Winter Paralympic "Triple Crown" from 25 degrees north latitude
At the age of 22, a wheelchair with a width of more than 40 centimeters "too wide" helped Yang Hongqiong get out of the house embedded in the mountains of eastern Yunnan and walk to the school.
It was her first wheelchair, donated by the local Disabled Persons' Federation. It didn't fit well, but it was enough to help her "escape the life you can see at a glance".
10 years later, a thin piece of paper with "notes" written in red letters records the new, old and modified data of 12 indicators such as "sit height", "waist width" and "back width", so that the scientific research team can customize it for Yang Hongqiong. The most suitable ski rack.
During the Beijing Winter Paralympics, Yang Hongqiong swept the women's cross-country skiing group at the Winter Paralympics on the 26.5 cm wide ski rack that "fits tightly with the buttocks and thighs" for the short distance, middle distance and long distance. He became the first "Triple Crown Champion" in the history of China's participation in the Winter Paralympics.
"Very unexpected." Before the Winter Paralympics, Yang Hongqiong, who had hardly participated in international competitions, had no "plan" to win gold at all. This "overjoyed" was even a common emotion of the whole team.
Affected by the new crown pneumonia epidemic, the Chinese Paralympic cross-country skiing and biathlon teams have hardly been able to compete abroad in the past two years, lacking the opportunity to compete with their opponents, leaving the team in a state of "hard work under the dark lights" for a long time.
"Winning the championship" is a seed. There is no soil to test whether it can bloom or not. Until the Beijing Winter Paralympic Games, the scene of their competition directly made the spring of the Chinese Winter and Paralympic Games snow events.
On the first match day, her teammates made breakthroughs one after another, and Yang Hongqiong’s emotions “couldn’t hold back no matter how much she pressed.” On the eve of the match, she was lying on her side, lying down, and lying on her stomach. A picture of the podium.
On the second day, Yang Hongqiong, who slipped to the "buzzing head", defeated the favorite and American star Masters by 32.1 seconds to stand on the highest podium.
In the following two competitions, despite being plagued by factors such as her physiological period, she still "unexpectedly" won the championship. The 32-year-old was born out of no luck.
"Winning or losing is in an instant. In fact, in the game, I don't care whether the opponent is approaching me." In her opinion, focusing enough on her own rhythm is the reason why she can break through calmly, "No matter what voice I hear, it is Whether it is near or far, it will not shake me, I am the only player on the field." Competing with and getting along with yourself, a player who is smart enough can learn to amplify his inner voice from the lonely track, and after it becomes a habit, even in the Hustle can also clearly hear his true demands. In this regard, Yang Hongqiong seems to have a talent.
"There are so many disabled people in the country, and very few can stand on the Winter Paralympic Games, and it's over." Yang Hongqiong's accent often makes people mistakenly think that she is from the Northeast, where ice and snow resources are developed, but her hometown is on the other end of the diagonal. the southwest.
In Anju Village, Goujie Neighborhood Committee, Zhongshan Township, Luoping County, Qujing City, Yunnan Province, more than 30 households are surrounded by contiguous rape blossoms every spring. It is located at 25 degrees north latitude and is recognized as a golden climate ecological belt by the world. The only thing is that it is hard to see snow and ice.
As the Paralympic champion of the snow event, Yang Hongqiong had never seen heavy snow before 2018, and before she was 22 years old, not only the ice and snow, but the world outside the square inch was "greedy".
At the age of 13, Yang Hongqiong injured her spinal cord after climbing a mountain and fell, resulting in paralysis of both lower limbs. She built a heart wall for herself and rarely expressed her true emotions.
Until the age of 18 or 19, people came to propose marriage one after another. In the eyes of others, the stable life of a husband and a child made Yang Hongqiong fear of "seeing the head at a glance". She suddenly realized, "My parents are getting old, and I can't stay in the comfort zone for the rest of my life. ." In 2012, her father bought her her first mobile phone, which she used to search for "all kinds of things people with disabilities can do." In the end, going to school became her choice, and she confessed her inner voice to her parents.
"Who takes care of you outside?" This was the first reaction of the parents, Yang Hongqiong remembered, "At that time, they probably didn't have a very clear concept of wheelchairs and were worried about me." She begged to see the school, even if she was not accepted, " Just take a train ride." After that, her father and the local Disabled Person's Federation contacted the school and other matters, and Yang Hongqiong also owned the wheelchair that did not fit but could help her change the track.
At school, Yang Hongqiong met more people who were faced with difficulties by fate like her. She became an active member after removing her heart, and emerged in cooking competitions, entrepreneurship competitions, and sports events.
