Shi Zhiyong: Not only to win the championship, but also to break the record

Jiangshan, a small city in southwest Zhejiang, is also the "place where the dream" of many weightlifting Olympic champions begins – for nearly a decade, Jiangshan has held national weightlifting events every year. The 7 Chinese weightlifters who won gold at the Tokyo Olympics have all participated in the competition in Jiangshan.

Recently, Shi Zhiyong, an Olympic champion from Zhejiang, walked into Jiangshan Major Sports School and gave a motivational speech to young athletes and media reporters.

q

You have come to Jiangshan many times to participate in various weightlifting competitions or related activities, please tell us about your story with Jiangshan and your impressions of Jiangshan?

a

There are good mountains and rivers in the country, which is where my dream began. In 2016, I played at the super level of Jiangshan, and after "laying down Jiangshan", all the results began to go up, and then I won a lot of championships.

Please talk about the experience and feelings of winning the Olympic Games twice, including the biggest surprises, the most beautiful moments, etc.

The two Olympic Games have given me different feelings. After winning the 2016 Rio Olympics, I didn't sleep well for more than a month, dreaming that I was competing in the Olympics again. After winning the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, I didn't sleep for two days after winning the championship, feeling the same as I usually won the World Championship.

Before the Tokyo Olympics, you experienced injuries, can you tell us about the background and situation at that time? And how did you overcome it?

Before the Tokyo Olympics, I had an accidental strain during training and chose a more conservative treatment plan. During that time, because of injuries, it was very painful, the weight loss was a lot, and the mood swings were also more severe. I will constantly communicate with the coach about my psychological fluctuations, communicate with the team leaders, and find ways to solve them together.

Weightlifting is a lonely, boring sport, how do you understand this? Can you tell us what your training life is like?

If all sports want to succeed, the first point must be to endure loneliness. When we were preparing for the competition, we basically trained, ate, relaxed, and occasionally chatted with relatives and friends on video.

You are constantly pushing the limits, frequently breaking national records, Asian records, world records, which times have you created new records that have left a deep impression on you? When is the next time the world record is set again?

The first time I broke the national record and surpassed the world record, I remember very clearly, when I grabbed 163 kg and lifted 197 kg, breaking the record in front of the world record holder at that time. The most impressive should be the Tokyo Olympic Games and the Shaanxi National Games, these two world records in fact, at the beginning of the 2019 winter training, I and the coach reached a consensus: we not only want to win the championship, but also break the record in these two competitions, that is the real integrity. The future will break the record, I think it should be at next year's Hangzhou Asian Games.

Weightlifting is a traditional Chinese advantage event, dozens of Olympic champions have been born in previous Olympic Games, and there are countless world champions, which predecessor of the weightlifting industry do you most admire?

My idol is Zhan Xugang, who is my master and has led me to this day. Whether in weightlifting or in life, he was my idol and the object of my pursuit.

What is your biggest hobby besides weightlifting?

I prefer to fish, play basketball, and sometimes read books.

There are some prejudices about weightlifting in society, as a professional weightlifter, please combine your own reality and talk about the benefits of weightlifting for physical fitness, shaping body shape, tempering will, etc.

This is a misunderstanding. In fact, in all sports, as long as you want to practice strength, if you want to improve your muscles, you have to practice weightlifting. As for the benefits, just look at my figure.

China has not yet produced a weightlifter who has won three consecutive Olympic Games, you have been a two-time Olympic champion, what is your next yearning and goal for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games?

The athletes who have won the Olympic championship for three consecutive years are not currently available in China. This is also my biggest goal and dream, and I will invest more in training and preparation to achieve this goal.

Today, we are facing the "small characters" in your sports world, what kind of messages and hopes do we have for the students who are engaged in sports training, especially the young athletes who practice weightlifting?

I hope that when you are training, you will focus on laying the foundation and grasping technical actions, because only by laying a good foundation can you go further. It's like laying a foundation, the better you play, the higher you can climb, the higher the height you stand.

Producer: Guo Biwen

Review: Tang Yihong

Sports Daily reporter: Ying Yukang