August 8, 2008, was the opening day of the Beijing Summer Olympic Games. There has long been speculation about who will be the last torchbearer to light the torch of the main venue.
That night, as the exciting opening ceremony drew to a close, the answer was finally revealed. As the Olympic torch came into the hands of Li Ning, the "prince of gymnastics", the eyes of the world were focused on the legendary athlete.
At the age of 45, Li Ning lifted Wei Ya and jumped into the air. He stepped forward in mid-air and slowly unfolded a long picture in a running posture. On the picture are the many torchbearers who have been passing the torch all the way to the Olympic Games.
Li Ning walked for several minutes over the Nest at the National Stadium, and finally came to the front of the main torch of the Bird's Nest. He pointed the torch in his hand ahead and successfully lit the flame of the main torch, writing a complete end to the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games.
Li Ning at the opening ceremony
Being able to become the last torchbearer of the Olympic Games, Li Ning's position in the history of Chinese sports can be seen. But what many people don't know is that exactly twenty years before the Beijing Olympic Games were held, at the Olympic Games, which were also hosted by East Asian countries, Li Ning, who carried the high hopes of countless Chinese people, made unexpected mistakes. And after his return to China, he experienced countless insults and even death threats...
The 1984 Los Angeles Olympics "Prince of Gymnastics" amazed the world
Friends who are familiar with gymnastics know that this is a program that requires athletes to start training at a very young age. One of the big reasons is that it places high demands on the flexibility, balance and flexibility of the athlete's body.
Li Ning threw himself into physical exercise training from a very young age and entered the gymnastics team of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region at the age of 8. When the children of the same age were still in elementary school, Xiao Li Ning had to carry out arduous training almost every day.
In 1980, at the age of 17, Li Ning was successfully selected for the Chinese national team. At that time, not many people would have thought that a legend of gymnastics in China and even in the world would be born.
At the sixth World Cup Gymnastics In 1982, the fledgling Li Ning won 6 gold and 1 bronze in 7 events of the men's competition, shocking the world gymnastics world. Soon, with his outstanding performance and handsome image, he gained the reputation of "Prince of Gymnastics".
Li ning
Two years later, the 23rd Olympic Games were held in Los Angeles, USA. As the world's most influential sports event, the eyes of the world are focused on this.
This Olympic Games is also China's participation in this quadrennial sports event after many years of separation. In the face of China's face that has rejoined the Olympic family, the international community is full of concern.
Coincidentally, the Olympic Games were held in Los Angeles, usa, just like the one china first participated in in 1932. Half a century later, China has shown very different sports prowess in the same place.
At this Olympic Games, the Chinese delegation finally won a total of 15 gold medals, ranking fourth in the gold medal list. China, which has been absent from the Olympic games for a long time, shocked the world with its outstanding results.
Among all the Chinese players, Li Ning is undoubtedly the most prominent one. He alone won three gold, two silver and one bronze and six medals, becoming the athlete who won the most medals at the Olympic Games. Suddenly, Li Ning became a heroic presence in China.
In the following years, he won four more titles at the World Gymnastics Championships and the World Cup gymnastics. At the same time, "35 Heroes in Sports for the 35th Anniversary of the Founding of the People's Republic of China", "Top Ten National Athletes in 1984", Joined the Communist Party of China, Top Ten National Athletes in 1985, Top Ten National Athletes in 1986... These various honors came to Li Ning. It can be said that at that time, he was a national idol.
In 1987, at the age of 24, Li Ning was accepted as a member of the IOC Athletes' Committee, becoming the only representative in Asia. At this point, it is close to the arrival of another Olympic Games.
At the 1988 Seoul Olympics, Li Ning, who had high hopes, made a series of mistakes
The 24th Olympic Games in 1988 were held in our neighboring country Seoul, South Korea. Before the opening of the Olympic Games, Li Ning, as a representative of Chinese athletes, carried out the Olympic torch relay as a torchbearer. In this regard, he became the first Chinese athlete to participate in the Olympic torch relay.
After the glory of Los Angeles four years ago, hundreds of millions of Chinese people have placed great expectations on the performance of the Chinese delegation this time, hoping to see them create brilliant achievements again.
On September 17, 1988, the Seoul Olympic Games officially opened. In the cheers of countless Chinese people, Chinese athletes began to fight fiercely on the field.
However, as the tournament progressed, the Chinese delegation lost in many of its own advantageous projects, and the number of gold medals was very small. Many Chinese, including the players and coaches who participated in the competition, did not understand why the Olympic Games were so bad...
It turns out that there is a deep background behind this. At the Los Angeles Olympics four years ago, many countries in the socialist camp – including the Soviet Union and most of Eastern Europe – boycotted and did not send delegations to participate. And this Seoul Olympics, most of them have come to participate.
