Chongqing, July 30 (Xinhua) -- On July 25, in the final of the women's double 3-meter board diving at the Tokyo Olympic Games, Shi Tingmao and Wang Han, the ace duo of the Chinese diving team, won the championship with a total score of 326.40, defending the honor of China's diving "Dream Team" and winning the fourth gold for the Chinese team.
The race seemed easy, but the bandages wrapped around the ankles of the two 30-year-old "veterans" spoke of the hardships behind the victory.
In 1991, Shi Tingmao was born in Chongqing to an ordinary working family. As the only daughter in the family, she was trained in gymnastics at the age of 5 because of her excellent physical fitness, but the dissolution of the gymnastics team forced her to terminate her short gymnastics career.
"At that time, the gymnastics project was going to set up a provincial professional team, and the coaches went to the kindergarten to pick seedlings and picked her." Shi Tingmao's enlightenment coach Zhang Yulan said that after the disbandment of the gymnastics team, the original team members faced diversion, and Zhang Yulan hit Shi Tingmao and took her to the diving team.
China's Shi Tingmao (right) and Wang Han pose for a group photo on July 25. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Xu Chang
Although practicing gymnastics gives Shi Tingmao an excellent physical foundation, gymnastics is different from diving after all, and from scratch, she needs to work harder than others to keep up with the rhythm, and all this is survived by Shi Tingmao's gritted teeth. According to Zhang Yulan's recollection, 8-year-old Shi Tingmao had most of her front teeth removed from her knees during a basic exercise, but she did not cry. "That's when I realized that this kid would definitely be able to stand up to the girder in the future."
Shi Tingmao's continuous persistence made shi tingmao improve very quickly, and at the age of 9, he made a name for himself at the National Children's Diving Championships in 2000, and was sent to Beijing by the coach in 2001 to participate in training. In 2006, she was favored by the diving team of Tsinghua University and achieved good results in many competitions such as the National Diving Championships.
Shi Tingmao's father said that Shi Tingmao's initial name was Shi Tingting, but after she changed to diving, her family felt that Tingting sounded like "stop and stop" and felt that it was incompatible with diving. So Grandpa Shi Tingmao helped her change it to her current name. Shi Dad explained that "Ting" means the country, "Mao" refers to hard work, and the meaning of "Tingmao" is to hope that she will strive to contribute to the country.
However, after changing his name, Shi Tingmao has not been given the opportunity to serve the country. At this time, she still chose to insist. Finally, in 2011, Shi Tingmao won the gold medal in the 1 meter board of the Shanghai World Championships as a local player, and successfully realized her dream of being selected for the national team, although at this time she was already a 21-year-old "veteran", even older than many retired divers.
On July 25, China's Shi Tingmao (front) / Wang Han in the competition. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Wang Jingyan
The old Ji Futuo, determined to be in a thousand miles. After being selected for the national team, with the outstanding strength of his personal sports and the perfect match with his teammates, Shi Tingmao has been undefeated in the World Series since 2013, including the biennial Diving World Cup, the Swimming World Championships, and the quadrennial Asian Games and Olympic Games. Prior to the Tokyo Olympics, she had won 4 Asian Games titles, 6 World Cup titles, 7 World Championships and 2 Olympic gold medals in the women's 3m and women's double 3m board events.
However, the postponement of the Olympic Games caused by the new crown epidemic has had a great impact on Shi Tingmao's preparations. This unexpected accident made her bite the teeth and prepare for four years, and she could not even complete the systematic training for a while, and her last choice was to practice from scratch again, insist day after day, adjust her state step by step, and finally stand on the diving board of the Tokyo Olympic Games.
After successfully winning the championship and standing on the highest podium of the Olympic Games again, Shi Tingmao sighed infinitely: "It is never the gold medal that can make people stronger, it is the road to this gold medal that faces difficulties and problems again and again and bravely overcomes them." It is easy for people to believe in themselves in good times, but it is not easy to believe in themselves in bad times. ”
For her daughter's performance, Shi Tingmao's mother is extremely proud: "This year her daughter will turn 30, which may also be her last Olympic Games." Hopefully, she can let go of her baggage and strive for a good result in the women's singles 3m board competition on August 1, with a perfect ending. ”
Source: Xinhua News Agency