Text: Yan Wuyu
Editor|Film and Entertainment Pioneer
In the early morning of August 1, the Paris Olympics ushered in the 100-meter freestyle final.
Pan Zhanle from the Chinese swimming team lived up to expectations and won the championship in the competition.
However, this is the first gold medal won by the Chinese swimming team at this Paris Olympics.
Before the start of this competition, the Chinese swimming team can be said to have ushered in the "darkest moment".
Before the start of this Olympic Games, the athletes of the Chinese swimming team received considerable expectations and praise from the outside world, and the audience was also full of confidence.
But four days into the competition, the Chinese swimming team failed to win a single gold medal.
From the "darkest moment" to ushering in redemption, what has Chinese swimming experienced in just a few days?
1. After failing to win a gold medal in four days, the Chinese swimming team suffered Waterloo
Before the start of the Paris Olympic Games, the prospects of the Chinese swimming team winning the championship were generally optimistic.
The leaders of the mainland swimming team are Zhang Yufei, known as the "Queen of Butterflies", and Qin Haiyang, known as the "Frog King".
The results achieved by these two athletes before participating in the Olympics are also jaw-dropping.
At the 2023 Fukuoka Swimming World Championships, 24-year-old Qin Haiyang won the championship in the men's 200m breaststroke final and broke the world record.
At the same time, Qin Haiyang also became the first player in history to win the men's 50m, 100m and 200m breaststroke at the single World Championships.
Before the start of this Olympic Games, Qin Haiyang also set goals for himself:
"I want to be the first person in the history of breaststroke and win all the gold medals."
Qin Haiyang's strength and confident speech also made everyone full of confidence in his competitive state.
However, the unexpected happened.
In the men's 100m breaststroke final, Qin Haiyang performed very well in the first half, but suddenly had an accident in the second half and was overtaken by a group of players, and finally only achieved the seventh result.
Not only that, but his performance in the final was 0.57 seconds slower than in the semi-finals, and almost 2 seconds slower than his best time.
After the game, Qin Haiyang said that he had problems with his condition and did not rest well before the game.
Burdened with big expectations, but there were accidents in the competition, let alone an international event at the Olympic level, which made it impossible for anyone to accept it quickly.
However, the competition does not give athletes time to adjust their mentality.
Three days later, Qin Haiyang ushered in the 200-meter breaststroke competition.
It is unbelievable that Qin Haiyang did not even break into the final this time.
In the preliminaries, he finished 15th and barely made it to the semi-finals.
In the semi-finals, Qin Haiyang maintained a sprint form in the first three-quarters of the schedule.
However, in the last 50 meters, he lacked momentum and ended up missing the final in 10th place.
After the game, Qin Haiyang also admitted in an interview that his performance in the men's 100m breaststroke final two days ago had a great impact on him, and the pressure was even more conceivable.
It is undoubtedly difficult to come back from the defeat in the last game in such a short period of time, let alone in such a big international competition.
In competitive sports, self-confidence is very important, and once confidence is frustrated, the impact on athletes is difficult to estimate.
In addition to Qin Haiyang, Yang Chang, who participated in the women's 100-meter breaststroke, and Li Bingjie, who participated in the women's 200-meter freestyle, also missed the finals.
Zhang Yufei, another famous player in the Chinese swimming team, missed the gold medal and won two bronze medals.
In the last Tokyo Olympics, Zhang Yufei won two gold medals and two silver medals.
He broke the world record in the 200m butterfly and freestyle relay.
The overall performance was brilliant.
At this Paris Olympics, Zhang Yufei failed to win the gold medal in the 100m butterfly and finished third.
Although he failed to win gold, he still deserves to be commended.
Especially in the face of frequent urine tests and rest interference, it is very rare to achieve such results.
In addition to Zhang Yufei, other players of the Chinese swimming team also achieved two silver and one bronze results.
They were the bronze medals in the women's relay swimming competition and the two silver medals in Tang Qianting and Xu Jiayu.
Although the overall result was acceptable, we failed to win a gold medal in the first four days, which is obviously something we don't want to see.
You must know that in the last Olympic Games, the Chinese swimming team achieved an excellent record of three gold medals, two silver medals and one bronze medal.
Such a gap cannot help but worry the public.
2. Inspiring, Pan Zhanle won the championship
In the first few days of the Paris Olympics, some of the events that people had high hopes for have frequently failed, and although there were silver and bronze medals, the performance of the Chinese swimming team has not been completely satisfactory.
