[Concurrent] Olympic diving champion Guo Jingjing
Sometimes we don't persevere when we see hope, but only when we persevere will we see hope.
[Explanation] On November 22, Guo Jingjing, the Olympic diving champion, gave a public lecture at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. With the theme of "Driving water to see the light and chasing dreams", she shared her athlete career and Olympic gold-winning experience with teachers and students, encouraging young people People bravely pursue their dreams.
Guo Jingjing, who was born in 1981, is known as the "Queen of Diving". She has participated in four Olympic Games, and the number of Olympic medals with 4 gold and 2 silver makes her the first female athlete to win 6 medals in diving. The reason for the diving, Guo Jingjing admitted frankly, was completely by mistake.
[Concurrent] Olympic diving champion Guo Jingjing
I remember when I was four or five years old, my mother took me to Qinhuangdao, and I was choked by water when I went to the beach. Since then, I have been afraid of water, but I also felt that I must not know how to swim, so when Coach Li Fang came to the school to select players At that time, I raised my hand and said that I wanted to learn to dive. I thought it was to learn to swim.
I remember the first time I stepped into the diving pool, it freaked me out.
I saw the platform and said, why is this so high?
I took my mother's hand and walked out and said, we came to the wrong place, let's go home.
But when I went out, I saw the coach, and the coach said, since you are here, let's try.
But I was very timid at that time, and I hid all the movements until the end, first to see how the other children jumped, and it seemed that there was no danger, so I jumped down.
[Explanation] This is such a timid and shy little girl who only dared to dance with her. During the day-to-day training in the sports school, she gradually showed her diving talent. She was selected into the national diving team in 1993. Three years later, she was only 14-year-old Guo Jingjing started her Olympic journey.
From missing the podium in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics to finishing second in the 2000 Sydney Olympics, Guo Jingjing said that passing by the Olympic champion made her feel hopeless, but she was unwilling to give up. Among the two paths of athletes, she chose the latter.
[Concurrent] Olympic diving champion Guo Jingjing
At that time the game was over.
When everyone is celebrating, I have a feeling of despair.
One is that I feel sorry for my hard work for so many years, but I also feel sorry for my coach.
All the coaches of the entire team are gold medal coaches, but my coach did not win the gold medal.
That kind of desire for the championship, and the huge gap of not realizing my dream, did not make me depressed and retreat.
On the contrary, my mentality has changed a lot. I started to start from myself and live in the moment. I know that the process is often more important, and even a 0.1 improvement every day is worthwhile.
[Explanation] After four years of dormancy, at the 2004 Athens Olympics, Guo Jingjing won two Olympic gold medals in the women's single 3-meter springboard and the women's double 3-meter springboard, fulfilling her dream of becoming an Olympic champion.
In the subsequent 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, she won the women's single 3-meter springboard championship and the women's double 3-meter springboard championship again.
In the exchange session of the day, many students who came to the Hong Kong Polytechnic University from the mainland expressed their admiration and love for Guo Jingjing.
Guo Jingjing also shared how to adjust her mentality when the outside world has huge expectations of herself.
[Concurrent] Olympic diving champion Guo Jingjing
During the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, everyone thought that I was going to win the championship, but in fact I was not, because I lost in the World Cup in January before the Olympics.
At that time, how to relieve the huge pressure around me.
In fact, first, I don't care about everyone's expectations of me. At that time, the only thing I can do is to be myself.
[Explanation] In 2011, 29-year-old Guo Jingjing announced her retirement. After marriage, she and her husband Huo Qigang came to Hong Kong to settle down. When she first came to Hong Kong, she did not understand Cantonese and had no friends. However, as time went by, she gradually got to know this tolerance The city is integrated into the international metropolis of Hong Kong, the Pearl of the Orient.
She said that she hopes that young people can go out more, experience more, experience more, and experience different scenery.
[Concurrent] Olympic diving champion Guo Jingjing
Life is actually an experience. Do you choose to be stable and comfortable, or to look to the future?
The national strategy of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area provides our young generation with the possibility of unlimited development, and it is a rare opportunity.
Because you have a wider space for development, what you need is to put your thoughts into practice, constantly improve yourself, and break down the barriers set in your heart.
[Explanation] It is reported that this lecture is a public lecture to celebrate the 85th anniversary of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. The lecture attracted more than 800 guests, teachers and students, alumni and the public to participate.
[Concurrent] Jin Yue, student of Hong Kong Polytechnic University
I have been in love with Ms. Guo Jingjing since I was eight years old. At that time, when I was watching the Olympic Games, I would lift up a small bench and sit directly in front of the TV.
I learned from this lecture that you must persist in doing one thing, just like Ms. Guo, keep striving for your dreams in order to finally achieve your goals.
[Concurrent] Zang Wanying, student of Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Ms. Guo also came from the mainland, and when she first came to Hong Kong, she also had no friends and was unable to speak the language, so she faced these problems.
Then she shared with us a lot of good experiences on how to overcome these problems. I think I can learn a lot.
Reporter Liu Xuanting reports from Hong Kong
Responsible editor: [Ye Pan]