A "Xin" forward - remember the "Iron Maiden" Xin Xin

Xin Xin in the marathon swimming women's 10 km race.

Xinhua News Agency

Xin Xin, the only Chinese participant in the 10-kilometer marathon swimming competition at the Tokyo Olympics, admitted that although there was a little disappointment, the result was acceptable, and then adjusted slightly, and then "better than the National Games".

Like many athletes, Xin Xin's schedule can be described as "climbing over mountain after mountain, non-stop and then raising the whip".

In the women's marathon 10 km swimming competition on the 4th, Xin Xin was selected for a urine test after the race, which made the reporters wait for more than two hours under the big sun in Tokyo. Walking toward Xin Xin in the mixed mining area, when she saw the Chinese media present, she greeted her with surprise and apology: "Oh my God? Is everyone waiting for me? You guys worked so hard! ”

Open water is known as the "game of the brave" for swimming in nature, while the 10-kilometer "marathon swim" is a great test of physical fitness and willpower. Since childhood, he was a "good child" in the eyes of his parents, but Xin Xin, who was strong in heart, was the "Iron Maiden" in the team.

On the same day, Xin Xin got up at 3 o'clock, rushed to the 4 o'clock shuttle to the competition site after a simple breakfast, checked at 4:30, carried out a series of warm-up and other preparation activities, checked in for the second time at 6:10, and started the game at 6:30.

The Tokyo weather forecast shows that the average temperature of the day is 30.2 degrees Celsius, and the maximum temperature is 35 degrees Celsius. Initially, the organizing committee considered the hot weather and planned to hold the competition as early as 5:30 a.m., but the start of the tournament was postponed by one hour due to the difficulty of the staff in place.

Although the scene is visible to the naked eye, Xin Xin did not complain about the sky: "Before there was an adaptation to high temperature training, the impact of high temperature is still acceptable, and everyone's environment is the same." ”

In the 25-person race team, Xin Xin chased all the way, chased to the top ten after half a distance, chased to third after 8 kilometers, and finally due to the impact of yellow cards, coupled with excessive physical exertion, she finished eighth with a time of 2 hours 00 minutes and 10 seconds 1, 39 seconds slower than gold medalist Anna Marcella Cunha of Brazil.

"A little bit disappointed." Xin Xin added that the finish time was acceptable.

At the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, the open water men's and women's 10 km became Olympic events, and since then, the podium has been the world of European and American athletes.

Xin Xin, who started swimming training at the age of 5, became a middle- and long-distance freestyle athlete with good talent and excellent physical condition. After 2012, Xin Xin began to contact open water, and a year later won the 10 km race of the National Games, while also rewriting the Asian record of the 800-meter freestyle in the pool.

Because there is no waterline, marathon swimmers have more physical contact, more intense and nervous, but Xin Xin has been improving. At the 2016 Rio Olympics, Xin Xin finished fourth in 1 hour, 57 minutes, 14.40 seconds, one step away from the medal, which was also the best result achieved by Chinese athletes in the world competition in the event at that time.

In 2019, Xin Xin won the championship in the Swimming World Championships with a time of 1 hour 54 minutes and 47 seconds 20 seconds, which was the first time that Chinese swimming won the open water gold medal at the World Championships, achieving a historic breakthrough.

The 10-kilometer marathon swim is also known as the "barbarian game", although facing difficulties such as high temperatures and unknown bugs in the water, Xin Xin has been following the steps in the race, but the yellow card shown to her by the referee at 1 hour and 42 minutes still affected her.

"I don't know why I received a yellow card, but I was afraid that I would be disqualified from the second yellow card if I had physical contact with others." Xin Xin said in the post-match review, "It is still inexperienced, and the yellow card at the final sprint affects the speed and psychology of the game." The biggest difficulty was that I was physically exhausted and failed to keep up with the First Group. ”

After the competition that morning, the IOC's official microblog "Olympic Sports" sent a microblog to pay tribute to the female marathon swimmers: "After swimming a long 10 kilometers of open water, it is a great test of everyone's physical fitness and willpower, and applauds all the runners who completed this project." ”

"There is no best, only better." This is Xin Xin's motto. Although Tokyo doesn't hold a license, Xin Xin, who is only 24 years old, is still one of the best athletes in China's open waters, and this trip to Tokyo is clearly just a new starting point.

"The hometown dish I want to eat the most is the vinegar-boiled cabbage made by my father!" Xin Xin smiled in response to the reporter's question, "First compare the National Games, and then make the next plan."

According to Xinhua News Agency

Source: Wuhan Evening News