Editor's Note:
No athlete's honor comes out of thin air.
Behind the brilliant moments, it is often a long process of breaking the cocoon into a butterfly.
Litchi News launched a special plan for "Towards the Olympics" to analyze how athletes can break through themselves and go to the Olympic Games.
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Litchi News Special Reporters/Shi Beichen, Xie Bohan, Huang Jiangbo, Ding Jing Editor/Wang Hairong, Chen Jiajun Design/He Junwei
Zhao Shuai, male flag bearer of the Chinese delegation at the opening ceremony of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, and male 68 kg athlete of the Chinese taekwondo team.
In 2016, Zhao Shuai won the Rio Olympics Taekwondo Men's 58 kg Championship, the first gold medal in the history of the Chinese Men's Taekwondo Olympics.
But before that, Zhao Shuai's journey was not easy. From the age of eleven with the coach to Changzhou, Jiangsu Province, training, until the age of twenty-one won the Olympic Championship, the whole decade, his efforts, the stoicism, laid a solid foundation for his achievements.
On July 25, he will compete in the men's 68 kg taekwondo competition at the Tokyo Olympics.
"20 seconds... 10 seconds... 5 seconds... When the time came, Zhao Shuai made history, the first gold medal of the Chinese Men's Taekwondo Olympic Games, congratulations to Zhao Shuai. ”
As the voice fell, the entire Brazilian Carioca Stadium completely fell into a boil. Zhao Shuai raised his hands high, made a victorious gesture, did not speak, just looked up at the sky and screamed. That year, in the Olympic taekwondo men's event, the Chinese flag rose to the top for the first time.
Before this, Zhao Shuai was accompanied by a decade of lonely training and repeated tempering.
In the initial selection, the child selected by taekwondo coach Zhang Yanfeng was not Zhao Shuai. But in this matter, the young Zhao Shuai was somewhat unexpectedly resolute and had to go to the sports school with the coach. This starting point is somewhat inconspicuous for an Olympic champion. Zhang Yanfeng did not insist any longer and took Zhao Shuai to the sports school. Since then, Zhang Yanfeng has become Zhao Shuai's dearest "second uncle", calling all the way from Chaoyang, Liaoning to Changzhou, Jiangsu.
Zhang Yanfeng was invited from Liaoning to teach in Jiangsu, and brought several children with him. "(Zhao Shuai) was relatively thin at that time, not yet developed, and could not see anything." Lu Xiaoyu, then the leader of the Changzhou Sports School, recalled.
Zhao Shuai's childhood photo with his teammates, the front row left one is Zhao Shuai
Because Lu Xiaoyu and Zhao Shuai were both relatively thin and joking, Coach Zhang Yanfeng stuffed Zhao Shuai to Lu Xiaoyu. Therefore, in the time that followed, Lu Xiaoyu also took good care of this northeast child, and Zhao Shuai simply recognized her as a dry mother.
Thin, introverted, and in a foreign land, the company of this 11-year-old is taekwondo. Coach Zhang Yanfeng has always been known for his integrity and strictness, and there are almost no children who do not complain about the hardships of training. But Zhao Shuai was different. Lu Xiaoyu still had some surprise in his tone when he recalled, "This child especially loves training, and as soon as he arrives at the training hall, he is full of life."
Morning exercises in the morning, classes in the morning, training in the afternoon, and practice after class in the evening, until the lights go out at 9:30. According to the strict requirements of the coach, each action must be practiced tens of thousands of times before it can be initially formed, which is the rhythm of Xiao Zhao Shuai's life in the first few years.
Of the twenty or thirty members of the Taekwondo team of Changzhou Sports School, only four or five people can become professional athletes. After a long period of persistent practice, the original thin teenager was no longer weak, and Zhao Shuai's potential began to appear, and finally stood out, and won the favor of the provincial team at the age of 14.
"He's a very hard-working athlete and he's very brainy. He can improve himself by mixing what the coach says with technical tactics, so he can reach today's level. Zhao Shuai's former teammate Zhang Xiaoni commented. As an athlete, Zhang Xiaoni saw Zhao Shuai's professional talent to "use his brain".
But all this was based on the solid foundation laid by Zhao Shuai's previous leg practice day after day, 10,000 times and 100,000 times. According to Lu Xiaoyu's recollection, at that time, the taekwondo team had a move called vertical splitting, which was a must-kill skill for the Changzhou team at the 17th Jiangsu Provincial Games. In order to practice this action, although Zhao Shuai had already gone to the provincial team at that time, Zhang Yanfeng often ran to the Suzhou provincial team training place, even if he did not go, he had to communicate on the phone. The two exchange details, improve technology, and continuously improve the level.
The 17th Jiangsu Provincial Games, the first from the right is Zhao Shuai
Entering the provincial team, Zhao Shuai truly embarked on his own road of breaking the cocoon into a butterfly. Starting from the sparring of the women's team, Zhao Shuai began to meet faster and stronger opponents and grew rapidly. In 2010, at the 17th Games of Jiangsu Province, Zhao Shuai returned to Changzhou and won a gold medal in taekwondo for his alma mater. In December of the same year, Zhao Shuai won the men's 54 kg championship in the National Taekwondo Championships. Subsequently, he began to make a name for himself on the world stage, winning the National Games, the East Asian Games, and the National Taekwondo Championships.
At the 2014 Incheon Asian Games, Zhao Shuai lost by one point to the current champion Iran in the last 5 seconds. At the Taekwondo World Championships the following year, Zhao Shuai won the third place, which was always one step away from the championship.
The final breakthrough came at the most high-profile moment.
On August 18, 2016, in the final of the Olympic Games, Zhao Shuai won the somewhat late world championship with an absolute advantage. Before this, no one expected him, explaining bluntly that "this is an unexpected medal", but before that, he had worked hard and accumulated a full decade.
From the original stubborn children in the northeast countryside to persevering to become an Olympic champion, the time has been long and the span is long, and Zhao Shuai's mentor Zhang Yanfeng has died of illness in between. Before leaving for Rio, Zhao Shuai made a promise to the master that he would return to his hometown with a gold medal to pay tribute to the teacher. In the end, he succeeded in keeping his promise.
Before leaving for Tokyo this time, Lu Xiaoyu was a little worried about the epidemic in Japan, and Zhao Shuai, as always, was simple and replied on WeChat: "I will go all out and I will protect myself." ”
The chat history of Zhao Shuai and Lu Xiaoyu
(Comprehensive source of graphics and text CCTV, Lu Xiaoyu himself, Zhang Xiaoni himself, etc.)
"Towards the Olympics" is jointly produced by Litchi News and Jiangsu Sports and Leisure Channel, with special support from Changzhou Central Station of Jiangsu Radio and Television