In the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, Liu Zige was definitely the most unexpected "dark horse".
Her best result with a short arm span and small balls of her feet was a gold medal in the women's 200m medley at the World Cup Short Course Swimming Championships.
Because of mediocre results, several national swimming team training camps have erased it from the list.
In the Olympic Games, Liu Zige was a blockbuster, breaking the world record in 2 minutes and 04 seconds and winning the gold medal.
In 2009, Liu Zige first broke the Asian record in butterfly swimming, then surpassed Skipper, and set a world record of 2 minutes and 2 seconds in the Stockholm Short Pool Swimming Series.
This year is definitely the pinnacle of Liu Zige's life.
She has won many domestic and foreign competitions such as the Eleventh Games, the World Cup Championship Berlin, and the East Asian Games.
However, Liu Zige does not accept interviews, does not accept endorsements, does not participate in variety shows, and is known as one of the "lowest-key world champions", so little is known about her life.
However, the news that Liu Zige got married in Beijing in 2016 exploded public opinion.
In fact, world champions are also ordinary people, there are also joys, angers and sorrows, but also birth, old age, illness and death, marriage is a normal thing.
But Liu Zige's husband has a special identity, this person is Liu Zige's mentor, a full 23 years older than Liu Zige, and has already had two failed marriages.
He is Jin Wei, a former national swimmer, former coach of the Australian MBL Club, and former founder of the Liaoning Haijian Swimming Club.
A noble person in life
After retiring from the national swimming team, Jin Wei went to Australia to coach in the MBL club.
There he broadened his horizons and befriended Ken Wood, the "Godfather of Australian Swimming."
At that time, Wood had already produced several world champions and became famous.
Wood unreservedly taught Jin Wei his training skills and regulations, which benefited Jin Wei very much, and an idea flashed in his mind: Shi Yi long skills to control and destroy.
Learn advanced training models and management methods from Australia, and then return to China to train local athletes.
With this thought, Jin Wei resolutely returned to Liaoning.
At first, Jin Wei was questioned a lot, and in the era of institutionalization of athletes, it was even more difficult to promote commercialization as an individual.
The stubborn Jin Wei did not heed everyone's dissuasion, took out his savings for many years, and made a desperate bet to open China's first swimming club, Liaoning Haijian, near the Great Wall of Jiumenkou.
When she was 9 years old, Liu Zige was sent to the Sea Ship Club by her parents, and she was "deflated" during her first training.
Standing on the edge of the pool, the veteran team member in charge of the demonstration jumped into the water and stood up easily.
Liu Zige thought to himself: "What's so difficult about this", so he also plunged down.
However, Liu Zige forgot the story of "the pony crossing the river" in the textbook, and ignored that the old team member was a whole head taller than himself.
Entering the pool, Liu Zige couldn't stand up at all, and she was caught under the water in panic until she was fished out by coach Jin Wei.
When he first came into contact with Jin Wei, Liu Zige's first feeling was: fear.
Jin Wei is tall, burly, and always has a serious face, and the training plan made by Jin Wei is very heavy, and the team members are tired and exhausted every day.
And during training, no matter how old or new the team members, if there is a non-standard movement, Jin Wei will roar angrily.
Even when resting, Jin Wei also implements militarized management, no matter how close the players' homes are to the training base, they must live in the base, and their daily diet and routine must also follow the rules and regulations, no snacks are allowed, no drinks are allowed, and they must stand like soldiers.
In fact, Jin Wei also has his own bitterness in doing so.
Of course, he wants to give the players enough freedom and space like foreign clubs.
But the reality is here, players from private clubs have to work harder to win against national players or foreign players.
As he often tells everyone, "When you step through this door, you have to think of yourself as a world champion." ”
In addition to militarization, Jin Wei also has an almost crazy pursuit of specialization.
In order to make the team have a better training environment, he borrowed money to build a swimming pool, which is very well equipped according to international standards, and even the stopwatch for calculating time is world-class.
Jin Wei said: "For so many years, in and out, how much money has been lost, even I can't calculate it." I do my business regardless of the cost, although sometimes I make myself embarrassed. ”
After spending more time in contact with Jin Wei, Liu Zige's impression of him changed.
Liu Zige said: "Although Mr. Jin (Jin Wei) is big and looks fierce, he later found that he is not fierce at all, taking care of our lives, and he is like a father." We trust him completely, that's why we practice according to the training plan he made. ”
In order to allow the children to have enough nutritional intake and not eat unhealthy food, every week, Jin Wei would drive to the mountains to find villagers to buy local pork.
