From the National Spring Swimming Championships in March to the National Swimming Championships in May, 3-year-old Li Bingjie has gained a lot - 5 gold medals in the spring (21 individual events, 6 relay events), 4 gold medals in the championship (2 individual events, 5 relay event), women's 4 meters, 1 meters, 200 meters, 400 meters freestyle, she did not let the champion fall, making the outside world sigh a little exaggeratedly: "Li Bingjie of iron, the second place in flowing water." ”

When she debuted in 2017, she was a "genius girl"; In 2023, she was hailed as "invincible in the country". From "genius girl" to "invincible in the country" is not a smooth road, this Pisces girl who laughs like the sister next door is hard to swim up from the trough. In a recent interview with a reporter from the Beijing News, Li Bingjie was still worried about the breakthrough, and had a greater goal, "I want to break through myself and break through all events." ”

experienced

The trough was caught off guard, and the running laps in the snow are still unforgettable

The 2017 Budapest World Swimming Championships is where Li Bingjie's dream began. She became the "dark horse" of China's swimmers, winning the bronze medal in the women's 400m freestyle and the silver medal in the 800m freestyle with an Asian record. At the National Games that same year, she won four gold medals, setting new Asian records in the women's 4m and 400m freestyle.

That year, she was 15 years old.

After the highlight, the trough seems to come too quickly. At the Asian Games in Jakarta in August 2018, Li Bingjie won the gold medal in the women's 8m freestyle, but this victory was not won in the main event. Her performance at the Asian Games failed to help Li Bingjie get out of the bottleneck period, after which she slipped to a deeper trough. At the 200 Gwangju Swimming World Championships, she missed the women's 2019m and 400m freestyle finals, and was out of the preliminary rounds. In 800, she suffered a wrist fracture while she was abused in complementing her physical ability...

Li Bingjie admits that if the Tokyo Olympics had not been postponed, it might have been difficult for her to stand on the Olympic stage, because 2020 is even worse than 2019.

Getting out of the trough was Li Bingjie's only goal in those years, and the process of going up against the current has always been painful and struggling. Practicing freestyle for ultra-long distances, running 100 laps from morning to noon on the plateau track and field, and feeling alone in a hot pool with a brace after a broken bone, all of them have caused her pain.

The experience of running laps has impressed Li Bingjie so far. It was snowing that day, her clothes were frozen and so cold that she didn't know what to do, she ran and cried and finished training because she "felt too bitter and cried."

did not choose to give up in the 3 years at a low point, not only the coaches, relatives and fans around her supported Li Bingjie, but also the stubbornness in her bones that did not admit defeat. "Usually my parents will encourage me and transmit positive energy to me. In fact, I have always had a dream in my heart, and if I give up like this, I will be very unwilling. I believe that as long as I don't give up, the results will not disappoint me. Li Bingjie said.

Return

Won 1 gold and 1 bronze in Tokyo, and was invincible in the domestic competition

At that time, Li Bingjie thought every day, "When is such a day a head?" Fortunately, all the hardships she had endured were slowly becoming the ladder to climb under her feet.

At the end of 2020, Li Bingjie opened the door out of the trough in an instant, "At that time, after a long period of self-precipitation and analysis, I found shortcomings and shortcomings, such as technical problems and onshore capabilities. The moment I saw the problem and made up my mind to change, I felt that I should come out. ”

The signal for the return of the "talented girl" is so clear, after entering 2021, she played all the way to the Chinese swimming championships and the national swimming championships, won the bronze medal in the women's 400m freestyle at the Tokyo Olympics, and rewrote the Asian record twice in a row; In the Olympic women's 4×200m freestyle relay, she and her teammates Yang Junxuan, Tang Muhan and Zhang Yufei broke the world record and stood on the championship podium. "At that moment, I felt that everything before was worth it." Li Bingjie said.

At the Abu Dhabi World Short Course Swimming Championships at the end of the same year, Li Bingjie steadily won the gold medals in the women's 400m and 800m freestyle; Before participating in the 4×200m freestyle relay final with her teammates Zhu Menghui, Cheng Yujie and Liu Yaxin, she used the most intuitive way to motivate everyone - specifically looked at the ranking of the 200 self-discipline, came to the conclusion that "we can swim well to enter the top 3", and finally won the bronze medal in the relay.

Li Bingjie's highlight moment in 2022 was naturally the moment when she broke the 3-meter freestyle world record with a time of 51:30.400 in the national standard of the Short Pool Swimming World Championships. "I was so excited that I didn't expect this result at all." After the game, Li Bingjie smiled like a flower. The biggest "benefit" of this achievement, she says, is building enough confidence "to make me more confident and perform at my full level in future competitions, especially the World Series." ”

Fast forward to 2023, and Li Bingjie stood on the top podium six times at the Spring Swimming Championships in March. At the National Swimming Championships in May, she not only equaled her Asian record in the 3m freestyle, but also scored PB (personal best) in both the 6m freestyle and the 5m freestyle.

Moving forward

From sister to sister, the new leader builds confidence for Paris

"There are regrets, but there are gains." This is Li Bingjie's summary of the journey of the National Swimming Championships. Continuing to improve her personal best in the 400m freestyle is one of her goals, and "breaking through" is her hope for the future, "Breaking through yourself, that's the main thing." ”

In order to break through, of course, you need to pay. Resistance to ultra-long-distance training was one of the reasons why Li Bingjie fell into a trough. She describes what it's like to be in training, "You're swimming under the pool all the time, no one is talking to you, it's boring, it's scary. ”

Later, the Pisces girl developed a way to combat negative emotions, "I am a Pisces with a lot of imagination, and sometimes I think of short stories in my head, or sing songs - just the last song played in the headphones before the single cycle training." This is also a small way to relieve that resistance that does not feel particularly boring. ”

Today, the Hebei team led by Li Bingjie occupies half of the middle and long distance of Chinese women's swimming, and at the National Swimming Championships in May, she is very happy to have more and more young forces joining, "This is the tradition of our province, we began to pull ability at a very young age, even if the children who have just reached the standard, they will report 5, 800 during the competition... We have a lot of talented young players in our club, and it's great to see them swim well, because the long distance is tough, and there are probably not many people who want to practice the long distance. ”

In the past, Li Bingjie, the youngest sister of the Chinese swimmer, has begun to compete with her younger friends at the age of 21. From sister to sister is a subtle change, Li Bingjie said with a smile: "In the past, I used to find others to learn from experience, but now I have passed on experience to the team members, and this change has appeared unconsciously." ”

In Hebei Taihua Swimming Club, when the team members encounter problems, they like to consult Li Bingjie, and she is also happy to share, often saying that it is more than 1 hour.

Perhaps, this is the heritage of Chinese swimming? Li Bingjie replied with a smile: "Haha, it's possible." ”

The outside world sees her as the new leader of China's women's middle and long distance swimmers after 00, and she expects more young people to catch up, "If we want to compete in the international arena, the overall level will be improved, and I hope that the young team members will break through themselves as soon as possible." ”

The Fukuoka World Championships and the Hangzhou Asian Games are the highlights of this year, and Li Bingjie is aiming for a further future, "There are many post-00s players in the international arena who are very good, and I want to learn from them." I hope that in the next World Championships and Asian Games, I can play at the best level and strive for new breakthroughs in each discipline, which will also greatly increase my confidence in next year's Paris Olympics. ”

Beijing News reporter Zhou Xiao