Li Shixin did not perform well at the Gwangju World Championships.
Like Chinese table tennis, the Chinese diving team has always been in the position of world hegemony, so there are also "sweet troubles" - talent.
Too much talent means that not everyone has the opportunity to be on the stage of international competitions and olympic games. Therefore, in the fiercely competitive domestic diving environment, many athletes have gone abroad to find opportunities to continue fighting.
One of them is Li Shixin, a 31-year-old diving world champion, and he is also the first member of the Chinese national team to naturalize another country. He has just naturalized in Australia this year and participated in the Gwangju World Championships, but unfortunately, he has participated in all three events of "one round".
At the Gwangju World Championships, the surging news reporter interviewed the "grandfather" with three children. He told about his hard life in Australia, but he never regretted it, "Everything I did was to realize my Olympic dream." ”
Li Shixin won the gold medal in the one-meter board for China at the 2013 World Tour in Barcelona.
The first world champion to naturalize in Australia
When interviewing Li Shixin, he was dressed in an Australian team uniform with a black protective gear around his waist. Passing members of the Chinese diving team will affectionately call him "Big Head Brother" and greet him when they see him, after all, he was also a member of the Chinese team - "we are like a family".
There was no match on this day, and the australian team leader gave Li Shixin a holiday, hoping to relax his tight string, "come on, shixin, you forgot diving for fun, just enjoy this!" ”
Diving is just for fun, something Li Shixin has never thought of in his more than 20 years of career. In the chinese diving "Dream Team" with great masters, only by training hard day after day can you have the opportunity to step on the world stage and even the highest podium.
Li Shixin put the Olympic Five Rings in his right arm.
Born in 1988, Li Shixin was a member of the Navy and a major member of the Chinese diving team. In 2011 and 2013, he won the Men's 1m Board at the World Championships twice and the Men's Singles and Doubles 3m Board at international competitions.
In the dream team that is rich in champions, world champions are not as dazzling as stars. Li Shixin was mostly just an obscure character, in his words, "felt that his ability was at its limit", so he chose to retire in 2014.
Originally, Li Shixin could choose to continue to be a coach in China, or to do a stable job from nine to five. However, he did not choose to do that in the second half of his life, he went to participate in more challenging diving, where he met his current wife.
After the Tianjin National Games, Li Shixin took his wife and 1-year-old daughter to Australia with his family. It wasn't until May that he officially acquired citizenship there, becoming the first former Member of the Chinese Diving National Team and a former World Champion to be naturalized abroad.
Li Shixin in the game.
"People in their 30s are still in class"
The change of identity has made Li Shixin a hot spot for the media, and in the first week of the World Championships, his heat even overshadowed the Chinese divers who won the championships.
"Really, people in their 30s are still being taught." Li Shixin smiled and shook his head, "Still think less about the difficulties and put your posture up." Although I have the ability to compete, but I don't think about the difficulties as much, I never thought that my game would get out of control. ”
This sense of loss of control is something that Li Shixin has never experienced in the national team. Under the long-term systematic training in China, it is difficult for an experienced veteran to make huge mistakes, "like Chen Aisen and Cao Yuan, even if there are mistakes, they have the ability to adjust back in time." ”
Li Shixin, who has been away from the Chinese diving team for 5 years, was originally very confident because he had a smooth ride in The Australian race. Even if he only obtained citizenship in May, he could still qualify for the three world championships through the selection competition.
Li Shixin was treated for a lumbar injury.
But the moment he really stepped on the springboard, Li Shixin suddenly understood that although the technical essentials were still in his head, his body was already different from before, "it was like an empty shell, using the experience of the past 20 years to find the feeling of competition." ”
For his trip to the World Championships, Li Shixin is quite optimistic. In his opinion, such a problem was fortunately discovered a year before the Tokyo Olympics, and if it can be adjusted in time, "my future path will be green."
However, he still reminded himself on his social media, "I always think that I can go on smoothly, but the missing experience is not less, and I need to go through it completely... Well, back to the furnace to rebuild, diving the world of elementary school students, ready to get back on the road. ”
Li Shixin's family.