At that time, Liu Zige was tall, but his body was thin, he usually loved to eat vegetables, and the amount of rice was very small.
Every time the meal was opened, Jin Wei would scoop a large bowl for her, and watch Liu Zige finish the meal to rest assured.
Mr. Jin Wei said: "Athletes, especially swimming events, consume a lot of energy. Your strength is so poor now, like a bean sprout, how can you do it if you don't eat it! ”
In order to facilitate the transportation of the team members and to invest more working capital in the base, Jin Wei simply sold his Chrysler Dajielong and replaced it with a second-hand gold cup bread.
Liu Zige of Zhi'en Tubao secretly vowed in his heart at that time that he would buy a good car for Jin Wei when he had the ability in the future.
When there is a rare break, Jin Wei will lead the team members to go shopping to buy clothes, be a free driver and shopping guide, and then be responsible for treating guests to a big meal; He is even the supernumerary chef of the base, showing his hands from time to time.
Gradually, Jin Wei's impression of Liu Zige is also changing little by little.
Liu Zige loves to read the Tao Te Ching the most, not sad or unhappy, not contending or rushing, always slow to do things, Jin Wei called Liu Zige "old Liu".
Whenever Liu Zige was unhurried, Jin Wei would cry and laugh and say, "Old Liu, are you older than me?" You've exhausted the turtles to death. ”
After a long time, Jin Wei found that although Liu Zige, a child, was slow to do things, she was very persistent, and no matter how hard and tired the training was, she never complained.
And as soon as he enters the pool, "Lao Liu" will instantly become young, and he and his teammates will chase me.
Jin Wei said: "My requirements for training details are notoriously strict, and sometimes I can't stand it. But what touched me was that no matter how intense the training plan was, as long as it was placed in front of Liu Zige, she would complete it 100%. At that time, I knew that this child would definitely achieve something. In the more than 10 years of training with me, she has always been the one who has practiced the hardest. ”
Between Jin Wei and Liu Zige, there are also times when the needle points to Mai Mang.
Jin Wei is short-tempered and angry, and it is inevitable that he will say a few words about Liu Zige, but he will always explain to Liu Zige afterwards and strive for her understanding.
Olympic champion holding the Tao Te Ching
Since 2003, Jin Wei has paid for Liu Zige and other outstanding students to Australia for further study three times.
When he first arrived, Liu Zige had the honor to meet with big names such as Jones and Schipper.
But Liu Zige did not take photos with big coffees or ask for autographs like star-chasing girls, but spent all her energy on training.
Liu Zige's first thought was to catch up and overtake, and must catch up with their achievements, Liu Zige said: "Catch it!" As long as I work hard, I can catch it, even if I can't catch it now, I will definitely be able to catch it when I grow up. ”
Liu Zige's performance is improving at a rate visible to the naked eye, and she is always excited during training, and she brings this excitement to life.
During training in Australia, neither Liu Zige, coach Jin Wei nor other team members were accustomed to eating local meals.
Therefore, Liu Zige volunteered to replace Jin Wei as a "chef".
Three trainings, the team's food is responsible for her, braised pork, stir-fried beef, dried tofu with peppers, all kinds of home-cooked dishes are handy, although the taste is slightly worse, but the taste is still excellent.
Not long after returning from Australia, the leaders of Shanghai Baoshan Sports Bureau came to Liaoning Haijian and introduced a total of 6 men and 1 woman with a total of 7 athletes, including Liu Zige.
Jin Wei readily agreed, saying: "As the level of athletes improves, the investment in training will become more and more. This is not something that a club can do. ”
"We brought in this group of athletes not only for the City Games, but also to raise the Chinese flag at the Olympics."
The words of the leader of the Sports Bureau can be regarded as reassuring Jin Wei.
After the transfer, Liu Zige and Shi Feng were still trained by Jin Wei.
In 2007, Jin Wei once again used his connections to bring Liu Zige and them to Australia for training, this time, Liu Zige could compete with Schipper.
Liu Zige herself could not have imagined that her results were so close to the world record holder, and she even narrowly defeated Schipper in a single 200-meter dash.
Since returning to China, Liu Zige officially entered the national team, his performance has improved by leaps and bounds, and he became famous in the Beijing Olympics.
After winning the championship, Liu Zige was expressionless, and a reporter asked her very curiously: "Is winning the championship not enough to make you excited?" ”
Liu Zige replied: "People are beyond themselves." When you raise your grades to a certain level and become your own level, the focus is no longer on the grades, but on how to swim fast. ”
"I feel that passion is not only on the outside, but also on the inside," Liu Zige said.
