On September 5, 2021, the Tokyo Paralympic Games came to an end. The Chinese delegation won a total of 96 gold medals, 60 silver medals and 51 bronze medals, a total of 207 medals, and won the double first place in the gold medal table and medal table for five consecutive years. The first gold medal was won by Li Hao, a wheelchair fencer from Guang'an, Sichuan Province, in the men's Sabre Individual A Final on August 25.
In the men's Sabre individual A-class event, Li Hao has won the third place in the 2016 World Cup, the third place in the 2017 National Championship, the 2018 World Cup champion, the second place in the 2019 World Championships, etc., and now has won a Paralympic gold medal.
Life is full of sunshine Li Hao
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="4" > "never thought the first gold would be myself"</h1>
"Li Hao dared to fight and fight in the Paralympic Games, demonstrated the spirit of unremitting self-improvement and striving to be the first, and won honor for the motherland and the people." On the day of the gold medal, Wang Yong, state councilor and director of the State Council Working Committee on The Disabled, sent a congratulatory message to the Chinese sports delegation.
Although it has been more than a month since the conclusion of the Tokyo Paralympic Games, Li Hao still remembers the details of the competition.
Before the Sabre finals, traditional strengths such as swimming had taken the lead in reaching the finals. "I thought they would win the first gold, but I never thought that the first gold would be myself."
On this trip to Tokyo, Li Hao's psychological expectation is to be able to win medals, and as for winning gold, he did not place too high expectations. "The probability of winning gold is not large, it is an extraordinary play." Li Hao was blunt. After all, the 15 players competing on the same stage are all the world's top masters, and they have all won championships in international competitions.
"Every defending champion is great, but there's no winning general under the sky." In the Tokyo arena, Li Hao tried some playing styles that he usually did not dare to try, and won surprisingly.
In the semifinals, Li Hao's opponent was Tian Jianquan, the brother of Jiangsu team. In 2008, Tian Jianquan won the Beijing Paralympic Epee Championship, which is his fourth appearance at the Paralympic Games. "Regardless of experience or skill, he is definitely better than me." Li Hao told reporters that in the past 7 years, he and Tian Jianquan have fought many times and almost never won. "Every time I play against him, even though the front bites very tightly, there are always some details behind him."
"There shouldn't be much of a problem with a medal, it's much easier to get rid of the mental baggage, and I just want to play with him once." Adjusting his psychological state, Li Hao packed lightly.
"The sabre came out very quickly, I changed my style, and he may not have reacted for a while." Li Hao recalled, "At that moment, I caught the loophole of my brother and took it down with a bang. At 15:12, Li Hao won the semi-finals.
When communicating with coach Kong Lingsen after the game, the coach told Li Hao that it was in the moment when his brother hesitated, he seized the opportunity, and that was the key to victory.
In the final that followed, the opponent was Manko from Ukraine, a player who ranked two places higher in the world rankings than himself. They had never touched each other before. At the beginning, Li Hao made a good start of 3:1, followed by 6 consecutive points against the opponent, and then the two scored 1 point each, forming a 4:8 temporary situation.
At this time, coach Kong Lingsen came over. "You won all the tight games in the front, now the rhythm is not right, you may be overexcited, be calm." The coach reminded Li Hao to bring the other party to his own rhythm.
"Fencing is not just about having momentum, it's also about being calm." Li Hao admitted that he was indeed a little excited at the time, for him, the victory ahead meant that a mountain that had been accumulated in his heart for a long time had finally been turned over, and once the coach reminded him, he quickly adjusted his state back.
In the end, it was another 15:12, Li Hao won, and the first gold of the Chinese sports delegation at the Tokyo Paralympic Games was born.
Li Hao sweated profusely at the Tokyo Paralympic Games
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="51" > "Fencing is a turning point in my life"</h1>
Height 1.86m, single leg. Among the fencers, the 27-year-old Li Hao believes that the conditions are not the best, nor the worst, but medium. "I play back and forth with other people three or four times, and others can pick up my center of gravity." With only one leg, moving back and forth affects balance. So my current training method is basically to only fight three times and try to solve the battle in three rounds. ”
Ten years to sharpen a sword. Li Hao can achieve today's results, inseparable from the long-term training of a sword and a sword "polishing".
"Some players, as soon as they come up, feel very good, and they can produce results in two or three years. I practiced for many years before I gradually began to produce results. Li Hao said that from the more systematic practice of fencing, it has been seven or eight years now.
What is less well known is that before he was exposed to fencing, Li Hao's athletic career began with swimming.
When he was more than 2 years old, due to a car accident, Li Hao lost his right leg. At the age of 13, Li Hao rode a bicycle to school and was seen by the leaders of the local Disabled Persons' Federation. Riding a bicycle on one leg can also carry people, and the leaders of the Disabled Persons' Federation believe that he has a talent for sports and persuade him to specialize in sports.
When choosing a project, Li Hao chose to swim, which he was familiar with since childhood. At the age of 15, Li Hao participated in the Sichuan Provincial Games for the first time. On the platform, at a glance, he found that many competitors were only slightly disabled, and he wanted to compete with each other in the pool with one leg, and he had no chance of winning.