Diaper change at 6 a.m. and train for less than 1 hour
Catching the last train of this world championship, Li Shixin originally wanted to use this international competition to train troops. According to his originally formulated tactics, he first passed the preliminaries and semi-finals with low-difficulty moves, and then tried those difficult moves in the final.
The reason for this is not because Li Shixin is skilled, but because he wants to practice technical movements in well-equipped venues as much as possible, because Australia simply does not have such conditions.
Yes, the life of immigrants is not as good as people think, and Li Shixin's family has encountered unknown hardships.
After moving to Australia in 2017, Li Shixin, who was the pillar of the pillar, worked as a part-time coach at a club in Melbourne, teaching children and adults to dive, with an hourly salary of 25 Australian dollars (about 121 yuan). In addition, he works part-time as a fitness instructor.
Last year, he participated in the World Cup selection tournament in Australia, and because of the good results, the Australian Swimming Association gave Li Shixin, the former coach of British star Daley, as a coach. Although the coach is free, he still has to pay the venue fee every day when he goes to the venue to train.
Li Shixin "walking the baby".
More headaches appeared, Li Shixin and his wife welcomed twin daughters last year, a family of three instantly became a family of five, Li Shixin must get up at 6 o'clock every day to change her daughter's diaper.
"In the morning, when I change their diapers, I will take them out to buy groceries or run, and I should exercise my strength." Li Shixin looked happy, but he was also a little helpless about his usual training, "I must do everything I can to exercise with fragmented time." ”
The birth of the twins meant that Li Shixin already had less training time. He can't follow the national team to physical training because he has to take care of his daughter in the morning, and coaches the club in the evening, and his training time is less than an hour a day.
"In fact, the training environment at the club is very complicated, and the real effective training time is only about 20 minutes." The 31-year-old veteran scratched his head, "We have two gyms to train in, and I travel from home to the swimming pool for about 4 hours a day." ”
Tired, but every night when he saw his three daughters, Li Shixin's fatigue instantly turned into honey. As soon as he entered the door, the eldest daughter would run over first, and then the two younger daughters would follow behind, "Daddy, you're back!"
Li Shixin and his three precious daughters.
Which is a necessity compared to life?
Before the naturalization of Australia, Li Shixin's most well-known identity was "man who sang the national anthem". In a competition in 2011, Zhang Xinhua and Li Shixin won the men's 3m springboard championship and runner-up, but the organizer misplayed the Chinese national anthem, and Li Shixin sang it himself.
At that time, Li Shixin's move touched many audiences at home and abroad, and FINA officials also thanked him. He later explained on social media that he was "actually a hot-blooded young man doing what he felt was right."
Now, the 31-year-old veteran is working towards his inaugural Olympic Games, but his identity has changed, "Whether it's naturalization in Australia or choosing to return to the status of athlete, I am for this (Olympic) goal." 」 ”
Li Shixin sighed that there are so many outstanding athletes in the Chinese diving team, but standing at the top of the pyramid is the phoenix-haired diamond horn. His choice to naturalize in Australia is also a way to pursue his dreams, "To be able to participate in the Olympic Games is the most glorious moment for me." ”
Of course, the change of nationality has also caused Li Shixin to be criticized a lot on the Internet. He is very calm about this, and will also take the initiative to look at those not very good remarks, "I want to be a bridge between China and Australia diving, not a barrier." ”
But if he wants to realize his Olympic dream, Li Shixin's road ahead is still full of thorns. As a husband and father, he has also been trying to find a balance between diving and family, "but it's so easy!" I eventually found that this was impossible to do. ”
Not only is it in a dilemma, but melbourne's local training conditions are also very worrying. On the eve of the World Championships, he accidentally injured his waist because the water temperature in the stadium was too low, so he came to Gwangju this time to wear protective gear on his waist.
Because the results of this world championship were not ideal, Li Shixin also failed to get the bonus, which made him start to consider whether to find a full-time job, "Without the bonus, I may be dragged down, and I am very tired and stressed now." 」 ”
The surging news reporter could not help but ask him: "If you do full-time, you will have less time to train, what should you do?" The veteran who dedicated the first half of his life to diving only replied lightly: "If life is compared to dreams, which is a necessity?" ”
"Everything I have is for diving, but my ability is limited after all, and I will give back to diving in my own way."