Chapter 26 5. Beijing Olympic Games, walk hand in hand

In the history of badminton, only Indonesian badminton couple Wei Renfang and Wang Lianxiang won the men's and women's singles championships in the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games, making a good story.And I was able to participate in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games with Xie Xingfang, which is something to be proud of. But I believe that this is both an inspiration and a bond for us each other.In the last two months of preparing for the competition, we first have to work on our own training, because sometimes the training time for men's and women's singles is different.Slowly we reached a tacit understanding, only after the training every day would we send a text message asking: What are you doing?After that, I was busy watching the game video, and every day was very tense.

However, less than a month before the Olympic Games, Ah Fang suddenly fell ill.The doctor diagnosed it as herpes zoster, which was caused by the decline of immunity caused by training fatigue.At that time, both of us were not at ease, and we were afraid of affecting each other, so we encouraged each other and said, "It's okay, let's treat it well."During that time, Ah Fang's training had completely stopped, and she was given IV drips, rested, and watched videos every day.After half a month, the Olympic Games are very close. Since the Temple of Heaven Apartment is far from Beijing University of Technology Gymnasium, the venue for the Olympic Games, the transportation is more convenient, and the diet and training are also more guaranteed.Because although the Olympic Village has complete facilities, the restaurant is a big pot of rice after all. It takes a long time to queue up to get meals every day, and there are too many people in the weight room, so the training cannot be guaranteed.So at that time, the team decided to let me, Zhang Ning, women's doubles Du Jing and Yu Yang stay in the Tiantan apartment, and the other players moved to the Olympic Village.Ah Fang originally wanted to stay, but the team thought that living outside alone was too risky, so she had to give up in the end.In this way, Ah Fang and I lived outside the village and the other lived in the village.A few days before the Olympic Games, she would take a 40-minute bus ride back to the training bureau for training every day after the competition.Being in such an atmosphere, I would be easily nervous at first, and tossing back and forth like this every day is really easy to be irritable.

During that time, because the schedule was staggered, Ah Fang and I hardly met face to face, and we could only talk on the phone every day.Didn't talk about anything, just asked "What are you doing?" "Oh, eat, okay." "How is it? Just finished playing, so relax." That's all, basically never talking about the game.Even such an ordinary greeting can give us a lot of peace of mind.It has been almost 9 years since we fell in love, and we still talk on the phone every day.Not only are we used to greeting each other, but it has become a part of our lives. The afternoon of Ah Fang's final was a turning point in our lives.It was her first Olympic Games and her last.The text message I sent after the final day was full of distress, pride, and determination for myself in the next day's final.I wrote it like this: You have played very well and tried your best, so there is no regret or sadness.I am proud of you!It took a long time for her to call me back.I could hear her crying, but she only said three words: "I'm fine. Don't worry. You work hard tomorrow." I still remember it.

When Ah Fang left the arena, the volunteers escorted her outside the door.Except for the silver medal, she gave away all the little things she could give to everyone, and exchanged clothes with the volunteers.She returned to the Olympic Village wearing a volunteer T-shirt that day. This game still deeply affects me, and it gave me a different view on my career.That's right, only the person who perseveres to the end in the arena can win the final victory.But the value of athletes is not simply measured by gold or silver medals.Four years have passed, and you will find that there are still many people who like Xie Xingfang. Until now, when people talk about this game, they will say: "Oh, this little girl is a pity, we really want her to win this game. "Many years later, when people talk about that soul-stirring final, they will still use this tone: "3 three-pointers, just 3 three-pointers..."

After waiting for another four years, only losing 3 three points, the two people had completely different fates.But the first and second are only reserved for that game and are frozen in history.If your skills, your style of play, and your charisma are deeply rooted in people's hearts, and you are still talked about after many years, I think this is an excellent player, or even a great athlete.Only after five, ten or even more years have passed, there are still people who have changed their lives because of the charm of your game, let them re-examine their values, and discover that you who are very hardworking and hard-working. only athletes can be remembered by history.

At the Beijing Olympics, the Chinese badminton team finally won three gold medals, namely men's singles, women's singles and women's doubles.And it is very amazing that the gold medal winners happened to be the few people we stayed in the Temple of Heaven apartment.