She was a talented girl who won the National Figure Skating Championships in one fell swoop when she competed for the first time at the age of 16.
The United States media even praised her as the "goddess of figure skating" and identified her as another new star in the United States figure skating world.
However, at the critical moment when she was about to embark on a brilliant career, she made a decision that surprised everyone:
Giving up United States citizenship and high-paying employment, he resolutely returned to China and said: "I only fight for China!" ”
The source of this article comes from the official media [Beijing News], and the specific link is repeated at the end of the article, but in order to improve the readability of the article, the details may be polished, please read sensibly, for reference only!
Chinese who grew up in the United States
This girl is a figure skater, Zhu Yi.
Zhu Yi was born in United States, and his parents were both in the United States and Kochi. Her father, Zhu Songchun, was a well-known Chinese-American scientist with outstanding achievements in the field of computer vision.
As a Ph.D. from Harvard and Brown University, Zhu Songchun has received several international awards and is well-known in the academic community. Despite being in a foreign country, Zhu Songchun has always adhered to one philosophy: do not forget that you are Chinese.
This strong sense of national identity also deeply influenced Zhu Yi's growth. Since she was a child, Zhu Yi's parents have given her a "patriotic education". They not only taught their daughter to learn Chinese and understand Chinese culture, but also often told her about China's development and progress.
When Zhu Yi was seven years old, she watched the figure skating competition at the Vancouver Winter Olympics and was deeply attracted by the beautiful posture of the ice athletes, and she had the dream of learning figure skating. Her parents were very supportive of their daughter's interests, and in addition to figure skating, they also let her learn piano, dance and other arts, which laid a solid foundation for her future figure skating career.
In 2010, Zhu Yi received professional training with the support of his parents. As the intensity of training continued to increase, Zhu Yi's life became extremely busy. In order to save time, she often falls asleep in training clothes, and her sleep time is greatly reduced. Despite this, Zhu Yi still enjoyed it, and her talent and hard work soon paid off.
(Writing is not easy, I hope you understand that the author writes for more than 12 hours a day, and the income is only more than 50 yuan, and the 5-second ad is added to the text to unlock, just to be able to earn a few more dollars, I hope you don't scold anymore, I hope the audience understands.) ）
In January 2018, 16-year-old Zhu Yi made a splash at the United States Figure Skating Championships. Not only did she master the difficult triple jump, but she also won the women's singles title at the National Figure Skating Championships with a staggering score of 167.69, 35 points more than the second-place finisher.
This achievement immediately attracted widespread attention from the United States media, who reported Zhu Yi's story, calling her a rising star in United States figure skating, and even dubbed her the "goddess of figure skating".
However, just when everyone thought that Zhu Yi would represent United States in the international arena, she made a shocking decision - to withdraw United States citizenship and return to China to compete.
The decision sparked a huge repercussion in United States society, with many people unable to understand why a promising young fighter would give up United States of great terms.
You must know that at that time United States women's figure skating team offered a high salary of $1 million a year, and promised that she could study at any United States university after retiring, but Zhu Yi still firmly chose to return to China.
She said firmly: "I am Chinese!" I fight only for China! Zhu Yi's parents also transferred to Chinese nationality, and his father returned to China to serve as a chair professor at Peking University and Tsinghua University, and served as the dean of the Institute of Artificial Intelligence at Peking University.
In fact, Zhu Yi's decision is closely related to the "Morning Road Project" of the Chinese figure skating community.
Since the retirement of athlete Chen Lu, there has been a fault line in Chinese women's figure skating. In order to change this situation, the Chinese Figure Skating Association hired Chen Lu as the head coach and launched the "Morning Road Plan" aimed at introducing outstanding players. Chen Lu keenly noticed Zhu Yi, who was emerging in the United States, and sent her an invitation to return to China.
Faced with the call of the motherland, Zhu Yi certainly made a choice without hesitation. But after returning to China, she faced many challenges.
After returning to China, there were many turmoils
The first is to adapt to a new environment and diet, which is not easy for a child who grew up in the United States. Secondly, she was unfortunately injured during training and had to recuperate for 4 months. However, Zhu Yi, who participated in the National Figure Skating Championships with an injury, still won the fourth place.
In June 2019, Zhu Yi officially became a Chinese citizen and began her new journey of fighting for China.
In the subsequent competition, Zhu Yi ran between injury, training and study, and still achieved good results. She finished third in the Chinese Club League in Jilin, finished ninth at the China Cup Grand Prix of Figure Skating and secured three places in the Youth Grand Prix. These achievements show Zhu Yi's strong potential and indomitable spirit.
However, the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics trials have brought great challenges and pressure to Zhu Yi. She had a fierce competition with Chen Hongyi and Lin Shan, and finally qualified for the competition by a narrow margin.
The news that Zhu Yi was selected for the women's singles figure skating list has sparked huge controversy, with some netizens questioning whether she relied on her father's relationship to qualify for the competition, rather than relying on her strength.
Later, at the Beijing Winter Olympics, Zhu Yi's debut was not ideal, as she fell twice and failed to qualify for the final. After the game, Zhu Yi cried on the spot, and the Chinese team's results also hit a new low.
This has intensified the criticism on the Internet, and the remarks of "going through the back door" are very loud. Faced with overwhelming abuse and criticism, Zhu Yi fell into depression for a while.
Zhu Yi's parents had to release the video of their daughter participating in the Winter Olympics trials to prove that she was selected based on her strength.
There are also relevant people who help explain that Zhu Yi's father's return to China is completely in accordance with his daughter's decision to return to China, and there is no situation where Zhu Yi was deliberately given a quota in order to invite Zhu Songchun.
For the sake of the motherland, Zhu Yi's family gave up the favorable conditions of United States and changed back to Chinese nationality, which is admirable.
With the revelation of the truth, netizens realized that they had wrongly blamed Zhu Yi and apologized to her. The incident has also sparked reflection on online violence, calling for caution in personal speech in the Internet age.
Zhu Yi's current situation
After coming out of the haze, Zhu Yi actively faced the challenges of life. She enrolled in Peking University as an undergraduate while continuing her love for figure skating.
In July 2023, Zhu Yi won the runner-up in the Wuxi Station of the China Figure Skating League. In February 2024, she set a new season best at the Four Continents Figure Skating Championships, showing her strong form and continuous improvement.
In addition to his performance on the field, Zhu Yi is also actively involved in social activities. In May 2023, she participated in a TED talk to share her experiences and insights. On social platforms, Zhu Yi often shares his life, while calling for curbing online violence and warning others with his own experience.
For the future, Zhu Yi may become a coach or teacher, hoping to contribute to the Chinese figure skating career.
Zhu Yi's story is touching and admirable. Although she was born and raised in the United States, she always had her heart for her country under the patriotic education of her parents. Faced with the temptation of United States's high salary, she resolutely chose to return to China to serve, showing the patriotic feelings of the new generation of Chinese. Zhu Yi's experience tells us that no matter where we are, we should never forget our roots and contribute to the development of the motherland.
Her choice also set an example for many overseas Chinese, demonstrating the importance of cultural identity and patriotism. Zhu Yi used practical actions to interpret the profound meaning of the sentence "The motherland needs us, and we need the motherland even more".
Resources
Beijing News: