In the just-concluded Gwangju FINA World Championships diving men's 1m board preliminaries, there was a "familiar stranger", familiar with his face, the face that was known for singing the national anthem; the strange thing was his nationality, and the screen clearly showed that he was an Australian athlete.
Introduction of Li Shixin on the official website of FINA
The World Championships is the first direct access to the Tokyo Olympics, with the top three in the Gwangju Doubles and the top twelve in the singles tournament going straight to the Olympics. Although the 1-meter board is not an Olympic project, Li Shixin, who has won the World Championship twice, has an inseparable feeling for this project.
However, in the just-concluded men's 1m board, Li Shixin, the only one in the world to win the World Championships 1m board championship, made a major mistake in the fourth jump 305b, and finally only ranked 15th, missing the final.
Why did the former world champion, who has long since retired from the Chinese team, return to the stage of the World Series as an Australian athlete, and what kind of story is buried in this?
Li Shixin felt that he could not always do without this pool of water
"Big head, big head, no worries about rain."
About a year ago, this sentence was a joke that Li Shixin described himself in an interview, but it was this joke that made the people around him really feel: although he had retired, although he failed to win the Olympic championship, although life abroad was not satisfactory, although he had to take care of children while undertaking tedious work, he could still make people feel the joy from the heart, cheerful, and his open-mindedness could always bring happiness to the people around him.
At present, Li Shixin has become a "foreigner" without compromise. The news that he changed his nationality and represented Australia at this World Championship has long gone.
Many people wonder why he made such a decision, once known to the public for singing the national anthem, and because the military salute after winning the championship was impressive. Had he thought deeply about the effect he would have on himself by doing so, and what gave him so much courage.
With these questions in mind, we had several in-depth exchanges before and between the games.
There was a phone interview before the World Championships, and the phone had just been connected, and the voice coming from the earpiece was a little tired. Li Shixin's twin daughter was born not long ago, and he is now a father of three children, taking care of the children on the one hand, taking care of the daily training due to participating in the competition, and on the other hand, as the pillar of the family, he is also responsible for making money to subsidize the family.
Li Shixin with his three daughters
"I don't look at children much at night now, my lover and mother watch some children so that I can sleep well, and then I wake up at five or six in the morning to take over." 」 Since Li Shixin made the decision to change his nationality to participate in the World Championships, he has almost no rest time seven days a week, watching his children at home in the morning, driving an hour to the venue after lunch to train, and then rushing to the substitute class site to teach students to dive after training, in order to make money and supplement the family. And so on, day after day.
Li Shixin substitute class is to earn money to support the family
When talking about such a hard life and where the motivation comes from, Li Shixin was silent for a while and replied: "The Olympic Games." ”
Hearing the word Olympics again, all athletes, regardless of age, experience, seem to never be able to avoid this word, it is like Jerusalem for religious people, the Olympic Games will always be the dream of those who have faith.
"I haven't been to the Olympics, which is always a pity." Li Shixin once comforted himself that there are still many outstanding athletes in the world who have not won the Olympic Games, he has won the world championship 1 meter board, he has been luckier than many athletes, however, when the opportunity to make up for this regret is in front of him, he still can't refuse.
Li Shixin likes the feeling of flashing in the air
"If you want to represent Australia, one of the conditions is that you must be Australian national." After becoming an Australian citizen and achieving certain results, he can step into the Olympic Games, which he dreamed of on, of course, as an Australian athlete.
"I'm already here, and I know I can't go back to that circle (the national team)." In 2017, Li Shixin made a comeback to participate in the Tianjin National Games, he was the oldest player in that National Games, and he regretted missing the medal, perhaps he realized early on that he was no longer at the peak, and he would never be able to represent China in the Olympic Games.
"Have you ever wondered how much the matter of nationality transfer will have?" Especially if you were a former soldier. There was a long silence on the other end of the phone, and Li Shixin replied: "I think it's just a change of book, I'm still the same me as before, everything hasn't changed." ”
"But it won't be as simple as changing the book."
"I know, but I don't dare to think about it, I am a soldier, it is the country that has cultivated me, but I really dare not think about it, the more I think about it, the more I can't understand myself." 」 Li Shixin seemed a little excited, maybe he had never thought about it, maybe he deliberately didn't think about it, he didn't dare to think about it, in short, he told himself that he hadn't actually changed.
However, changing nationalities to participate in the competition is not an easy task, and he is more like a madman who abandons everything for his dreams than many liars who pursue fame and profit on the grounds of dreams.
Li Shixin's reason for naturalizing in Australia is simple, hoping that he can step onto the stage of the Olympic Games, but the cumbersome naturalization procedures and the complexity of the situation are far beyond Li Shixin's expectations, especially the difficulties in life.
"I didn't expect it to be so difficult economically before I came, and the Australian Swimming Association is not the same as the Chinese system." As a naturalized athlete, li Shixin cannot enjoy the allowance of a national athlete because he has no competition results in Australia, and his identity is that he is a diving enthusiast, which means that he has to bear all the expenses including training costs.
In addition, as a "diving enthusiast", he can not directly participate in high-level competitions, he needs to participate in various competitions in Australia, and after achieving results, he can qualify, and the ticket fee for the competition is also a huge expense.
In order to dive, Li Shixin must participate in the competition as a "self-employed person"
"The cost of competing alone is at least 5,000-10,000 Australian dollars a year, not counting your own food, clothing and housing." Due to the needs of training and children, Li Shixin could not find a full-time job in Australia, which meant that he could only work part-time as a substitute teacher, and the part-time income could not even meet the cost of his own competition, let alone the expenses of a family.
Not being able to make ends meet is a true portrayal of Li Shixin in recent times.
In addition, in order to represent Australia in the competition, he must be a national citizen, that is to say, Li Shixin must be an Australian citizen; secondly, because Li Shixin was once an athlete, according to the relevant regulations, he must meet the requirements to not represent the Chinese Swimming Association for 12 months from the date of application and has not participated in the relevant events held by the Chinese Swimming Association; finally, the transfer association also needs to obtain the permission of the original association, that is, the Chinese Swimming Association.
Li Shixin introduced that it took about three to four weeks from the time he applied for the transfer to the association to the time he received the fina email, and the time was the most lacking in Li Shixin at that time.
He submitted his application in May this year, but Australia's national selection tournament for the World Championships was held on June 5, and if Li Shixin's application for transfer was not approved before that, it would mean that even if he won the championship in the selection competition, he would not be able to participate in the World Championship.
"It was a really torturous time, and I would look at my email every day to see if I had received any notifications." Anxiety and uneasiness became the main theme of that time, the roof leaked during the overnight rain, li Shixin was injured in the training before the game, and could not train for a long time.
"Those days were really dark, not the darkness before dawn, it was the kind that was one or two o'clock in the middle of the night." He half-jokingly said that for him, if he missed the time, all the previous efforts would be wasted, but fortunately, on May 31, he received the successful transfer notice from fina.
Li Shixin admitted that if he had not received the transfer notice when the deadline was reached, he thought about giving up the pursuit of the Olympics and waiting for another four years.
"Too many people have been knocked down by reality, you can go hungry yourself, but can you let your wife and children go hungry with you?" Li Shixin said.
Li Shixin took a photo with the child with the caption "Shoulders need to be wider"
In order to save money, Li Shixin can save money, and he has also made big jokes. In an outing competition, in order to save money, he did not book flights and hotels with the team, but chose low-cost airlines and booked cheaper youth hostels, in his opinion, going out alone to play, as long as there is a place to sleep.
However, Li Shixin arrived at the airport for a long time has not seen his flight information, once asked Fang Zhi low-cost airlines canceled this flight, you can go to the counter to handle the refund business, learned of this news Li Shixin's heart collapsed, originally wanted to save money he could only buy a slightly later ticket, the price is naturally much higher.
However, things don't end that simply.
"When I got to that hotel, I actually said that the room was gone, which would make me really angry, cheap is not guaranteed." No matter how angry Li Shixin is, the accommodation problem needs to be solved urgently, and the rebooking of the hotel is scary; the cheap room has long been rented out, and when he is at a loss, a local Chinese coach reaches out to help him and lets him stay in his home for a few days.
"I consoled myself that things were good and grinding, but fortunately the final results were satisfactory." I don't know how many times Li Shixin has experienced such things, I don't know what kind of big and small dilemmas he has encountered, but I can imagine that his only motivation is to stand on the stage of the Olympic Games.
Li Shixin really likes diving
We often cannot foresee the outcome of the choice before choosing, but in the face of reality, we can only see the tricks and bite the teeth and move forward. Many people who chase their dreams do this, and so does Li Shixin.
He may also know in his heart that even if he stands on the stage of the Olympic Games, the results may not be satisfactory, but despite this, he still has no hesitation and plunges into it, as if he is only pursuing the Olympic arena.
The inside of his right arm is tattooed with a set of five-ring motifs of his own design, once a celebration of his youth when he retired from the army, and now a declaration of his dreams.
Li Shixin designed the tattoo himself
I admire, admire his bravery, and admire his purity of diving.
Although he made a mistake in this World Championship and missed the final of the 1-meter board, the competition did not end, the pace of impact did not stop, and the dreamers always deserve respect!