Data map: Lin Xiaoxuan celebrates winning the championship.

　　In the men's 500m final of the Short Track Speed ​​Skating World Cup in Dordrecht that ended on the evening of the 12th, Beijing time, Lin Xiaojun took the lead to cross the line in 40.693 seconds, and won the gold again after the double gold in the day in Durston!

　　On the previous day of the competition, he staged a three-man team in the Men's 1000m Group B final and won the first place in Group B. This is also his best result in this event so far this season.

　　With his outstanding performance in two consecutive World Cups, Lin Xiaojun announced his strong comeback.

　　After experiencing the torment of a long wait, at the beginning of 2023, Lin Xiaoyu digested the bitter fruit of helplessness in life, and smiled and began to look forward to the future infinitely.

Lin Xiaojun's competition results.

return

　　On February 6th, Beijing time, the last day of the Short Track Speed ​​Skating World Cup in Dresden, Germany, Lin Xiaojun first won the gold medal in the men's 500m group A, and then cooperated with his teammates to reach the top of the men's 5000m relay.

　　At this time, it has been more than four years since he stood on the highest podium in an international competition last time, 1428 days to be precise.

　　The International Skating Union ISU praised his performance with the title "The Return of the King", calling it an extraordinary career return.

The International Skating Federation praised Lin Xiaojun's performance.

　　In fact, Lin Xiaozhen returned to the international arena as a Chinese team athlete as early as 2022, but for the "Almighty King" of the World Championships, his performance at that time was far from being called a "return".

　　On October 29, 2022, Beijing time, in the first stop of the 2022-2023 Short Track Speed ​​Skating World Cup, Montreal, Canada, Lin Xiaojun completed his international debut representing the Chinese team.

However, troubled by injuries, Lin Xiaojun's performance after his comeback was ups and downs.

　　He first fell and was injured at the World Cup in Montreal, and then withdrew from the Four Continents Short Track Speed ​​Skating Championships due to sustained high fever. Until December 2022, the third stop of the Short Track Speed ​​Skating World Cup in Almaty, Lin Xiaojun and his teammates At the same time, they won the silver medal in the men's and women's mixed 2000-meter team relay competition and won the first international medal in the Chinese team's jersey.

　　But for the young prodigy who has already held the Olympic gold medal, the achievement of a silver medal is obviously not enough to describe it as "return".

Screenshot of ISU social media.

　　Until the overnight double gold in Dresden.

After crossing the finish line, Lin Xiaoxuan raised his arms and shouted, and even shed tears when accepting the award, expressing his emotions to his heart's content.

　　After winning the championship, his automatic reply to private messages on social media also quietly changed from "working hard, please wait." to "Thank you everyone, I'm back."

Lin Xiaoyu's personal social media auto-reply.

wait

　　"I'm back." It took Lin Xiaoyu four years, more than 1,400 days and nights to say these four words that seemed to be an understatement.

　　"It's really exciting to get another medal after years of hard work. I won this medal after I've been through so much," Lim said.

　　And four years ago, from the clouds to the dust, Lin Xiaojun slipped into the valley almost instantly.

　　In 2019, due to a dispute with teammate Huang Daxian during training, the two went to court.

　　The Korean Ice Sports Federation imposed a one-year ban on Lim Hyo-jung, which prevented the latter from renewing his contract with the original club and unable to train normally.

Ironically, after nearly two years of trial, South Korea's Supreme Court finally ruled Lim Hyo-jung not guilty.

　　Although he regained his innocence, Lin Xiaojun's sports career was almost destroyed.

Screenshot of Lin Xiaojun's social media.

　　In January 2022, in the short track speed skating trials for the Beijing Winter Olympics, Lin Xiaojun made his first public appearance after being naturalized in China.

On behalf of Hebei, he participated in the 500m, 1000m, and 1500m competitions and did not advance to the final Group A finals in the three competitions.

Obviously, Lin Xiaojun, who had just experienced off-court turmoil at that time, was in extremely poor competitive state.

　　In June of that year, Lin Xiaojun's agency issued a statement, revealing the reason for his decline in athletic status, "For two years, Lin Xiaojun was unable to train anywhere in Korea, and he encountered insurmountable difficulties and regrets in his career as an athlete."

　　At the same time, he was also limited by the relevant regulations of the International Olympic Committee. As the men's 1500m defending champion, he failed to make it to the Beijing Winter Olympics.

Screenshot of Lin Xiaojun's social media.

　　Then, after a difficult and long silence, he silently left the previous sentence "working hard, please wait" in the automatic reply on his personal social media.

　　In fact, Lin Xiaojun once said in reply to netizens' comments that the hardest thing in sports career is waiting, and the happiest thing is competition.

　　But he, who is far away from the game, can only wait patiently and hard.

　　"The road is the hardest, and there will be no regrets." After the race in Dresden, he wrote on social media.

Data map: The Chinese team won the men's 5,000-meter relay at the Dresden World Cup in short track speed skating.

Source: WeChat official account of China Ice and Snow.

love hate

　　With the plot of The Return of the King, Lin Xiaojun's name almost detonated domestic social media.

　　After the game, he posted on social media, thanking everyone for their support.

And this Weibo, which did not exceed 70 characters, received more than 500,000 responses.

　　This is of course related to his outstanding performance on the field. In the game, he once again demonstrated his iconic surmounting skills and the same clean style of play.

　　In addition, the fact that Chinese fans "buy it" is not unrelated to his emotional statement - "We are the Chinese team!!!" Lin Xiaojun wrote at the beginning of that Weibo.

Screenshot of Lin Xiaoyu's Weibo.

　　Since his naturalization, although he has not had the opportunity to play for a long time, Lin Xiaojun has a strong sense of participation, and frequently speaks out on social media to cheer for the Chinese team.

　　During the Beijing Winter Olympics, Lin Xiaojun sent blessings to the Chinese athletes who achieved good results many times, and shouted: "Wait for me to come back! I will fight side by side with you!" This also won the favor of many Chinese ice fans.

　　In contrast, it is the "breaking defense" of Korean netizens.

According to Korean media reports, South Korean netizens reacted fiercely to Lin Xiaojun's victory, and the proportion of anger and anger exceeded 70%.

live screenshot

　　Love and hate are often interdependent, like the positive and negative sides of a coin.

And it's not uncommon for love to hate.

　　Amazingly, in March, the World Short Track Speed ​​Skating Championships will be held in Seoul, South Korea.

He will also have the opportunity to return to the ice that once excluded him, and win back all the respect that should belong to him.

(over)