Chinanews client, Beijing, September 3,
title: Dialogue | Paralympic champion Guo Lingling: She started to practice weightlifting at the age of 21, and sports made her no longer feel inferior.
Author Bian Liqun
He set two world records, leading the second place by as much as 10 kilograms.
Even so, Guo Lingling, who won the 41 kg women's weightlifting competition at the Tokyo Paralympic Games, still felt like a dream and couldn't believe that she had won the Paralympic Games.
The day before the competition, Guo Lingling, who celebrated her 32nd birthday, wrote in her circle of friends: "All I want is what I want."
This time she won the championship, Guo Lingling not only fulfilled her birthday wish, but also clocked in all the international championships she could win and achieved the Grand Slam.
For Guo Lingling, who was only exposed to weightlifting for the disabled at the age of 21, this journey is legendary and inspirational enough.
More importantly, Guo Lingling no longer feels low self-esteem, she has found the value and direction of her life through weightlifting.
After winning the championship, Guo Lingling, who is still in Tokyo, started a dialogue with Sino-Singapore Sports, telling her own Olympic championship experience and the story behind it.
Getting connected with weightlifting
Zhongxin Sports: You didn't touch weightlifting until you were 21. What was the opportunity at that time?
Guo Lingling: My high school grades are considered to be upper-middle level, not particularly good. After graduation, I didn't go to university because I felt that in my own situation, even if I graduated from university, it might not be too easy to find a job, and I used to have a low self-esteem.
Later, after staying at home for more than half a year, through the Disabled Persons' Federation of Ci County, Hebei Province, he went to a school for the disabled to learn kindergarten teacher.
Half a year after enrolling in school, I met Xue Shizheng, a retired disabled weightlifter there. He said that I have a strong upper body and thick arms, making it more suitable for weightlifting.
I practiced with him for two weeks, and for a while he let me practice in the house.
Later, he told me that he actually wanted to test me during that period. He had been silently observing my training, seeing that I had been practicing very consciously, and felt that I was working harder, so he recommended me to the coaches in the province. My current coach.
Zhongxin Sports: I learned that you were disabled due to polio when you were one year old. You didn't have any physical education classes in junior or high school. How did you feel when you lifted a barbell for the first time?
Guo Lingling: Because I didn't have any technology at the beginning, it felt heavy and strenuous. I lifted about 40 kilograms, which is considered my original strength.
After a few days of learning, I was able to lift 50 kilograms. Relatively speaking, my arms are relatively strong.
Sino-Singapore Sports: How did you weigh the balance and finally decided to embark on the road of weightlifting? Have you hesitated?
Guo Lingling: I haven't hesitated. My personality is relatively tough. I don't think I'm suitable for being a kindergarten teacher. To deal with children, I feel that weightlifting is more suitable for me.
On August 26, Beijing time, Guo Lingling won the 41 kg women's weightlifting champion at the Tokyo Paralympic Games and won the sixth gold medal for the Chinese delegation in this Paralympic Games.
Photo courtesy of China Disabled Persons' Federation
Winning memory
Sino-Singapore Sports: Share your feelings after winning the Tokyo Paralympic Games?
Guo Lingling: Actually, I still can't believe and confirm that I won the Paralympic Games. It feels like a dream.
After the day of the comparison, I was a little confused. Although I was a little regretful, I was very happy.
Sino-Singapore Sports: Why do you feel a little regretful?
Guo Lingling: I tried to lift a total of 4 times in the competition. The second one tried to hit the world record. Although I lifted it up, I was sentenced to a foul because the technical moves were not standardized and the impact failed.
Sino-Singapore Sports: The goal of participating in the Paralympics this time is not only to win the championship, but to break the world record? After the second attempt failed, will it have a big impact on your game goals?
Guo Lingling: This time I really rushed to break the world record. The second attempt failed on the whole. The overall impact was not big, because my fourth attempt was 109 kg. If it is normal, it should be 110 kg. In fact, it is one. The kilo thing.
I will break bit by bit in the future. After all, there are still so many games. If I break too much at once, there will be no surprises in the future (laughs).
Guo Lingling won the 41 kg women's weightlifting champion at the Tokyo Paralympic Games.
