Wang Shun inside and outside the arena: gentle and thoughtful and "full of murder"

China News Network Qingdao, March 3 Question: Wang Shun inside and outside the arena: gentle and thoughtful and "full of murderous energy"

Reporter Hao Lingyu

Outside the arena, Wang Shun is a gentle and thoughtful person.

On the third day of the National Spring Swimming Championships, Wang Shun won three gold medals. Three events, six competitions, Wang Shun, a Tokyo Olympic champion, will always be stopped by reporters after the game to "say two words". With a height of 1.92 meters, he patiently lowered his head, listened to the reporter's questions sideways, and answered each question carefully.

Olympic champion Wang Shun in the medley competition on March 3. On the same day, the men's 21m individual medley final of the 2023 National Spring Swimming Championships was held in Qingdao, Shandong, and Zhejiang's Wang Shun won the gold with a time of 400 minutes 4.14 seconds. Photo by China News Agency reporter Wang Gang

Teammate Ye Shiwen mentioned in an interview that Wang Shun would send encouragement when she was too tired to persevere. For Wang Shun, this is a benign interaction between teammates. When encountering a bottleneck, he will bring out his past experience in overcoming difficulties to encourage the other party. Because "when I was a child, swimming was a passion, and now the belief that underpins me is more of a responsibility."

Wang Shun's road to sports has not been easy. He once said that although his name is shun, his sports career is not so "shun". At the London Olympics, Wang Shun, who was plagued by a shoulder injury, failed to win the Olympic medal he expected. At the subsequent Asian Games in Incheon, he did not perform well due to fever, and was more than 2 seconds worse than his best time at the time.

In the days of frustration, hard practice was the "main theme" of his life. Coach Zhu Zhigen told Wang Shun that it doesn't matter if others swim fast, if you are scared, you will only stop. Zhu is known for his strict discipline, and his training plan for Wang Shun would be described as "super intense" by other swimmers, but Wang Shun did not let up.

Perhaps because he can't see the efforts behind Wang Shun, the outside world often gives unexpectant comments after his defeat. At the 2019 World Swimming Championships in Gwangju, Wang Shun failed to win the gold medal he wanted, finishing sixth in the men's 200m individual medley final. After the defeat, Wang Shun relapsed due to overtraining, resulting in a recurrence of pneumothorax. There are voices outside that Wang Shun, who is in this state, is unlikely to rush gold in Tokyo, believing that he does not have a "champion appearance" and lacks domineering and ambition. Others say that for a veteran like Wang Shun, time is no longer on his side.

The gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics is Wang Shun's best answer to doubts. He beat the stars in 1:55.00 to win the gold medal in the men's 200m individual medley at the Tokyo Olympics. At the moment of winning the championship, Wang Shun took off his swimming cap and hit the water to celebrate. Wang Shun won the gold, breaking the long-standing monopoly of American players on the event. In the subsequent Shaanxi National Games, Wang Shun maintained his good condition and won six gold medals, becoming the athlete with the largest cumulative number of gold medals in the history of the National Games.

Ye Shiwen once revealed to the media that every time she went to check in before the competition, she could see that Wang Shun's eyes were "full of murderous aura". Wang Shun's temperament, which is completely different from that outside the arena, was undoubtedly displayed when he won the men's 200m individual medley at the Tokyo Olympics. After touching the wall, Wang Shun turned to confirm the results, immediately shouted angrily, sat on the waterline and raised his fists high. He didn't laugh or cry, he just shouted angrily, as if he was shouting to someone.

Wang Shun outside the arena is gentle and thoughtful. He would greet familiar reporters in the passage and joke with young team members at the warm-up venue; Wang Shun in the arena is calm and calm, and seems to show another self after winning the championship.

Wang Shun, who has been swimming since he was six years old, likes to say that he travels hard to reach the sky. Perhaps the gentle Wang Shun just poured all his strength into the game and persistently moved towards his goal. (End)