At the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, the women's gymnastics team won the championship. Photo/IC Photo
"I came to Peking University to report today!" In the future, it will be peking university freshmen 'learning Ning'. Recently, the news that table tennis player Ding Ning announced his retirement and entered Peking University for graduate school has aroused heated discussion.
Xuejie found that the "xueba" athletes attracted the attention of many netizens: Shanghai Jiaotong University is known as the "cradle" of Olympic athletes, beijing sport university champion class enrollment, Tsinghua University shooting team Yang Qian "won two Olympic gold medals during the summer vacation" and other terms are frequently searched, and the university life of athletes has once again been concerned.
How is the university life of an athlete different from that of ordinary people? From the sports field to the university campus, what academic and life challenges will they face? Will they be "chased" on a college campus? Out of the campus, how to face the "transformation" again and again on the track of life? Recently, Xuejie chatted with Li Shanshan, the women's gymnastics team champion at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, about her pyrotechnic university life.
Li Shanshan's image photo. Courtesy of respondents
"It seems like it's always in transition"
In the 2008 Olympic Games, the Chinese gymnastics women's team crossed the layers of thorns and finally won the team championship, and the petite and cute appearance of the six members has always remained in the public's impression. Whenever a major gymnastics event is broadcast, the video of the six golden flowers of that year will definitely "go out of the circle" again.
Retiring from the army, going to college, going to graduate school, transforming, entering the workplace, getting married and having children... After 13 years, they are now approaching the age of establishment, and they have long bid farewell to the identity of professional athletes and entered a new stage of life. Of the six girls, some teach in sports schools, some work as physical education teachers in colleges and universities, and some get married, have children, and "transform" into mothers.
In the group photo of that year, Li Shanshan ranked third, holding up the sparkling gold medal in one hand and the bouquet in her hand with the other hand, and blooming a proud and satisfied smile. At this moment, for Li Shanshan, it seems to be rewritten fate.
She is neither the most "famous" of the six girls, nor the one who has maintained the heat for the longest time. In her early years, she was "afraid of saying the wrong thing in front of the camera" and was reluctant to give too many interviews. The impression in the public eye seems to be just a "glimpse".
After retiring from the army, Li Shanshan published an autobiography and was also busy with her studies. After graduating with a master's degree, she did not stay in the sports circle, but changed to the banking system and became a female white-collar worker. She once laughed and said, "I seem to be transforming all the time, the one with the largest 'leap'." ”
Li Shanshan's 2008 Olympic Games. Courtesy of respondents
After retiring from the military, he ushered in a pyrotechnic university life
The beginning of the transformation was the retirement at the age of 17.
For athletes, retiring just after reaching the top is not the norm. This means saying goodbye to your past life once and for all, striding forward and moving towards a new life. In her own words, "The day I retired, I was both expectant and nostalgic. Now that I think about it, I still miss it and don't give up more. ”
On August 29, 2010, Li Shanshan officially became a student of the Central University of Finance and Economics and entered the second class of the major in sports economics and management.
Li Shanshan entered the university at the age of 18, and Li Shanshan was the same age as the students who entered the university through the college entrance examination. However, the "sudden" campus life seems to be more mysterious and fun for Li Shanshan: her classmates come from all over the world and different majors, and the buildings on campus often make her "lost". "After training for a long time, I also experience the feeling of being a student, which is very fresh."
Li Shanshan during her studies. Courtesy of respondents
Previously, when in the national team, the training place was not far from the dormitory where they lived, and after each day's training, the athletes went directly back to the dormitory to rest, and the next day began the same life. Not many holidays and not much socializing.
However, the life that is completely different from the training team often makes Li Shanshan confused: originally in the national team, the diet and living were taken care of, and she often felt that her life self-care ability was not bad. But once on campus, at the end of a semester, she lost her meal card several times. As soon as she lost the meal card, Li Shanshan went to the enthusiastic squad leader "big brother" to borrow the meal card to "rub rice". Some students picked up Li Shanshan's meal card on campus and sent it back to her, feeling familiar, "It turns out that the world champion also lost the meal card!" ”
It is also small things such as the rice card that makes the students around them find that in addition to being an Olympic champion, Li Shanshan is also a real girl, real like the sister of the neighbor's family.
Li Shanshan's graduation photo. Courtesy of respondents
Such a real girl also seized every opportunity to integrate into university life.
She participated in the school's clubs, planned and prepared for the school's large-scale events, and used her status as an Olympic champion to contact well-known athletes to give lectures at the school.
Li Shanshan was once an athlete and later a student. Therefore, she is particularly aware of the students' curiosity about athletes and how athletes live. "I feel that this work is none other than me, and I have been taking the initiative to do a good job in the work of the school club."
At first, the friends in the community learned that the "Olympic champion" was going to join the society, and they were surprised and panicked. Later, when we worked together, we found that "the champion lives around us, in fact, it is like ordinary people." ”
I accidentally hung up the section
For retired athletes, sports colleges or universities in their home provinces are popular choices. But Li Shanshan did not choose to return to her hometown in Hubei, but chose to study sports economics and management at the Central University of Finance and Economics.
Talking about the choice of profession, Li Shanshan said that when she retired, event operation and venue operation have become popular in the sports industry at home and abroad, and she wants to examine her sports career for more than ten years from the perspective of learning.
It sounds easy, but it's also difficult to go from athlete to student. In the training team, Li Shanshan has to train at least 8 hours a day, either in equipment training or "turning over" in competitive sports.