Photo courtesy of China Disabled Persons' Federation
Sino-Singapore Sports: The day before the competition is your 32nd birthday. Does winning the championship make the meaning of this birthday very different?
Guo Lingling: It's definitely different. When I posted to Moments, I also wrote: "I want to think about everything." My birthday wish is to get a good result in the competition on the 26th and break my record.
Zhongxin Sports: In the competition, you have set two world records. What do you think of this result? Played at your own level?
Guo Lingling: Usually the training level is actually higher than this, so you can be sure when you lift it.
Sino-Singapore Sports: Before this competition, have you imagined the scene of winning the championship? Is it the same in reality?
Guo Lingling: I imagined that I would be very nervous in the game before, but I felt okay before going on the field. I was not so nervous. The first and second hands were not nervous at all, but after the second attempt failed, the third was in my heart. Just a little nervous.
I feel that my mental and physical condition is better than I thought.
Moreover, I have stood on the podium of my World Championships, World Cup, Asian Championships and so on before. This time it is the most important one. It is considered to have completed all my honors.
Sino-Singapore Sports: What did you tell your family after winning the Olympics?
Guo Lingling: Because I could not video with my family after the game, I called and shared the good news of winning the championship with my family for the first time. My daughter was very happy. She used to say that she had a champion mother and was very proud. This time she can say she is herself. There is an Olympic champion mother (laugh).
Guo Lingling is in the game.
Photo courtesy of China Disabled Persons' Federation
Behind the championship
Sino-Singapore Sports: What is the most impressive experience along the way?
Guo Lingling: The most impressive thing is that after giving birth, I started to do comeback training when the child was only 4 months old. At that time, my weight was 57.5 kg. I had to follow the previous 41 kg class to participate in the competition and I needed to lose weight.
It took me about 3 or 4 months to lose 16 kilograms.
It was very bitter and very tired during that period.
China-Singapore Sports: Compared with healthy people, it will be more difficult for you to lose weight. How did you lose 16 kg in such a short time?
Guo Lingling: I have to walk around the Hebei Disabled Persons' Federation a few times a day. Breakfast and lunch are normal. For dinner, I usually eat some vegetables. You can't drink water, basically you can only take a sip.
In addition to normal training, I have to go on a treadmill.
Because my legs are not good, I usually stand on the treadmill with my hands supporting the handrails on both sides. The strength on my shoulders will be great, and it will be painful for a long time.
After I couldn't stand it anymore, I walked with a cane on my side, and almost slowed down, and then I went to walk with the armrest, alternating between the two.
From the first 5 minutes, gradually increase to 1 hour.
Sino-Singapore Sports: The process is so arduous, have you ever thought of giving up?
Guo Lingling: I have thought about giving up. I started to practice weightlifting for the disabled at the end of 2010. I participated in the National Games in 2011. After winning the third place, I went home. Later, the coach went to lead the national team and ignored us.
At that time, I felt that it was very hard to practice. I was still a good wife and mother at home, a husband and a child, and I tried to do some other things, but I didn't succeed.
Later the coach found me and asked me to train. I was pregnant at the time, so I returned after giving birth.
I was a bit fed up with the life at home, and felt a little frustrated in my life, so even though my family didn't agree with my comeback at the time, I resolutely went back to training.
In fact, after my comeback, I still didn't realize the meaning of weightlifting to me. I just bite the bullet and walked on after holding back my energy and wanting to change my status quo.
After that, my technique got better and better, and I broke through some bottlenecks, and then I gradually liked weightlifting.
On August 26, Beijing time, Guo Lingling won the 41 kg women's weightlifting champion at the Tokyo Paralympic Games and won the sixth gold medal for the Chinese delegation in this Paralympic Games.
Image source: Osports All Sports Photo Agency
Sino-Singapore Sports: Do you remember the first time the national flag was raised and the national anthem played in an international competition?
Guo Lingling: The first time I went abroad to compete was in the 2017 Dubai World Cup. That was the first time I went abroad to compete, and I won the championship.
When raising the national flag and playing the national anthem, I made a gesture similar to the salute of the Young Pioneers. Later, after I got off the court, someone told me not to do this and just put my hands on my side (laughs).
