Huang Wei, special correspondent of this newspaper for the Tokyo Olympic Games, made a special telegram
When Xu Shixiao and Sun Mengya invariably hung the Olympic gold medal on Meng Guanliang's neck, this thick Shaoxing Hanzi rubbed and stared, and his excitement was beyond words for a while.
On August 7, at the Tokyo Olympic Games, the Chinese duo Xu Shixiao and Sun Mengya won a valuable gold medal in the women's 500m double rowing final. This is the third gold in the history of Chinese kayaking, and the first gold in 13 years after the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
At this moment, how could Meng Guanliang not be excited?
Standing at the Umi-Mori Water Arena in Tokyo, Meng Guanliang's mind pulled back to the 2008 Beijing Olympics. At the age of 32, Meng Guanliang and his partner Yang Wenjun won the gold medal in the men's 500m double rowing event. In 2004, it was also he and Yang Wenjun who achieved a breakthrough of zero Olympic gold medals in Chinese kayaking at the Athens Olympic Games.
At the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, Meng Guanliang (left) and Yang Wenjun realized
China's kayaking Olympic gold medal zero breakthrough
At the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, Meng Guanliang (front) and partner Yang Wenjun won consecutively
Gold medal in the men's 500m double rowing event
Standing on the field of the Tokyo Olympics, Meng Guanliang's identity is the head coach of the canoe national team and the head coach of the women's group, and 1 gold and 2 silver have created the best record in the history of the Chinese kayak Olympics.
So far, Chinese kayaks have won a total of 3 gold medals. Each one has a unique love affair with Meng Guanliang - Meng Guanliang and his teammates won 2 gold, and his disciples won 1 gold. At the Tokyo Arena, this is the inheritance and promotion of history, and it is also the reward of heavenly rewards.
Meng Guanliang is the director of Zhejiang Provincial Water Sports Management Center. One day in early February, he had just returned to Hangzhou from a field game when he received a phone call and heard an appointment announced: to become the head coach of the national kayaking team and the head coach of the women's team. The goal is to win gold and silver at the Tokyo Olympics!
The news was a bit of a surprise. Meng Guanliang said that he was not mentally prepared at all. However, he quickly calmed down, he knew too well the weight of this trust, and the burden on his shoulders. Soon, the joy of the Spring Festival has not faded, Meng Guanliang has packed his bags, leaving his wife and son and daughter who is less than half a year old, all the way north to "perform new duties".
The second time I saw Meng Guanliang was at this Tokyo Olympics. After losing a circle and blackening a circle, originally having a flat head, now somewhat savage growth, and the two sideburns also saw white hair. Meng Guanliang only spat out the words "tired" and "busy" after his disciples competed for gold and silver.
In the 188 days of preparation for and decisive battle for the Tokyo Olympic Games, Meng Guanliang's world was the national team training base in Shunyi, Beijing. He joked that his identity is not only "total", but also "Lord". The head coach is the overall deployment, planning, and control, and the head coach is the specific implementation, implementation, and coordination. Meng Guanliang has both, so he is more present on the training ground, any guidance is personal, with athletes in the sun and rain, "every day on the water training is more than 20 kilometers." For every action and technical detail, discuss and communicate with athletes and coaches day and night. ”
As a kayaking sport that originated in the United Kingdom, it has long been monopolized by European countries, and the United Kingdom, France, Hungary and so on are all traditional powers. In the Olympic games, Chinese athletes compete for gold and silver, not to say "tiger's mouth to pull teeth", at least it is not so easy. "We have done a very solid job in our preparations this time. It is estimated that there will be 4 points to compete for gold medals before the match. ”
July 27 is the day when the Chinese kayaking team went out. In Beijing, Meng Guanliang led 15 athletes to shout slogans to express firm faith and confidence in victory. At that time, the reporter asked Meng Guanliang, will there be surprises in the Tokyo Olympic Games? He sold a pass: Let's wait and see.
Meng Guanliang (first from right) and three Zhejiang players: Wang Congkang, Li Dongkun and Wang Nan
After 11 days, Meng Guanliang realized his dream of Tokyo. In addition to the gold medal by Xu Shixiao/Sun Mengya, On August 3, Liu Hao/Zheng Pengfei won the silver medal in the men's double rowing 1,000 meters, which is the Chinese kayak team's second Olympic medal after 13 years; on August 7, Liu Hao won another silver medal in the men's 1,000 meters single rowing, the first Olympic medal in Chinese men's single rowing.
Meng Guanliang's 188 days are more shining than gold and more precious than gold medals.