If you look closely at the distribution of gold medals of the Chinese delegation to the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games, you will find that they are basically concentrated in gymnastics, shooting, and weightlifting.
Unfortunately, these projects also happened to be the good work of the Soviet Union and some Eastern European countries. They didn't come 4 years ago, which invisibly made the Chinese delegation pick up the bargain. This time they came to compete, the competition faced by Chinese athletes has risen sharply, and it is naturally difficult to win the gold medal.
In the face of strong opponents, many Chinese athletes who are inexperienced in international competitions have played poorly and failed to achieve the expected results. After being hit consecutively, the vast number of Chinese audiences focused on the body of Li Ning, the "prince of gymnastics". Recasting the glory of the Chinese delegation, Li Ning is duty-bound.
As a representative of Chinese athletes at that time, Li Ning was already under tremendous pressure. Now that we see that the Chinese delegation is unfavorable, the burden on him is even heavier.
In fact, as an experienced veteran, Li Ning's psychological quality has always been very strong. Four years ago, before he first competed in the Olympics, his parents wrote him a letter telling him not to live up to the expectations of the people of the whole country.
At that time, as long as Li Ning remembered this sentence, he often couldn't sleep at night. But he eventually withstood the pressure and won three gold medals in free gymnastics, pommel horse and hoops, shocking the world in one fell swoop.
And now, in the face of the expectations of the people of the whole country once again, he can only grit his teeth and go all out.
In the expectations of countless Chinese people, Li Ning finally appeared at the Seoul Olympic Games.
In the ring project, he deliberately reduced the difficulty of the action in order to be safe. Only to see Li Ning steadily take off in the air, holding the hanging ring in both hands, and successfully completed a series of actions.
Seeing that Li Ning was about to successfully complete the whole set of actions, many Chinese audiences were relieved.
No one expected that at this moment, an accident occurred.
Li Ning's hands grasping the hanging ring trembled slightly. Suddenly, his two hands seemed to have lost their strength, and the whole person fell down, and one foot was still hanging on the hanging ring...
Such a serious mistake actually appeared on the body of Li Ning, the "Prince of Gymnastics", and people could not believe their eyes. And Li Ning's expression at that time was intriguing—he just stood up with a faint smile on his face and did not show obvious disappointment and frustration.
The referee then scored a score, which may be the lowest score li ning has ever received in his athletic career.
In the next kurama project, when Li Ning completed the "Thomas Full Rotation" that he had been doing for many years, his movements were deformed, and he fell directly from the saddle horse. Another shocking low-level mistake, the hearts of countless Chinese audiences have once again cooled.
In the men's team competition, after the Chinese boy band led by Li Ning appeared, it kept making mistakes. According to statistics, the number of mistakes in the whole team reached a staggering 11 times in the whole game. Under such circumstances, the Chinese men's team naturally did not perform well, and finally only won the fourth place.
In several individual projects that Li Ning later participated in, he also did not receive any medals. The prince of gymnastics, who was pinned high hopes on by the Chinese people, returned empty-handed from the Seoul Olympic Games.
Behind the dysfunctional performance of the Seoul Olympics, what happened to Li Ning?
Why is it that Li Ning, who shined in Los Angeles 4 years ago and won 3 gold medals at the Gymnastics World Cup 2 years ago, performed so sub-standard in Seoul? It turned out that behind this was his personal and unspeakable heartache with the Chinese gymnastics at that time.
Before the Seoul Olympics, the Chinese gymnastics men's team at that time had fallen into a situation of inadequacy. The young players are not strong enough, and can only rely on experienced and glorious veterans.
At that time, Li Ning, because of the injury, had not carried out systematic training for ten months. For athletes, saying goodbye to the training ground for so long has a huge impact on their state and level of competition.
However, due to the lack of domestic gymnastics reserve talents, the national team coach often repeatedly considered, or found Li Ning, who was already on the verge of retirement, and let him play for the country again.
At this time, Li Ning was 25 years old, which was already an advanced age for gymnasts. Coupled with the persistent pain in his shoulder joint, whether he can return to the top level of the past is a huge question mark.
But at the call of the state, Li Ning decided to fight again. For physical pain, the veteran is no stranger. As early as the age of 17, he won the championship of free gymnastics with his injured foot.
As a result, Li Ning, who had been away from the training ground for a long time, returned. Faced with a painful shoulder joint, he chose to get a closed needle to complete his usual training. The pain and suffering in this is something that only he can experience.
In fact, in China at that time, there was a fierce debate about whether to let Li Ning participate in the Seoul Olympic Games. But in the end, Li Ning boarded a plane to Seoul. At that time, there was a saying that gymnastics was the most impression-heavy. And Li Ning's reputation is so big, the prestige is so high, as long as there are no major mistakes, the gold medal is very promising.