In fact, it was a subconscious reaction at the time. When I heard the national anthem sounded, I was very excited, and tears flowed down my eyes.
Sino-Singapore Sports: What does weightlifting bring to you and what does it mean to you?
Guo Lingling: Before I practiced weightlifting, I always felt low self-esteem, and I didn't get into college.
The first money I made was the bonus given to me in the market after participating in the competition.
I feel that weightlifting has helped me find the value and direction in my life. It has given me a lot of confidence. After I have confidence, I feel that life is full of hope.
I thought I was a "waste" before, knowing nothing.
After winning the championship, Guo Lingling took a group photo with the weightlifting team leader and coach.
Photo courtesy of China Disabled Persons' Federation
Zhongxin Sports: How to balance between your own weightlifting career and accompanying your family and children? How long hasn't been home?
Guo Lingling: I haven't been home for about a year and a half, and haven't seen my daughter.
For the past two years, I have been preparing for the Paralympic Games and stayed at home for two months.
When my daughter was young, her grandfather and grandma were taking care of her. My husband and I both worked outside.
When I first started training weightlifting, I didn't have much income, and my daughter was basically supported by my husband's income.
I have been with my daughter these years, and it has been more of a video chat. I really have very little time with her. I feel a bit regretful. My family members are also tired.
I used to be very afraid of my daughter being known by others as having a disabled mother, afraid that others would laugh at her. Now I am not afraid and confident. She can tell other children that her mother is a world champion and a Paralympic champion.
Sino-Singapore Sports: From the communication and contact a few days ago, to this Lianmai interview, do you feel that you are a relatively low-key person?
Guo Lingling: Actually, I am not the kind of person who wants to be famous. I just want to earn money and support my family steadily.
I am not very impetuous, because if I am impetuous and feel that I am a cow, I will suffer a big loss in the future, and it will be particularly miserable if I fall down. I don't want to be that way. I think it's good to be flat and flat.
Guo Lingling is in the game.
Image source: Osports All Sports Photo Agency
Zhongxin Sports: How to encourage people with disabilities around them to better tap their strengths?
Guo Lingling: Most of the disabled athletes started training in their teens, and I was relatively late.
To be honest, I don’t know how to tap my strengths. I sometimes wonder what I can do if I don’t practice weightlifting.
Actually, I don’t even think about it now. If I retire, what else can I do?
This is a topic that I still need to study and research slowly.
Sino-Singapore Sports: From a personal point of view, can you feel the society's tolerance for people with disabilities?
Guo Lingling: I can feel it. Since I was young, I have felt relatively little malice. Most of the time, it was kindness.
I remember when I was in high school, my mobile phone almost fell out of my pocket, and others reminded me.
Sino-Singapore Sports: What are you feeling along the way?
Guo Lingling: My personal signature in the circle of friends is: "Don't just find a reference, just fall into peace." I feel that this sentence is very motivating for me. We must be positive in our lives, and don't have any trouble every time. When it comes to things, think about the particularly bad aspects. Don't want others to be bad, and you should also be bad. You still have to maintain your own mentality.
Guo Lingling won the 41 kg women's weightlifting champion at the Tokyo Paralympic Games.
Image source: Osports All Sports Photo Agency
Post-Olympic life
Sino-Singapore Sports: What are your expectations and plans for the next Paralympic Games and the future?
Guo Lingling: I hope to win another Paralympic champion and continue to break through myself. When I break through until I can't break through, and I am shot on the beach by the back wave, I will take part in some small competitions steadily.
If one day I don't want to practice weightlifting, I will say goodbye to it completely and will not be a coach because I am so tired and want to change my way of life.
Sino-Singapore Sports: What will it do after the Tokyo Paralympics ends?
Guo Lingling: I will go back to China for isolation first. After isolation, I will go home to accompany my daughter. I will have a World Championship in November, and I will prepare for it later.
Sino-Singapore Sports: Will you make up for a birthday when you go home?
Guo Lingling: This gold medal is already my best birthday gift. There is no more gift I want, and I don't need to make up another one.
In fact, I didn't eat cake on my birthday, just chatted with my family and received many blessings from classmates and friends. This is already very good, and I am quite content.
(over)