In the 100m freestyle preliminaries, Pan Zhanle's performance made everyone worry about his competitive state.
Fortunately, this fear did not last long.
In the 100m freestyle final, Poon took the lead when he entered the water.
He followed through his tactics in the race – rushing forward, topping the back, and swimming faster and faster in the second half.
The total time was 46.40 seconds, which was 0.40 seconds behind his own world record.
In an interview after the game, Pan Zhanle was also very satisfied with his performance:
"I felt everyone's expectations before I entered the water!"
Pan Zhanle not only carried his own pressure, but also took the pressure of the Chinese swimming team on his shoulders, although he didn't say it, he held his breath in his heart.
The reason why Pan Zhanle is so excited is not only because he won the gold medal, but also because he has lived up to the public's expectations of him.
This gold medal is the first gold medal won by the Chinese swimming team in this Olympic Games, which inspired the whole team.
Looking back at Pan Zhanle's various performances, the most intuitive feeling is: modest, down-to-earth, not arrogant or impatient, and stable performance.
As a young player who is only 20 years old, Pan Zhanle's achievements are very "heavy".
In the men's 100-meter freestyle final of the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games, Pan Zhanle won the championship.
In 2024, he will win the men's 100-meter freestyle championship at the World Swimming Championships, and the men's 400-meter, 200-meter and 50-meter freestyle championships at the National Swimming Championships.
With so many brilliant achievements, the reason why Pan Zhanle first got into swimming was just for his parents to let him exercise.
But soon, Pan Zhanle showed his talent in swimming, and steadily entered the national team in step by step training and growth, and was determined to win the championship for the country.
Before, everyone liked to call Pan Zhanle "Flying Fish", but he rejected this title:
"It's not an Olympic champion, it's not a 'flying fish'."
At that time, who would have thought that just a few months later, it was Pan Zhanle who pulled the Chinese swimming team back from the edge of the cliff, not only for the Chinese swimming team, but also for the country to win this crucial gold medal.
At the moment, I don't think anyone is more worthy of the title of "Flying Fish" than him.
And Pan Zhanle's performance also provided motivation for the players of the Chinese swimming team who participated in the next competition.
3. The competition has not completely ended, and we still need to be confident to meet the challenge
In this Olympic Games, the Chinese swimming team did not start well.
The project that everyone had high hopes for suffered a loss, and some strong players also failed to perform well.
Coupled with the interference of some factors outside the venue, these have cast a haze on the Chinese swimming team.
At this time, more anxious than the spectators must be the athletes who are competing in Paris.
They are more eager to win than we are, and they want to dedicate themselves to the country.
And the athletes train hard day and night to bear fruitful fruits at this moment.
Of course, the most important thing now is that the athletes do not let these factors affect them and adjust their condition in time outside of the competition.
As Qin Haiyang said in the post-race interview, the state of the competition is very important for an athlete.
Although Qin Haiyang's performance so far in this Paris Olympics has not been good, we believe that this is by no means his own level.
With so many titles and spectator expectations on your back, it's understandably stressful to compete against the best athletes from all over the world on an international stage like the Olympic Games.
At this time, the test of the athlete is not only their own ability, but also the mentality of facing the big scene, which has a very significant impact on the game.
Next, the Chinese team has three more gold points:
They are the men's 200m medley, the men's and women's medley relay and the men's medley relay.
The Chinese team is also the favorite to win the championship in these games, and Qin Haiyang still has a chance to prove himself.
We also hope that Qin Haiyang can adjust in time this time, temporarily forget the defeat of the previous few days, and meet the next challenges with a new attitude.
As long as the athletes can play their due level, then the championship must be inevitable.
From the "darkest hour" to the dawn
Pan Zhanle's performance is like a "shot in the arm" and sets an example for all athletes.
We have reason to believe that the Chinese swimming team will be able to fight more and more bravely in the next competition.
Finally win the championship and complete the redemption of yourself!
Selected references:
Sina highlights|China's first gold medal in swimming is here! Poon Chin-lok broke the world record this morning to win the championship 2024-08-01
Netease Home|Upset missed the 200m breaststroke final, Qin Haiyang: Thinking too much, failed to focus 2024-07-31
Netease Home|4 days 0 gold! Can the Chinese swimming team still win a gold medal? There are only 4 gold points left, and the tragedy of 24 years ago is a huge performance 2024-07-31