On July 29, the rowing event of the Paris Olympics continued, and in the women's lightweight double sculls repechage, Zou Jiaqi and Qiu Xiuping, the first gold medal combination of the Hangzhou Asian Games, originally hoped to break into the semi-finals, but Qiu Xiuping made a mistake in the race, and they could only unfortunately enter the final C, which is the final qualifying.
Zou Jiaqi (left) and Qiu Xiuping.
Zou Jiaqi from Tonglu, Hangzhou, is the only Zhejiang athlete in the Chinese rowing team, and she and Qiu Xiuping won the first gold medal of the Asian Games in Hangzhou, after finishing sixth at the World Championships and the only Chinese pair to compete in the event at the Paris Olympics.
At this Olympic Games, a total of 16 teams participated in the women's lightweight double sculls, and the preliminaries were divided into three groups, and the top two teams in each group advanced to the semi-finals; The rest of the players competed in the repechage, and the top three teams from the two groups also reached the semi-finals. Due to being divided into a group with strong overall strength in the preliminaries, Zou Jiaqi/Qiu Xiuping finally ranked fifth in Group C and entered the repechage.
Qiu Xiuping (right) made a mistake at the moment.
In the repechage match of the day, Zou Jiaqi/Qiu Xiuping started well and occupied the top three positions in the group. However, only 24 seconds later, the two had just rowed 100 meters, Qiu Xiuping suddenly took off the oars with her right hand while paddling, and the oars of the two collided together, causing the boat to slow down rapidly. In the broadcast footage, Qiu Xiuping, who made a low-level mistake, regretfully slapped herself after the game.
Although there is still a qualifying match, for Zou Jiaqi, it can only be said that it is extremely regrettable to end her first Olympic Games in this way. Originally, the pair had hoped to reach the final of the Asian Games, and with a sixth-place finish at the World Championships, they had every chance of pushing for a higher position. However, the cruelty of competitive sports is that even the slightest mistake can bury years of hard work, not to mention that Qiu Xiuping's mistake is rare in rowing.
Of course, this mistake could not overshadow the effort they put into the Games. Especially after winning the Hangzhou Asian Games championship, Zou Jiaqi became more confident at the same time, but also treated herself with higher requirements in training. During the Spring Festival this year, she gave up the opportunity to reunite with her family and trained with the national team in Hainan for the winter, and she was still training on the morning of the Chinese New Year's Eve, when she confidently told reporters: "The competitive state is better than the Asian Games." Unfortunately, Qiu Xiuping's mistake made the team's efforts go to waste. However, competitive sports are unpredictable, and shooting star Emmons has missed the target in two consecutive Olympic Games, and Qiu Xiuping's mistakes are rare, but we don't need to blame her too much.
Zou/Qiu in the game.
For Zou Jiaqi, who is not yet 23 years old, this defeat is not the end, but also another starting point in her personal Olympic journey, and her sister and Zhejiang rowing star Xu Dongxiang is the best role model. Also a women's lightweight double sculls, Xu Dongxiang finished fifth in consecutive Olympic Games in Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008, but she never gave up her dream, retiring but resolutely making a comeback, and finally reached the podium in London in 2012, winning a valuable silver medal, which was also the only medal for the Chinese rowing team at that Olympic Games.
I hope that Zou Jiaqi can follow in the footsteps of her predecessors, continue to maintain a heart that will never give up, and look forward to her appearance in the Los Angeles Olympics four years later.