The first place in the bench press at the Games allowed her to be selected as a weightlifter and participated in the Provincial Paralympic Games. After that, she was favored by the basketball team and won a bronze medal in the National Paralympic Games held in Tianjin.
The sense of achievement brought by the medal makes Yang Hongqiong more and more like himself who is constantly changing in the sports world.
She remembered that when she first joined the team, she was not confident enough to dare to shout or communicate, which was a flaw in a group project that emphasized cooperation.
"If your little teammates don't shout, let you go to the street to read the newspaper." She was forced to the cliff, and began to learn from the senior sisters to awaken the "publicity" that had been dormant in her body for many years.
"Sports changed my character. I was reluctant to communicate with people before. Since I practiced sports, my whole person has become more cheerful, and now I can even make people around me laugh." In 2018, Yang Hongqiong was recommended to prepare for the Winter Paralympics. In the training team, at this time, she could already express her attitude loudly, "For a southerner, the word skiing is too far away. I was fortunate enough to have access to it, so I jumped in without hesitation." It was autumn, and before it was time to watch the snow, Yang Hongqiong experienced the challenge of changing items.
Wrestling is the biggest hurdle.
Unlike wheelchair basketball, which relies on professional wheelchairs to maintain balance, cross-country skiing in a sitting position needs to rely on both hands to maintain balance. Sometimes my head is on the ground, sometimes my elbow is on the ground, anyway, basically every part of my body has been on the ground." Yang Hongqiong said with a smile, from the grass in summer to the snow ditch in winter, she has thrown herself down, "The coach gave me I got the nickname 'Yang Meijiao', and I thought it sounded good at the time, but after the coach explained it to me, I learned that he was talking about 'Yang every fall', and he fell every day." But the fall did not frighten Yang Hongqiong, No matter how steep the slope is, she will rush down under her obligation, and she tells the coach: "Where I fall, I will flatten it."
Stubborn and straightforward, Yang Hongqiong, whose life has been changed by "face to the heart", firmly "holds his own rhythm".
Foreign teacher Roman is a seated athlete who has won many Winter Paralympic championships. At the beginning, he made many suggestions on the height of Yang Hongqiong's stick, but Yang Hongqiong did not directly adopt it based on his actual experience in training and competition, which made Roman. She was a little anxious and tried to convince her, "He is a level 12 athlete, and his waist strength is stronger than mine, so I need a high pole to lengthen the sliding distance." Yang Hongqiong explained that each disabled athlete has different physical conditions. It is even more necessary to combine her own feelings. After "reconciling" with Roman, she told the translator in a joking tone: "Brother, just tell him directly, I understand that he is good for me, but he pressured me with his seniority, which made me unhappy. ."
But Yang Hongqiong understands that stubbornness cannot turn into stubbornness.
She wouldn't be where she is today without the help of Roman and the entire coaching team.
In order to become a more professional athlete, she learns not to chat before the game, and saves time and energy for herself; the problem of "being particularly picky in the past" has also gradually changed, the disgusting beef frowned and eaten, and the disgusting egg yolk " Mash it up and drink it in porridge", "I don't care if I like it or not, just follow if it's necessary." During training, she survived over 30 degrees Celsius in summer and minus 20 to 30 degrees Celsius in winter. Sometimes she was dissatisfied with herself. Also practice at night.
"It is very demanding on lung capacity, and my physical fitness has gradually accumulated during training."
In addition to the changes on the field, Yang Hongqiong also learned to repair the wheelchair by himself. "I used to be on the basketball team, team sports, and my sisters took good care of me. At that time, I couldn't even hit the air in the tires." But when it comes to cross-country skiing, personally The challenges of the project also included the troubles caused by assistive devices. At first, she always troubled her teammates, but gradually, she began to hate her inner panic when the wheelchair broke down.
One small wheel "scooped" at a time, and only three of the four wheels touched the ground. Yang Hongqiong took the initiative to borrow a tool to remove the small wheel, and repeatedly compared the differences, and finally became an athlete who can repair wheelchairs.
On and off the field, sports have taught Yang Hongqiong that "people have infinite possibilities".
She remembered that before joining the ski team, she had actively tried to open the door to society.
Just after graduating from college, she sent her resumes everywhere, rocked a wheelchair to find a job in Kunming, and tried for a month. When she almost gave up, she was accepted by a company with an "elevator" and was assigned to work at the front desk.
But in the end, she gave up this seemingly hard-won opportunity because her position did not use her strengths. "I am very good at video editing and other work, and I am even obsessed with staying in the computer room for a whole day." This experience It was her treasure hidden in her heart, and from then on she was sure, "What I need is not a position, but like everyone else, I can prove my worth with what I have learned and loved."
Newspaper Chongli March 21st
China Youth Daily, China Youth Daily reporter Liang Xuan Source: China Youth Daily