(Tokyo Olympics) The power of a veteran: Special Olympics, one more year of perseverance
China News Service, Beijing, July 14 (Reporter Gao Kai) The Chinese Olympic delegation officially announced the big list here on the 14th. Among the 431 athletes, there are many battle-tested veterans.
In every World Series, the veteran means experience and responsibility, and is also an indispensable asset for the team. The delay of the Tokyo Olympics may make their sports lives "passively prolonged", and one more year of persistence also means more Sacrifice and pay more.
In traditional Chinese advantageous events such as table tennis, diving, and weightlifting, the proportion of veterans who have played in the Olympics is not low.
As the only "Grand Slam" player among active male table tennis players, Malone's tenacity is amazing.
He not only defeated the injuries of the last Olympic cycle, but also emerged from the selection of strong players in the team after recovering, and will attack the defending men's singles champion in Tokyo.
In addition, he also takes the lead in the team competition, which is a proof of strength and the gold medal trust given by the national table tennis team.
Data map: Malone is in the game.
Photo by Kan Li, China News Agency reporter
Liu Shiwen, who was established in the same year, missed the list of women's singles, a bit regretful.
In 2019, this popular player suffered an injury after winning the World Table Tennis Championships in women’s singles. He withdrew from multiple events in succession. He did not return to the competition until the end of last year. Now he can return to the state where he can play for the country in the Olympics , Is not easy.
In the Tokyo arena, Liu Shiwen and Xu Xin, a pair of veteran players, will play together in the mixed doubles event.
In this Olympics, the mixed doubles became the official Olympic event for the first time, and it was also the first gold medal in the table tennis arena.
According to the competition system, each representative team can only send a pair of combinations to participate. Therefore, if this pair of veterans can successfully get a "good start", it is vital to boost the morale of the team and face individual and team competitions.
Since pairing in mixed doubles, Xu Xin and Liu Shiwen have won the 2019 World Championships, the 2019 Asian Championships and multiple open championships, and they have secured tickets for the Tokyo Olympics early.
"Choosing the combination of Xu Xin and Liu Shiwen fully embodies'select the best among the best, and choose the strong among the strong." Coach Ma Lin's words are a significant affirmation of the current state of this pair of veterans.
In the Olympic roster announced by the Chinese weightlifting team, Lu Xiaojun, who won the silver medal in the 77 kg class at the 2016 Rio Olympics, is particularly eye-catching. At the age of 37, he has also become the oldest player in the team.
This trip to Tokyo will be his third time to make an impact on the Olympic gold medal.
At the World Weightlifting Championships held a year and a half ago, the 35-year-old Lv Xiaojun still won three gold medals even with injuries, and set two world records for clean and jerk and total score at the same time.
After that, Lv Xiaojun, who was suffering from injuries, never expected that the Olympic Games, which he planned to "grit his teeth", would be unexpectedly delayed by the epidemic.
It took more than a year for Lu Xiaojun to bite his teeth, and finally made his third Olympic journey. He wrote on social platforms, "The mission is on my shoulders, and I am struggling!"
After the Rio Olympics, with Wu Minxia, Chen Ruolin and other veterans retiring, the Chinese diving team is facing a transition from new to old.
During this period, athletes such as Shi Tingmao, Cao Yuan, Wang Han and Chen Aisen chose to stick to it.
In the past five years, Shi Tingmao and Wang Han have overcome injuries and have few rivals in the women's 3-meter springboard event. The two have also joined hands to win the World Championships in the double event.
As the trump card of the Chinese diving team, their goal is to win two gold medals in the women's 3-meter springboard at the Tokyo Olympics.
Data map: Cao Yuan (right)/Chen Aisen combination.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Han Haidan
Veteran Cao Yuan has won 2 golds and 1 silver in the men's singles, doubles 3-meter springboard and 10-meter platform at the 2019 World Championships, becoming the first athlete in the team to achieve this achievement.
Whether it is competition or daily training, he has taken the lead to strictly demand himself with almost harsh high standards, which left a deep impression on people.
Facing the upcoming Tokyo Olympics, in addition to playing in the men's 3-meter springboard, Cao Yuan will also join forces with another veteran Chen Aisen in the men's 10-meter platform, hoping to make new breakthroughs in this brand new arena.
In the Chinese Olympic team, there are several "mother-level" players who are particularly eye-catching.
Wu Jingyu, a women's 49 kg taekwondo athlete, will challenge the gold medal on the first day of the Tokyo Olympics.
The 34-year-old Taekwondo star has won the Olympic Games in Beijing and London.
After the Rio Olympics, Wu Jingyu retired and gave birth to a daughter in 2017 and was promoted to mother.
In 2019, Wu Jingyu chose to come back and won the Fujairah Open for the first time.
Wu Jingyu said in an interview, "At the moment when my child comes back, my goal is to be able to participate in the Tokyo Olympics, and I hope that I can participate in my fourth Olympics with a different identity. Not only do I add luster to my life, but also It is to explore an unknown road for female Taekwondo athletes."
In fact, this time when Wu Jingyu stood on the Tokyo Olympic stadium, she had already set a new record-becoming the first female athlete in history to participate in four Olympic taekwondo competitions.
The Rio Olympic gold medalist and female race walking athlete Liu Hong once again appeared in the Olympic roster of the Chinese track and field team. The Olympic "Four Dynasties", the creator of the Olympic Games, the World Championships and the world record "Grand Slam", will play The identity of the "mother athlete" launched an impact on the 20-kilometer walking gold medal.
At the National Race Walking Championships and Tokyo Olympic Trials in March this year, Liu Hong and teammate Yang Jiayu both rewrote the world record for women's 20-kilometer walking. The original record was set by Liu Hong in 2015.
The veteran was excited and full of enthusiasm. Liu Hong said that “surpassing the past” is the goal she set for herself when she comes back, and “use hard work to prove her persistence. ".
For many veterans who have just gone through a special preparation cycle of "more than one year", the upcoming Tokyo journey may also be full of strangeness because of speciality, but as Liu Hong said, as long as the "transcendence" and "transcendence" throughout their sports career The "persistence" is still there, and this side of the Olympic venue is still intimately familiar.
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