The scene of the competition. Courtesy of respondents
There is no longer a constraint on training, and when there is little class, Li Shanshan can sleep until she wakes up naturally. "In the past, the amount of exercise was output every day, and during that time, only the physical education class had the amount of exercise, and the amount of exercise in the physical education class was only equivalent to the warm-up before training." Not long after the comfortable days, Li Shanshan tasted the "bitter fruit" - "how did you get fat like this?" ”
More challenges come from the classroom. Previously, a large amount of exercise allowed Li Shanshan's body to adapt to the state of "moving". Therefore, when she first became a college student, she would often wander, "I think it's so difficult to listen to the lectures quietly, I can't sit still, I just want to look out the window, I want to go outside for a while..."
At that time, Li Shanshan's state was twofold: adaptation, and "forcing herself to adapt", and about half a year later, Li Shanshan became an "excellent college student". Even if most students will find it difficult to count, Li Shanshan also insisted on "nibbling" down.
"I don't feel that high numbers are too difficult, and there will be cultural classes in the training team, and I will also learn some mathematics." In addition, the school will also open some preparatory courses to supplement the knowledge of physical education students. Moreover, when I was a child, my math was not bad, and if I had been taking the road of further education, I should have been a primary school bully..." Li Shanshan laughed.
What "pulled Li Shanshan back to reality" was "Database Principles and Applications" in the first semester of her freshman year. Li Shanshan, who rarely has the opportunity to "play the computer", is very difficult to understand the programming operation, although it is very difficult to learn, and finally the exam also strengthened the assault for a while, but the moment she saw the report card, Li Shanshan was extremely frustrated: "Hang up the subject." ”
Since then, Li Shanshan has found that knowledge is equal to everyone and does not take any care of the "gold medal" winners. It took her another semester to study the subject harder and harder, and finally passed the exam with excellent grades.
At the graduation ceremony, she took a selfie in her bachelor's uniform. Courtesy of respondents
After graduating from university, by chance, Li Shanshan joined macau University of Science and Technology to pursue a master's degree, and began to study communication across majors.
Li Shanshan wondered, can you look at the movement from the perspective of communication science? Since the audience of gymnastics is small and cannot be popularized like a big ball, can more people see the beauty of gymnastics through publicity?
So she focused on the direction of sports promotion. After studying communication, Li Shanshan was more willing to "operate" herself than before. "It turned out that I rarely accepted interviews, for fear of saying the wrong thing and making trouble in front of the whole country." But later, I became less and less afraid to express my thoughts.
By chance, Li Shanshan came to Macao to study. Courtesy of respondents
"Champion status will always accompany me forward"
Whenever I recall my own upbringing, that summer in 2008 is the most impressive part.
In the Beijing Olympic Games, if the team wants to win the championship at home, everyone should highlight their strengths to the greatest extent and avoid mistakes. In the face of heavy pressure, Li Shanshan, who appeared as the finalist, broke out in adversity, and with a high score of 16.050 points on the balance beam, she added a cornerstone to the team's championship.
Li Shanshan is not a "talented" player, she can only consolidate her strength through accumulated training. In the final, she has been preparing for this set of actions since 2005, and in 3 years, she has continuously optimized the choreography and adjustment of the action set, and has trained thousands of times.
After landing smoothly, Li Shanshan faced the audience, confidently smiled, and the audience resounded with warm applause. Many spectators stood up and waved the five-star red flag for the young general.
Li Shanshan took out the video of that year's competition and watched it again. When she was in the team, she paid more attention to the process of the game and carefully watched the play of each action; after retiring, the scene where several players hugged each other and cried together when they won the championship made her miss it even more, "As long as she has experienced it, she will understand, there is no other feeling, I just want to cry, everyone is together, hugging the headache and crying..."
At the 2008 Olympic Games, the score of the women's gymnastics team competition came out, and several girls cried excitedly. Photo/IC Photo
"Life is wonderful because of uncertainty"
Li Shanshan's life has undergone constant "transformation": going to college, going to graduate school, starting a business... Even now, she has completely transformed into a white-collar banking worker in Macau, even if she has a new life, when she is introduced, she will be crowned as an Olympic champion from time to time.
Li Shanshan neither felt that this was an honor, nor did she feel sorry that she stayed at the age of 16 because of the highlight of her life. "Every stage has the focus of each stage, and as a professional athlete, standing on the podium of the Olympic Games is the highest honor; and now it is my duty to do my job in the bank. If you remember me on the field, I'm actually very happy. ”
Now, the girl who rolled on the balance beam has grown into a professional white-collar worker in the bank. Courtesy of respondents
During this year's Olympic Games, Li Shanshan was invited to Macau TELEVISION to do the commentary of the gymnastics competition, and the Young People of Macau who were familiar with her quickly recognized her voice.
She was pleased to see that more and more athletes on the field expressed themselves in the form of new media and established their own public image. People no longer focus only on the gold medal, the touching moments on the Olympic field can sometimes stay in the public memory for a longer time.
Li Shanshan was interviewed by the media. Graph source network
At this time, a full 13 years have passed since the Beijing Olympics. Watching the gymnasts "roll" on the balance beam, Li Shanshan recalled the picture of that year. "Whenever this moment, especially when I see my brothers and sisters on the field, I will feel something, and time will pass really quickly."
Seeing that her teammates also posted about the tokyo Olympic gymnastics competition in the circle of friends, Li Shanshan immediately nodded her like. At a distance, the teammates have not seen each other offline for a long time. After retiring from the army, they are not the closest girlfriends to each other, but Li Shanshan firmly believes that they who have been a community of destiny will not retreat. "We've 'fought' together."
Group photo of the 2008 Olympic participants. Graph source network
Competitive sports are cruel and beautiful, and the tears and laughter on the field have become the medals of the future. Li Shanshan looked at them and began to prepare for the next day's work.
"Competitive sports are wonderful because of uncertainty, and so is life."
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