Because of her tenacious style of play and superb defensive skills, Olympic champion Zhang Na was called the "undead bird" of volleyball by fans. After many years of retirement, Zhang Na is now seen again at the National Games, and at this time, she has become a football player, representing Tianjin in the futsal competition of the National Games mass group. Even more surprising was that the Athens Olympic champion won a silver medal in football on his fifth trip to the National Games.
Xingyi, Guizhou, a picturesque town in southwest Guizhou, this summer, the 14th National Games mass event futsal women's B competition was held here. Don't look at just the mass group game, due to the appearance of olympic champion Zhang Na in the ranks of Tianjin futsal women's footballers, this game has become popular on the Internet and has become a hot spot for fans.
Tianjin futsal team member Zhang Na Before I definitely want to introduce me as the women's volleyball national champion, Asian champion, world champion, Olympic champion Zhang Na, now, I am our Tianjin women's football futsal competition athlete Zhang Na. In fact, what I want to do is to practice what I preach, to promote our sportsmanship, to carry forward the spirit of the women's volleyball team. Now that I've done it, I'm very happy.
As the Athens Olympic women's volleyball champion, known as the "immortal bird" Zhang Na, is a generation of Legends of the Chinese Women's Volleyball Team, the benchmark of the position of free people, the collection of Olympic champions and world champions in one of her, the gold medals of domestic events do not know how many to take, and the three National Games women's volleyball experience, but also let her have a precious National Games gold medal. As for participating in the 14th National Games this time, Zhang Na's original intention was not to win the gold medal, but for the beloved football.
I was a particularly lucky person to meet Huo Jianting's guidance. We both met because we were both members of the Tianjin Municipal Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and he talked about my figure, said you needed to exercise, and then asked me to play football with him. I said okay, and I'll come.
As a famous footballer in Tianjin, Huo Jianting is only two years younger than Wang Baoquan, and now everyone likes to call him "Hober". It is worth mentioning that Hober not only accepted Zhang Na, an apprentice who played volleyball, but also held the National Games in Tianjin in 2017, he also almost took her to the National Games field to participate in cage football matches. At that time, the State General Administration of Sport banned players with professional athlete experience from participating in the mass group competition of the National Games, so Zhang Na failed to appear in front of her father and fellow villagers, which also became a major regret in her athlete career. However, after four years of fourteen games, Zhang Na finally fulfilled her dream of re-entering the national games.
In fact, at the time of the 2017 Tianjin National Games, we had a football match in the mass group, and I also signed up to participate at that time, but for various reasons, I finally failed to play the game, which really made up for my regrets.
To be able to participate in the National Games as an athlete again, Zhang Na has been satisfied, what people did not expect is that the Tianjin five-a-side women's football team actually won the opportunity to compete for the gold medal in the last game of the round robin tournament and the Guangdong women's football team, and Zhang Na also became a legend among cross-border athletes - the first women's volleyball Olympic champion to stand on the final venue of the National Games football project. For Zhang Na, who is about to embark on the final venue, the pride of playing the women's volleyball final and fighting for the championship more than a decade ago seems to be back.
For the Tianjin team, the competition with the Guangdong team is an opportunity and a challenge, and the strength of the opponent is well known, but neither the players on the field nor Zhang Na, who is waiting for the substitute on the field and is also a cheerleader, has not shown weakness.
This National Games futsal match, hundreds of thousands of people on the Internet have watched the game, this is the mass, everyone likes and loves this sport is a manifestation. I want to let more people know what sportsmanship is through our performance.
In this game, in addition to sparing no effort to cheer for the team off the field, Zhang Na was also ordered to appear as a substitute goalkeeper and compete face-to-face with the strongest opponent. On this trip, Zhang Na has no regrets.
This competition is really very significant for me, I not only participated in the National Games across events, but also worked as a striker, substitute, cheerleader, and goalkeeper.
Although the Tianjin team finally lost the gold medal to the opponent 4-8 in this championship and runner-up battle, for Zhang Na and her teammates, such a silver medal at the National Games was also precious, not only witnessing their hard work, but also the first medal of the Tianjin delegation's 14th National Games.
Walking on the podium with her teammates and receiving cheers from the audience, the excitement and emotion that Zhang Na felt at that moment was no different from the women's volleyball team winning the championship at the Tenth Games. In 24 years, 5 times to participate in the National Games, Zhang Na won 1 gold and 1 silver, the gold medal belongs to volleyball, the silver medal comes from football, such an experience is legendary in the Chinese sports world, for Zhang Na, this is also the most precious memory.
Everyone knows that I am an athlete in the women's volleyball team, but today I stood on the field of the 14th National Games mass group football and won the runner-up, and I am really very happy to be on the podium again. In fact, I would like to thank this National Games, thank the State General Administration of Sport, for setting up a mass group competition in the National Games. In football, I debuted at the peak, I have never played any adult football before, and I directly participated in the national games. This National Games is my debut, which is not only a glorious history for me, but also a precious memory for me in the future.