But the results we already know. Li Ning not only made a major mistake, but also appeared more than once. At the age of 17, he is still young and can cope with physical pain; while 25-year-old Li Ning can only accept the laws of nature and bow to the years.
At that time, many Chinese people were very dissatisfied with Li Ning's smile after making a mistake, saying that he was shameless. In fact, the reason why Li Ning has such a reaction is only out of consideration for the image of the country. As a representative of the Chinese athletes at that time, if they hung their heads in frustration after making low-level mistakes, it might affect the world's perception of China. Out of this consideration, Li Ning could only smile helplessly and maintain the last dignity for the country and for himself.
But what many spectators don't know is that when Li Ning finished the game, he immediately cried on the sidelines. At this point, without the camera lens to disturb him, he finally poured out the hardships, pains — and perhaps grievances — of these days through tears. As a gymnastics prince full of honor, Li Ning finally revealed his ordinary side at this time. He did not want to stage a good play of the return of the king and fight for honor for China again; but the injuries and years were merciless, and this time, Li Ning could only swallow the bitter fruit of failure.
But at that time, he probably did not think that the things that made him more painful were still to come.
After returning to China, he was threatened with insults and was once disappointed in human nature
At the Seoul Olympics, the Chinese delegation won only 5 gold medals in the end, falling out of the top 10 of the medal table. Deeply disappointed, the vast number of Chinese people began to criticize the athletes.
The first to bear the brunt was Li Ning, who had no harvest of particles. People are not only grumpy about his several low-level mistakes, but also the smiles that appear after his mistakes are even more inflammatory. An invisible storm was coming towards the gymnastics prince.
After the plane back home landed, Li Ning avoided the crowd and left the passage alone. But his low profile at this time has been unable to calm the anger of many people.
At that time, some media pointed out that Li Ning's performance in Seoul was "shameless". "Gymnastics dead son" has also become a new title given to Li Ning by some people. As for the words "where it is not good to fall, do not run to the Olympic Games and fall", there are countless words.
Not only that, but something even more terrible happened: During the period when he first returned to China, Li Ning often received unknown letters from all over the country. Some were scolding him; some were attached to a rope to hang him; others even sent blades to him to end himself.
What's more, he specifically found Li Ning's home and smashed the glass of his house with stones.
Faced with such a situation, Li Ning fell into endless pain. He couldn't understand how, not long ago, he was a hero of this country, sought after by countless people; how suddenly he had become a sinner again, as if he had committed a heinous crime. Is it because of your bad performance in the game?
In fact, many Chinese at that time lacked a basic understanding of the Olympic Games and sports. They do not know what the Olympic spirit and sportsmanship are, but simply associate it with the national sentiment of national honor. As a result, when the athlete succeeds, everyone cheers; when the athlete fails, everyone spurns. This situation has been going on in China for many years.
At that time, not only Li Ning, the prince of gymnastics, but also the Chinese women's volleyball team that created the "women's volleyball spirit" was widely criticized by society, because they did not win the championship in Seoul. Yang Ceylan, the captain of the women's volleyball team at that time, cried bitterly when writing a letter to Lang Ping, saying that he had failed to live up to the expectations of the people of the motherland.
Yang Ceylon
During that painful period, Li Ning, for fear of being recognized, once did not even dare to go to the bank. More than 30 years later, he recalled on a show that he was deeply disappointed in human nature at that time.
At the end of 1988, Li Ning officially held a retirement ceremony and bid farewell to his legendary sports career.
Reinvigorated Gymnastics Prince transforms into a business elite
After bidding farewell to his status as an athlete, Li Ning entered another stage of his life. In 1989, at the invitation of Li Jingwei, then the general manager of Jianlibao Group, he joined Jianlibao Group and stepped into the business field.
In that era, Li Jingwei could be described as a prominent figure in the business world. His Jianlibao drink, which overshadowed Coca-Cola in China at that time, became the first choice for many people for carbonated drinks.
Li Jingwei, personally, is a loyal supporter of Li Ning. It is said that when Li Ning returned from Seoul, Li Jingwei was the only one who greeted him.
With the strong support of Li Jingwei, Li Ning has made great efforts in this new field. In 1990, he founded the sports brand Li Ning under his own name, and gradually developed it to become a world-renowned Chinese brand. Li Ning, who left the arena, also continued to write his legendary life in this way.
Li Ning and Li Jingwei
At the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, when Li Ning took off to light the main torch, the disturbances of 20 years ago had disappeared. In the previously mentioned show, Li Ning said that after two months of disappointment with human nature in 1988, he forgave everything.