Beijing, November 6 (Reporter Yue Chuan) "People must have dreams, what if they are realized?" Gong Lijiao often hangs it on his lips. When she almost compromised with herself, she always used this sentence to convince herself to insist on it again.
It was this persistence that led Gong Lijiao to throw a personal best of 20 meters 58 at the Put Ball Competition at the Tokyo Olympics in August this year. She took the final step of a Grand Slam with the first Olympic gold medal in the history of Chinese athletics.
"As a 'post-85' athlete, on the sports field, especially for the shot put event that relies on strength and explosiveness, I am a veteran, a veteran who constantly competes with injuries, a veteran who dreams of going to the Olympics 4 times, and a happy veteran who finally realizes his dream." Gong Lijiao said at the "Youth Without Regrets" Chinese Youth Olympic Spirit Sharing Meeting organized by the Propaganda Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League and the China Youth Daily on the 5th.
On August 1, in the women's shot put final of the Tokyo Olympic Games, China's Gong Lijiao threw a personal best of 20 meters 58 to win the championship. This is the first Olympic gold medal of Gong Lijiao's career and the first gold medal won by the Chinese athletics team in this Olympic Games. Photo by China News Service reporter Tomita
In the eyes of others, Gong Lijiao was born for the shot put ball. Not born into a sports family, she embraced this life by chance. However, in order to raise the national flag and play the national anthem at the Olympic stadium, she waited for 21 years.
From the age of 12 into the professional team training, Gong Lijiao embarked on the road of athletes who constantly challenged themselves, and the seeds of dreams were quietly planted.
Although he did not know much about shot put at that time, Gong Lijiao had begun to look forward to one day standing on the highest stage of competitive sports and letting the five-star red flag fly high in the national anthem.
But before that day came, what awaited Gong Lijiao was loneliness, boredom, more than 200 pitches day after day.
In the summer, the feeling of exhaustion behind the sweat is familiar; in winter, the lead ball attached to the neck quickly sticks to it, and it is a layer of skin when it is pulled.
Infographic: In the women's shot put final of the 2019 IAAF World Championships in Athletics, Held in Doha, Qatar, defending champion and Chinese player Gong Lijiao won the championship with a score of 19.55 meters. China News Service reporter Yang Bo photographed
At that time, Gong Lijiao's skills were mediocre and his achievements were limited. She didn't dare to have too many extravagant expectations, thinking that she would train a little more every day and make a little more progress.
In those days of competition with himself, a belief supported Gong Lijiao not to give up. She doesn't feel pain for it, because she knows that every day she is closer to her dream than yesterday.
But this road is not destined to be smooth. For Gong Lijiao, 2016 is the darkest moment of life. The preparation process was smooth, and in the end, the ghost made god miss the podium.
On August 1, local time, in the women's shot put final of the Tokyo Olympic Games, Chinese famous Gong Lijiao threw a personal best of 20 meters 58 to win the championship. This is the first Olympic gold medal of Gong Lijiao's career and the first gold medal won by the Chinese athletics team in this Olympic Games. Photo by China News Service reporter Tomita
It was a time that Gong Lijiao would never forget. Fortunately, in the vortex of doubt and self-doubt, she was not swept away. When the tide of emotions receded, Gong Lijiao, who finally broke free from the shackles, learned how to calmly face pressure and regret.
It was a lesson that changed her life, and the road ahead was suddenly clear.
In 2017, Gong Lijiao won the gold medal at the World Championships in London in the pouring rain, and reached the highest podium in an international competition for the first time. After that, gold medals followed, and in the joy of the harvest, Gong Lijiao knew that her Olympic dream was close at hand.
However, due to the epidemic, the Tokyo Olympics were postponed. Thinking about it is temporarily unattainable, in gong Lijiao's words, that feeling is quite difficult. "On the day the Postponement of the Tokyo Olympics was announced, I was very upset. Suddenly the tense nerves relaxed, and my knees reacted at once, and the pain was so painful that I was walking with a limp. Everything is like the sky is about to fall. ”
On the evening of August 1, local time, China's Gong Lijiao showed his gold medal on the podium. On the same day, in the women's shot put final in athletics at the Tokyo Olympic Games, China's Gong Lijiao won the championship. Photo by China News Service reporter Tomita
But those days didn't last long. Absolute strength and self-confidence made Gong Lijiao quickly return to the right track. Having survived one cruel moment after another in her sports career, she will never be crushed again.
This kind of self-confidence comes from daily life. Training has almost become the whole of Gong Lijiao's life.
Last time you went to the movies? "Four or five years ago." Last time you went home for the Chinese New Year? "Seven or eight years ago."
So, the hands of the clock finally pointed to the Tokyo Olympics, and everything came naturally. "Heaven rewards hard work, and also prefers people who persist in fighting for their dreams." She said she did a good job.
After her long-cherished wish was fulfilled, Gong Lijiao deeply felt that her sense of achievement did not only come from the gold medal itself, but also from the influence of "breaking the ice". "In fact, shot put is very unpopular, and I have been using my enthusiasm to bring more attention to this project in recent years. Now, I did. ”
Gong Lijiao's dream doesn't stop there. For the future, she has more expectations.
"I'm not going to leave the game easily, I have higher goals to pursue." 21' is my lucky number, and I want to test my limits in the arena. I will do my best to hit the 21m target and give myself a satisfactory answer. ”
From the experience of the past 21 years, Gong Lijiao understands that the road to chasing dreams is not a smooth road, and there is no shortcut. The biggest opponent is not someone else, it's yourself.
As she said, walking a hundred miles and a half and ninety, on the way to dreams, any little half-heartedness may bring irreparable regrets. "But time and sweat are fair, as long as you work hard towards the goal, every day will be closer to the dream." Nothing more worth holding on to than a dream. (End)