She is not surprised by every success, because the effort has been enough, and achieving something in the event is a matter of course.
From Master to Husband, children are complete
For Liu Zige's performance in the Olympic Games, Jin Wei was not so surprised.
Jin Wei saw all the hardships and sins Liu Zige suffered during training, so the honors she achieved were all deserved, not accidental.
After Liu Zige won the championship, the outside world also generated a lot of doubts, and even foreign media said: "Liu Zige turned out to be almost as fast as the greatest men's swimmer of the 20th century, Spitz, who broke the men's 200-meter butterfly world record seven times in his career, and the sixth time he broke the record in just 2 minutes 01.53 seconds." Isn't it funny that Spitz is a male athlete, a seven-time Olympic gold medalist, and Phelps' idol, but he was surpassed by a Chinese female athlete? ”
Liu Zige, who had always been calm, became no longer calm, and she asked rhetorically: "Why can't I?" Because I'm Chinese?
They always talk about China. Originally, Chinese swimming developed late, but now it is international in all aspects, such as some of the most advanced training methods, which can be learned in other countries. Some Western countries take so many gold medals, like Phelps in the United States, one person took 8 pieces at the Beijing Olympics, they don't say anything, why can't they stand it as long as they Chinese get the results? ”
In 2009, Liu Zige broke the doubts of the outside world with his strength.
On November 12, in the women's 200m butterfly competition at the Swimming Short Course World Cup in Sweden, Liu Zige broke the world record again with a time of 2:02.50 and won gold;
On the 16th, in Germany, she broke the record for the third time with a time of 2 minutes 0.78 seconds and won the gold medal.
Because Liu Zige rarely gives interviews, everyone knows little about her private life.
However, the scandal between Liu Zige and Jin Wei has never been broken, and many paparazzi have photographed the two walking side by side or going to the hotel together.
In 2014, Hong Kong's Ta Kung Pao newspaper reported that Olympic champion Liu Zige had obtained a marriage license with her coach Jin Wei, but this rumor has never been confirmed.
Soon after, Jin Wei was asked about this in an interview with a media and did not respond positively.
It wasn't until 2016, when Jin Wei and Liu Zige married in Beijing, that the rumor was finally confirmed.
On the same day, Jin Wei drove the Land Rover purchased by Liu Zige to the wedding scene, and after a "Zige, marry me", the audience burst into warm applause.
It is worth mentioning that Liu Zige's parents were absent from their daughter's wedding scene, and the outside world speculated that the second elder refused to attend because he did not agree to the marriage.
After all, Liu Zige is only 27 years old, but Jin Wei is 50 years old, and Jin Wei has had two marriages before, and the union with Liu Zige is three marriages.
Some unscrupulous media also used "If you want to learn, sleep with Master!" It's no surprise that an Olympic champion marries a coach as big as his father."
Afterwards, Liu Zige personally came forward to clarify that her union with Jin Wei was approved by her family, and her parents did not show up at that time because there was something at home.
After getting married, Liu Zige gave birth to a son and a daughter to Jin Wei, and the family of four lived happily.
In 2018, due to work reasons, Jin Wei's family moved to Australia en masse and let their children receive Australian education.
Today, although Jin Wei and Liu Zige have settled in Australia, they also return to China from time to time to visit the elderly.
In March 2023, some media photographed Jin Wei and Liu Zige driving together to send their two children to kindergarten. After the child entered the kindergarten, the couple still stood at the door with reluctance.
It is reported that Liu Zige's child's kindergarten is a Montessori kindergarten, which has high requirements for parents, and the education of children is mainly encouraged and guided.
In May 2023, Liu Zige posted a family photo on social media.
In the picture, the family of four is all dressed in swimsuits and full of enthusiastic smiles.
As can be seen from the photo, the height of the children is very similar to Liu Zige, although they are not old, they are more than 1 meter tall.
In June, photos of Jin Wei eating with friends circulated on the Internet.
The photo was taken in Shenyang, and Liu Zige and his children were not around, so Jin Wei is likely to return to negotiate business.
At the beginning, when Liu Zige and Jin Wei got married, there were constant controversies on the Internet, and they all thought that Jin Wei "deceived" Liu Zige, but now, the two of them sing with their husbands and wives, and the family is happy, breaking the original rumors with the beauty of harmony.
Although Liu Zige has faded from the public eye and is no longer an Olympic athlete on the field, she has won honors for the country after all, and I hope that her family will get better and better.