(Tokyo Olympics) Wang Han's dream time: from "advanced" dreaming to late blooming
China News Service, Shijiazhuang, July 25th, title: Wang Han's dream time: from "advanced" dreams to late bloomers
Author Li Xiaowei
On July 25, Beijing time, in the women's doubles 3-meter springboard final of the Tokyo Olympic diving, Wang Han's partner from Hebei, Shi Tingmao, successfully won the gold, helping the Chinese diving team to make a good start to the Tokyo Olympics and achieving five consecutive championships in the event.
On July 25, local time, Shi Tingmao (left) and Wang Han at the award ceremony.
On the same day, the women's double three-meter diving final of the Tokyo Olympics was held at the Tokyo Aquatic Center. Chinese combination Shi Tingmao and Wang Han won the gold medal with 326.40 points.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Tomita
At the competition site, former Chinese diving star and Olympic champion Guo Jingjing witnessed this moment of honor.
In front of the big screen of the Hebei Provincial Sports Bureau, Li Fang, the provincial team coach Wang Han and "Senior Sister" Guo Jingjing, was excited and jumped up from his chair to applaud.
"Wang Han won the championship, right? She has been diving for more than 20 years and has paid a lot... She is a late bloomer." Li Fang said.
Wang Han and his partner Shi Tingmao were both born in 1991.
However, compared to the Rio Olympic double champion Shi Tingmao, the 30-year-old "senior" Wang Han participated in the Olympics for the first time. It has been more than ten years since she entered the national team.
From Guo Jingjing, Wu Minxia, He Zi and now to Shi Tingmao, Wang Han has experienced the change of Chinese women's springboard for several eras before finally ushering in his own moment.
Li Fang, who has coached Wang Han for nearly 20 years, remembers the hard work behind this.
Wang Han didn't switch to professional diving until he was 10 years old, which is much later than other athletes who started training at the age of five or six.
In Li Fang's view, it is because of this that her basic skills are not solid, which affects the perfection and stability of technical movements, and also affects her sports career.
"Wang Han was selected into the national team in 2003. She was'three outs and four in', especially since the previous two Olympics had passed the Olympics as a substitute. For her, her sports career was very frustrating." Li Fang said that it is easy for ordinary athletes to lose confidence when they are returned from the national team, but fortunately, her carefree personality allowed her to persevere.
Wang Han also confirmed this statement.
She once said in an interview with the media, “Every time I miss the list of the contest, or if I can’t feel it for a long time, I will think, “Or just forget it”, but after a nap, I will Forget all previous worries and return to the training ground in a brand new state."
After the Rio Olympics, in order to regain confidence, Li Fang and Wang Han carried out ideological work and technical improvements for more than a year, allowing Wang Han to re-recognize himself.
"Technically, it was not easy to come back from basic skills. That year was really not easy, but the effect was good. After the technical improvement, she proposed to do it again and return to the national team."
But the difficulty does not stop there.
According to Li Fang, after entering the Tokyo Olympic cycle, after Wang Han confirmed that she and Shi Tingmao partnered with a double springboard, she still needed to change her technique to adapt to the characteristics of her partner.
"The technology that has been practiced over the years is not easy to change. For this reason, she can only continue to work hard after class, watching Shi Tingmao's video to study technical movements and change herself. This process is very painful."
In the Olympics on the 25th, Wang Han and Shi Tingmao worked together to achieve stability, winning gold with an uncontroversial advantage, which also gave the Chinese diving team a reassurance.
Wang Han's efforts bear fruit.
"Affected by the new crown pneumonia epidemic, the Olympic Games were postponed for one year. For 30-year-old Wang Han, it should be said that he has paid incomprehensible hardship and sweat and finally realized his dream. We are very moved and very proud." Hebei Province Said Liu Liyan, director of the Swimming and Diving Management Center of the Sports Bureau.
"The child has worked very hard. She persisted for so many years and finally realized her dream." Wang Han's mother Zhang Lifang said in the video connection.
She knows best the pain her daughter has experienced during training. Although she feels distressed, she still encourages her to "keep working hard."
On August 1, the women's singles 3-meter springboard final of the Tokyo Olympics diving will be held. The "late bloomer" Wang Han's Olympic journey continues.
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