Li Hao in adolescence has a little emotion: "I don't swim anymore, I don't practice, I can't practice you." ”
I was preparing to go home to study, who knew that I was favored by the provincial fencing coach. Although he did not know fencing at that time, Li Hao, who was curious and passionate about sports, still agreed to it happily. "Boys probably have a momentum, and it feels cool to fight with a sword. Even if you lose, it doesn't matter, you still like it. ”
"Among the fencers, I'm not in good terms, and very few coaches would choose a full thigh amputation." Li Hao was glad that the coach chose himself.
Although Li Haoda liked fencing in his heart, for a long time, he did not get formal systematic training.
"At that time, the training was intermittent, and the technology did not grow much, and then it was directly stopped, and there was no movement for a year or two." Because of training, learning was also delayed, and I had to go home to work. ”
During the suspension of training, Li Hao worked in the workshop of polishing auto parts, with a monthly salary of more than 1,000 yuan, and he could not make ends meet, and his life was very difficult.
It was not until 2015, when Li Hao participated in the Sichuan National Games, won the third place, and was invited to join the Shanghai wheelchair fencing team, that his fate completely changed.
"Fencing was a turning point in my life." Li Hao said that if you don't choose fencing, life is far less exciting than it is now.
Li Hao's tokyo Paralympic Sabre Competition highlights
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="52" > "Five-star red flag is faith"</h1>
"When I put on my helmet, I immediately transformed into another person. Fencing makes me feel excited and I enjoy the feeling on the field, it makes me feel motivated in life. Speaking of his beloved fencing sport, Li Hao did not hesitate to praise it.
In Li Hao's view, fencing has long been integrated into his life, bringing too much to him. "I wasn't confident enough before, I was shy and shy in public, and I was more introverted. Since practicing fencing, I have become extroverted. Many places are beginning to dare to show themselves. He thanked fencing for bringing him a change in mentality and making him more confident no matter what he did.
Li Hao, who has a strong personality since childhood, does not want to be a burden to his family, but it is much more difficult for the disabled to achieve self-sufficiency than ordinary people. "Fencing has given me a new life and financial independence." He thanked the state for giving athletes sufficient financial guarantees, so that they could worry about their future and concentrate on training.
In the Shanghai wheelchair fencing team, the warmth of the extended family has benefited Li Hao a lot. Because they are all disabled, they know each other's difficulties, can understand and empathize, and the atmosphere is very warm.
"When others work hard, it is also a kind of encouragement to themselves." Li Hao said, "Seeing that people with more severe disabilities than you are working so hard, what reason do you have to stagnate and complain about life?" ”
Regardless of personality, life, or the general environment, fencing has brought Li Hao all-round changes. "Go to different countries, play different games, see different people." Li Hao said that it was fencing that made him no longer a frog at the bottom of the well, it was fencing that made him see the wider sky, it was fencing that made him understand that there were mountains outside the mountains...
In 2018, Li Hao won the World Cup. In Georgia, when he saw the five-star red flag rising, Li Hao could not suppress his inner excitement. "The five-star red flag is faith!" Relying on his mutilated body to raise the national flag through the game, at that moment, Li Hao truly felt that he was useful. He is proud of the country and proud of himself!
At this Tokyo Paralympic Games, Li Hao was extremely excited to learn that he was eligible to participate. "The night I stayed at the Olympic Village, my heart was beating so hard, I was so excited, I couldn't sleep in the middle of the night. Nervousness, excitement, and excitement, all kinds of emotions superimposed. ”
On August 25, when the five-star red flag was raised again in a foreign country because of his own efforts, Li Hao's chest was full of passion.
Kong Lingsen, the coach who hand-picked Li Hao to join the Shanghai team, is now 65 years old, but he is still fighting in the front line of coaching. Usually the requirements for the team members are very strict and caring, in Li Hao's heart, Kong Lingsen is a grandfather worthy of awe.
"We won the prize and he never praised it. And once there is a mistake in training, he will always point it out at the first time, without mercy, making people blush. Li Hao said that the Shanghai team has cultivated a number of world champions in recent years, which is inseparable from the strict requirements and careful guidance of the coach. He also remembered that when he first came to the Shanghai team, many actions were not standard, and all the coach Kong Lingsen corrected by hand.
In the six or seven years since coming to the Shanghai team, Li Hao found that the whole team has only entered one or two new people, and the update speed is very slow. He said that although Chinese wheelchair fencing is improving, some foreign opponents have improved faster, and some have even made jumps, and this is where Coach Kong can't rest assured. So although he has long passed the retirement age, he still sticks to the front line, and Chinese wheelchair fencing needs him.
Since 2017, in order to prepare for the Olympic Games, Li Hao has not returned home for the Spring Festival for 5 consecutive years. On October 26, after recording the 100-day countdown to the Beijing Winter Olympics, he could finally embark on his journey home. After resting, he will return to Shanghai to continue preparing for the next Olympic Games.
(Reporter Qian Min, People's Weekly, No. 20, 2021)