If the world's hardest sport is the marathon, it is estimated that few people oppose it, but in fact, there is a sport, more bitter than the marathon, it is marathon swimming, that is, swimming 10 kilometers in open water, the length of the race is not to say, it may also be pulled and plotted by the opponent, so only the most hard-working and brave athletes will choose this project, because it fights with will quality and perseverance. Many talented swimmers, frightened by the difficulties of the sport, chose the swimming pool.
Although the marathon swimming project started very late in China, but China already has a world-class gold medal runner, she is Xin Xin, affectionately known as "Sister Xin" by her teammates, she is the only one in China to qualify for the Tokyo Olympic Games, and is also one of the hidden gold points of the Chinese delegation in this Tokyo Olympic Games. "Marathon swim sister" Xin Xin said that he had been frustrated with the Rio Olympics, and this time at the Tokyo Olympics, he especially wanted to realize his dream of gold medals.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="37" >, swimming is very bitter, I wanted to give up</h1>
Xin Xin, born on November 6, 1996 in Jinan, Shandong Province, a family of four, parents and sisters are ordinary working class, his father once engaged in professional swimming sports, so Xin Xin was earlier than many of his peers contact with professional swimming training, it is said that his father's relatives have many people related to swimming, but none of them thought that the family can swim a world champion.
At the age of 6, Xin Xin had already entered the Huangting Sports Primary School in Jinan City and began training swimming. Although among children, Xin Xin's swimming talent is not very high, she is particularly able to endure hardships, endurance is good, and her personality is very strong. Because the training site is far from home, parents can not do every day to pick up Xin Xin to practice swimming, so xiao Xin Xin from the second grade, he has to take the bus alone to and from school every day, and has developed the habit of training alone since childhood.
After years of training, 15-year-old Xin Xin made a name for himself in a swimming competition in Nanchang and was subsequently selected for the provincial swimming team, specializing in 400m and 800m freestyles.
In 2012, at the London Olympic Trials, Xin Xin won a championship and a runner-up, making an exception to enter the national team directly from an amateur sports school, but later for various reasons, she failed to embark on the London Olympic journey, and after returning from the national team, Xin Xin officially joined the Shandong swimming team.
It is said that competitive sports are cruel, perhaps the most terrible thing is not failure, but can not see the hope of success, many people practice and do not want to practice, Xin Xin is the same, she once said that she won the provincial championship, won the national championship will not practice, as a result, when she really won the national championship, it will not say this sentence again, interesting.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="8" > two, marathon swimming sister</h1>
In 2013, at the 12th National Games, Xin Xin won the 800-meter free tour and broke the Asian record for this event. In the same year, the open water women's 10 km (marathon swimming) event began to select team members for the Olympic Games, xin Xin was taken by coach Jin Hao at a glance and began a new challenge.
Xin Xin, although he looks like a very quiet person, has a very good personality and does not accept defeat, like a boy. She has very high requirements for herself, sometimes to the point of being demanding, Xin Xin said: "I am most afraid that I can't move myself, it will affect my mentality, I will doubt myself, I will be dissatisfied with my training, I hope I can practice every class, if I can't practice, I don't want to talk to anyone." ”
Xin Xin knows that among professional swimmers, her talent is not too good, but willing to endure hardships and good endurance are her own strengths, when she found that her talent is very suitable for marathon swimming, and she can also contact with nature, she fell in love with it without hesitation.
Marathon swimming is a relatively unpopular sport, relying on persistence, day after day of desperate practice, fighting is the quality of will and perseverance, she is always alone with herself on the water. Xin Xin is the "first sister" of marathon swimming, although the age is not old, but in the team, teammates also affectionately call Xin Xin "Sister Xin".
Someone once asked her: "This project is so hard, why do you want to practice?" ”
Xin Xin said: "It is because it is difficult, so many people are not willing to practice this project, so I have this opportunity, because itself is not a particularly talented kind of athlete, there are many talented athletes, he will not come to practice this project, most of them go to practice the pool, so this project left me more opportunities." ”
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="39" > three, once frustrated Rio</h1>
Every winter, Xin Xin will go to Yunnan to do intensive aerobic training, in the plateau indoors, the average athlete's daily exercise volume is up to about 8 kilometers, while Xin Xin's daily exercise volume is as high as 15 kilometers, and she is often so tired that she does not want to talk.
In the Rio Olympic cycle, Xin Xin improved rapidly in the marathon swimming event, and she won the women's 10 km event with a time of 1 hour, 55 minutes and 12 seconds in the Olympic qualification event, and won the Ticket for the Rio Olympic Games.
In 2016, Xin Xin participated in the Olympic Games for the first time, in the Rio Olympic Women's Marathon Swimming Competition, ranked 17th in the half, and only began to exert strength in the second half, once rose to the second place, but unfortunately in the final sprint stage, due to lack of competition experience, he was pulled down by the opponent behind him, failed to maintain the advantage, and finally only won the fourth place, regrettably rubbing shoulders with the medal.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="36" >4, Tokyo Olympics want to realize the dream of gold medals</h1>
After the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, Xin Xin once had the idea of retiring, but under the repeated persuasion and encouragement of coaches and family members, Xin Xin resumed training, intending to realize his Olympic medal dream at the Tokyo Olympics.
In 2019, Xin Xin took a late-starter tactic at the Gwangju Swimming World Championships, ranking more than 40th in the first 2/3 of the schedule, avoiding opponent harassment, sprinting madly in the last 2 kilometers, from the slowest 41st place, all the way to the first place, with a time of 1 hour 54 minutes and 47 seconds 20 seconds, 0.9 seconds advantage to defeat the famous American Athlete Anderson, thus winning the women's 10 km marathon swimming championship, unexpectedly winning China's first world championships open water swimming gold medal.
Even Xin Xin herself could not believe that she had won the championship, and she said with emotion: "When you have this competitive strength, luck is easy to use."
Xin Xin said that after the Rio Olympic Games, she is participating in consecutive competitions, in order to find the feeling of confrontation with international players, open water competition is the experience of the competition, in the international competition, the strength of the players are very strong, the body collision is very much, many times the physical energy is consumed in advance, and can only accumulate experience by participating in more competitions.
On March 27, 2021, Xin Xin participated in the men's 10 km event of the National Marathon Swimming Championships, competing with 142 male runners, and finally only 20 seconds behind the champion male runners, showing her strong strength in this field.
Facing the upcoming Tokyo Olympics women's marathon swimming competition, Xin Xin said: "2016 Rio Olympic Games, I am very sorry, one step away from the podium, I hope that the Tokyo Olympic Games I can realize my dream, I especially want olympic gold medals now, I think I have the opportunity to fight, when you want to fight, you will find that the champion is particularly close to you." ”
However, during the trial training in Tokyo Bay, she found that the water quality in Tokyo Bay was too poor, and after each training, she had to clean up the small bugs lying on her body. Only the organization of the Tokyo Olympic Games is really bad, and it hurts our "sister Xin".
Tomorrow, Xin Xin, who is ready to go, will launch an impact on the Olympic women's marathon swimming gold medal, let us expect Xin Xin to be able to chop the waves, bravely move forward, strive for gold medals, and realize the dream of Tokyo.