Lijiao once wrote a sentence on the award certificate of the competition: Success equals 99% drops of sweat plus 1% inspiration Screenshot from @ China Sports
Her dreams don't stop
How can the road to realizing your dreams be smooth?
The postponement of the Tokyo Olympics also made Gong Lijiao confused for a while, but Gong Lijiao still did not abandon his dream and did not give up. She once said that she was already a veteran with bruises all over her body, and she would fight for the last Olympic Games for her dreams.
Even in today's arena, she stepped out of bounds on the second throw and fouled herself at one point. However, she did not choose to bow her head, and in the fifth throw, the shot put in Gong Lijiao's hand flew over the 20-meter line to reach 20 meters 53, creating her personal best. In the sixth throw, Gong Lijiao broke the personal best with a score of 20 meters 58.
In the end, she got her wish and realized her dream of Tokyo.
In fact, bringing the sport of shot put more into everyone's vision is not another dream of Gong Lijiao.
In a program filmed last year, Gong Lijiao said with some helplessness, "Every time the national competition, the audience is particularly small. There is no sense of loss, because we are all used to it. It's just playing with my life, and that feeling is particularly boring."
According to a report by China News Network today (August 1), Gong Lijiao also said after the game that it is not easy for three Chinese players to enter the final of the Olympic Games, and shot put is an unpopular project, and she has been using her enthusiasm to bring it to the fire over the years.
Gong Lijiao wore a national flag after winning the gold today, and the picture is from Visual China
"The shot put is also through our efforts, one ball after another thrown, countless throws to achieve the results we want, please pay more attention to us fat girl paper, we are also very kind."
Gong Lijiao, who previously won the World Championships and asian Games, finally achieved the Grand Slam of his career after realizing his dream in Tokyo.
Gong Lijiao posted a social media post to thank him after winning the championship
For his future plans, Gong Lijiao said in an interview after the game: "Many people asked me if I would retire, but I felt that as long as the motherland needed me, I would definitely keep practicing until I could not practice." ”
Gong Lijiao is still on the way to chasing his next dream.