Chinanews Client Beijing, March 27th (Wang Yu) The Tokyo Olympics was postponed to 2021, and the related process of this sports event also stalled instantly. The torch relay originally started on the 26th was suspended, the countdown electronic clock on the streets of Tokyo was replaced, and the dreams of 11,000 or more athletes were also temporarily stranded.
The Olympic countdown electronic clock located in front of Tokyo Station in Japan on March 25. The countdown electronic clock no longer displays the countdown number, but is replaced by the date and real time of the day.
When the Tokyo Olympics cycle was unprecedentedly extended from four to five years, its impact and impact quickly spread from the time the decision was announced. As the most important part of the Olympic Games, although athletes will not stop the pace of chasing forward, but the difference of one year is enough to usher in a huge change in the international sports, which will undoubtedly worsen the athletes who have reached the end of their careers.
On the evening of the 25th, the World Badminton Federation issued an announcement saying that it will review the impact of the Olympic extension on the qualifications of the Olympic and Paralympic Games to ensure a fair solution is found. However, it is foreseeable that no matter how the plan is adjusted, Lin Dan, the two-time Olympic men's singles champion, will drift away from his fifth Olympic trip.
Since the start of the Tokyo Olympics scoring cycle, Lin Dan has not achieved any outstanding results, which has also caused his ranking to plummet. This season, 36-year-old Lin Dan still hasn't been able to get back the domineering game in the past, but Shi Yuqi, who came back from injury, took the lead. Now that the game has stalled, it's more like a death sentence for his Olympic dream.
Data Figure: Lin Dan in the game. Photo by Lu Ming, China News Agency
Next year's 32-year-old Rio Olympics men's singles champion Chen Long also faces challenges. At present, he is the highest-ranked national feather men's singles player in the Olympic Games, but as his age increases, it is an indisputable fact that his own state continues to decline. Facing the impact of Momoda Kendo and An Sailong, the performance of Nine Dragons in the coming year is full of unknowns.
The postponement of the Olympic Games for one year has caused all athletes to face the problem of periodic adjustment. The original plan and state transfer are off the preset track. Even a dream team such as Guo Ping is also a difficult problem to be solved. In particular, there are many veterans including Malone and Ding Ning. How can they continue to maintain the top level in a competitive and stimulating environment?
According to the original plan, Xu Xin and Liu Shiwen have locked the qualifications for mixed doubles and teams in the Tokyo Olympics, while Ma Long and Ding Ning have the ability to compete for singles and team qualifications. If four people appear in the Olympics at the same time, it means that Guo Ping has four players over 30 years old, which is extremely rare in the history of the team.
Data map: Malone is in the game.
Among them, the status of Captain Malone is particularly worthy of attention. Even though he is 32 years old, he is still the undisputed leader in today's international table tennis. Four years ago at the Rio Olympics, he aggressively crowned the men's singles champion, but age and injury made Malone's road to defending the title extremely difficult and long.
In the past two years, Malone has been away from the stadium for a long time due to injuries. Although he was finally able to return, he only had to bear the hardships alone, and it was not just sweat and time that could be sustained. The World Table Tennis Championship has three consecutive championships and topped the championship list. I believe that even if the game is postponed, Malone will still run on the path of creating history.
Like Malone, Liu Shiwen is also deeply troubled by injuries. Entering 2020, she has retired from the game twice due to injuries. It's not all bad news for Liu Shiwen to have one more year of preparations out of thin air. Today, she is both an enemy and a friend, just one step away from her personal Grand Slam.
Data Map: Su Bingtian. Photo by China News Agency reporter Yang Huafeng
As China ’s first sprinter to advance to the men ’s 100m semifinals, 31-year-old Su Bingtian ’s goal is to be able to stand on the Tokyo Olympics and hit the men ’s 100m finals. In 2019, he qualified for the Tokyo Olympics as he wished, but in the particularly competitive 100-meter arena, Su Bingtian's prospects for next year are not optimistic.
In the 2019 men's basketball World Cup defeat to Nigeria, the Chinese men's basketball team lost the qualification to go directly to the Tokyo Olympics. Some people predict that the era belonging to Yi Jianlian is over. But if his footing on behalf of the Chinese men's basketball team in the international arena is over, the Olympic memories left will no doubt be extremely bitter.
In the two Olympic Games in 2012 and 2016, the Chinese men's basketball team did not win, and they retired with a 12th place finish. Now, the Chinese men's basketball team who fell into the losing competition has died a lifetime, and the record of 9 consecutive matches in the Olympics is over. As the leader who carried the team's banner after Yao Ming retired, Yi Jianlian will certainly have a harder time this year.
Data Map: Liu Hong is holding a national flag to celebrate. Photo by China News Agency reporter Bo Bo
The epidemic is heading, the game is postponed, and Chinese athletes are still on the move, especially for veterans. Among them are players who have the ability to compete for gold medals and achieve breakthrough capabilities, as well as athletes who are still struggling to qualify for the Olympic Games. The historical moment in the eyes of the outside world is more tangled and helpless for them.
Mommy-level player Liu Hong returning after childbirth, Lu Xiaojun, a 37-year-old Chinese weightlifter, Yan Ni of the "Great Wall" of the Chinese women's volleyball team, Shi Tingying, the new generation springboard of the Chinese diving team, Gong Liying, the "Uncrowned King" ... Everyone is Fight against time, speed up your pace, and stand by sweat and tears.
They sweat like rain for their dreams, from their youth, to the mainstay of the team, until the twilight of their professional life. Perseverance is their belief that they did not change their original heart in the past years, and the perfect curtain call is also the longing destination in their hearts. However, the sudden extension of the Olympic Games left everything with uncertain question marks.
May be stunned, maybe a sigh, but the veterans will certainly continue to appear in the training field, soaking sweat in clothes again, as they have done in the long days of the past decades . No matter when and where they are, the distance they see is the same Olympic stadium that holds hope and dreams. (Finish)