On the 19th, four days before the opening of the Tokyo Olympics, Chinese women were dispatched to Tokyo.
For them, this will be a challenging journey to defend their title.
Data map: On August 20, 2016, in the Rio Olympic Women's Volleyball Final, the Chinese women's volleyball team defeated the Serbian team 3-1 and won the Olympic gold medal after a lapse of 12 years.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Du Yang
Due to the recent rainy weather, Beijing is not too hot in July.
The women's volleyball girls gathered at the Training Bureau of the State Sports General Administration and set off. They will fly to Japan at the Capital Airport.
The players were in a relaxed state when they set off, and the head coach Lang Ping also carefully arranged clothes for the captain Zhu Ting.
In front of the athletes' apartment, all the members took a family photo before leaving for Tokyo.
Group photo of the expedition team.
Image source: Zhongxin Video
In the photo released on the Weibo homepage of the Chinese women's volleyball team, there are two versions. In one version, all players and coaches wear uniform Chinese sports delegation uniforms, while in the other version, there are a few more people wearing ordinary sportswear.
Lin Li and Yang Hanyu appeared in the second version.
Screenshot of Weibo.
The list of 12 women's volleyball players for the Olympics is: Zhu Ting, Zhang Changning, Li Yingying, Liu Xiaotong, Yan Ni, Yuan Xinyue, Wang Yuanyuan, Gong Xiangyu, Liu Yanhan, Ding Xia, Yao Di, Wang Mengjie, including 7 Rio Olympic champion members .
Lin Li and Yang Hanyu, who had been preparing for the Chinese women’s volleyball team before, were not selected for the final 12-man squad, but they still chose to accompany the Olympic lineup to complete all the training sessions together, and send blessings and encouragement to the teammates on departure. .
Seeing the fans in the group photo, many people find it difficult to settle.
Some people even guessed that this might be the last time Lin Li took a photo with Director Lang.
Screenshot of Weibo.
Screenshot of Weibo.
Yang Hanyu, who is only 22 years old this year, will still have a chance to participate in the Olympics in the future, while Lin Li, who is 29 years old, may never have a chance to stand in the Olympics arena again.
In the 2016 Rio Olympics, Lin Li won the championship with the team.
But in the Tokyo Olympic cycle, her main position was replaced by Wang Mengjie.
The one-year postponement of the Olympics is undoubtedly worse for a veteran like her.
Zhu Ting hugs Lin Li.
Image source: Zhongxin Video
Before departure, Zhu Ting stepped forward and hugged Lin Li.
After this hug, one of them embarked on the road to defending the title, while the other stayed in China, waiting for the good news of the Chinese women's volleyball team's victory again.
Obviously you should not be sad when you go out, but it is because every member of the Chinese women's volleyball team is so good that the fans can't help but regret the losers.
Data map: In the Tokyo Olympic Women's Volleyball Qualifying Tournament held in Beilun, Ningbo, the Chinese women's volleyball team defeated the Turkish team 3-0, and won the first place with a record of three victories in the group to directly qualify for the Tokyo Olympics.
Lin Li (second from left in the front row) celebrated the victory with her teammates.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Tang Yanjun
On July 15th, Lin Li’s birthday, she posted a screenshot of the cartoon Snoopy on her Weibo.
The line inside reads: "Congratulations, you are now on your way to becoming a winner. The first step is to forget all your knowledge of yourself. Okay, the second step is to be confident. Don't bend down and tell yourself: I It’s great, I can do it, I have the conditions for success. There is still time, you can do it."
It seems that despite losing the Olympic Games, Lin Li is still full of confidence in her future.
Perhaps this is the spirit of women's volleyball that people often say-this spirit is not only reflected in the moment of "raising the national flag and playing the national anthem" on the field, but also when encountering setbacks and difficulties.
And we also believe that those 12 people will carry the beliefs of others and once again show the women's volleyball style in the Tokyo arena.
Zhu Ting and Lang Ping.
Image source: Zhongxin Video
Zhu Ting said in an interview earlier, "The competition is approaching. Keep calm and go all out. Our goal is to raise the national flag and play the national anthem."
But for the Chinese women's volleyball team, if they want to defend their title, they may encounter some obstacles.
At the Tokyo Olympics, the Chinese women's volleyball team entered the "death group". The opponents in the same group were the United States, Italy, Turkey, Russia and Argentina.
Among them, the Russian women's volleyball team announced the list of 12 people long before the Chinese women's volleyball team. The main players such as Kosheleva and Parubec are not on the list. Such a Russian team has not constituted a big threat to the Chinese women's volleyball team.
Data map: The tenth round of the 2019 Women's Volleyball World Cup began. The Chinese women's volleyball team defeated the Serbian team 3:0, achieving the feat of defending the World Cup one round ahead of schedule.
Image source: Visual China
The biggest opponents of the Chinese women's volleyball group stage are undoubtedly the United States and Italy.
In the just-concluded World League, although the Chinese women's volleyball team defeated the US team 3:0, the US women's volleyball team retained a certain strength in the game in order to compete with the Chinese team in the Tokyo Olympics.
The first match of the Chinese women's volleyball team will be held on July 25, and before that, on the evening of the 23rd, Zhu Ting, the leader of the Chinese women's volleyball team, will be one of the flag bearers of the Chinese delegation and lead Chinese athletes to the Tokyo National Arena.
I hope that all Chinese athletes can perform well in the Olympics, and I hope all those who are waiting in China can wait for the good news they want!