Swimming Olympic champion Zhang Yufei recalls her sports career: Winning and losing are the essence of competitive sports but not everything – China News Network Video – China News Network

Swimming Olympic champion Zhang Yufei recalls her sports career: Winning and losing are the essence of competitive sports, but not everything

[Same period]Chinese swimmer Zhang Yufei

“Transformation” does not mean the transformation of grades, but the transformation of a mentality. 2021 is the transformation of my grades, and this year is a new mentality.

[Commentary]On November 22, the China Public Diplomacy Association held the “Linjia No. 7 Salon” exchange meeting in Beijing. Chinese swimmer Zhang Yufei was interviewed by the media. She shared memorable moments from her sports career.

[Same period]Chinese swimmer Zhang Yufei

I came to the national team in 2013 when I was 15 years old. I was still young at that time. When I first joined the national team, all I understood about competitive sports was winning and losing. I felt that I played to win and to win. First, it’s over once the swim is over. I train hard every day and execute the coach’s plan to challenge myself.

[Commentary]Zhang Yufei said that she once naively thought that she would always win, but she encountered “Waterloo” at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

[Same period]Chinese swimmer Zhang Yufei

I kept winning until 2015 when I was 17 years old. The Rio Olympics will be held in 2016. I feel that with my talent and my luck, I will be able to achieve my goal in the Olympics next year. The goal at that time was to say He was in the top three at the Rio Olympics, but unexpectedly he slipped to sixth place at the Rio Olympics. Not only did he fail to achieve his goal, but he also exceeded his expectations in the end.

[Commentary]”First in running water, second in iron”, Zhang Yufei joked that she always finished second in domestic and foreign competitions after the Rio Olympics, but her experience during this period did not defeat her.

[Same period]Chinese swimmer Zhang Yufei

Since the Rio Olympics, I have spent every year losing. Because in the past 5 years (2015-2019), not only have I not won in the world competition, I have also not won in China. I will always be second. Maybe there is a saying in the swimming circle that “flowing water” “The first place, the iron second place”, because I will always be the second place. But the experience during this period did not defeat me. Giving up is the scariest thing. I decided to cheer myself up again, because I feel that there is no smooth sailing in life. The most important thing is to continuously improve my strength and hone my mentality to resist setbacks.

[Commentary]Zhang Yufei’s persistence paid off. She reached her turning point in the competition in September 2020.

[Same period]Chinese swimmer Zhang Yufei

I finally improved my performance in the championship in September 2020. The improvement should take nearly one second. It was this simple second that made me one of the top players in the world and the number one player in the world.

[Commentary]Since then, at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Zhang Yufei won the women’s 200-meter butterfly championship and set a new Olympic record. At this year’s Hangzhou Asian Games, Zhang Yufei won 6 gold medals and was named the most valuable athlete of the Asian Games.

[Same period]Chinese swimmer Zhang Yufei

Winning and losing the game is indeed the essence of our competitive sports, but now I will no longer think that it is everything, because we have something more valuable than winning and losing. So everyone can win, even if they just defeat themselves and their past selves, we can also inspire people who are also struggling for this to be winners.

[Commentary]Talking about the future, Zhang Yufei hopes to achieve further results at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

[Same period]Chinese swimmer Zhang Yufei

Because I have achieved a new success with a new mentality, and I want to continue this success to the Paris Olympics next year. I definitely hope to surpass my results in the Tokyo Olympics and strive to increase the number of medals and gold medals. Walk.

Reported by Dong Zeyu and Xing Chong in Beijing

Editor in charge:[Liu Pai]