Xie Sibei realized the double golden dream of the Olympic Games

On the afternoon of August 3 at the Tokyo Aquatics Center diving pool, the 2020 Olympic Diving Men's 3m Springboard Final was launched here, after 6 rounds of competition, 25-year-old Chinese player Xie Sipi with a score of 558.75 points, pressured all the good players including teammates, Hubei young player Wang Zongyuan, to win the 5th crown of the Olympic Games for the Chinese diving team, realize their dream of winning double gold in the Olympic Games, and complete the project for the "Dream Team".

After 6 days with teammates

Write glory for the "Dream Team"

Six days ago, Xie Sibei had just teamed up with Wang Zongyuan, who was 5 years younger than himself, in the same venue and the same pool to win the men's doubles 3m springboard final, and less than a week later, he once again stood on the highest podium in the Olympic arena. Two Olympic gold medals, which is the best tribute to the Shantou diving star's 19-year diving career.

From the main force of the World Championships to the selection of the Chinese diving team for the Olympic roster, together with his teammate Wang Zongyuan, he formed a double insurance to defend the honor and dominance of the Chinese men's springboard, Xie Sibei's growth and harvest came naturally. In the history of the Chinese diving team, the athletes who mainly attack the men's 3-meter springboard have a long lifespan, and Xie Sibei, who is only 25 years old, is expected to continue to write glory for the "Dream Team" in the Paris Olympic Games three years later.

In Xie Siwei's hometown

The family was looking forward to his triumphant return

In Xie's hometown, the family sat in front of the TV and watched his game nervously. And the older sister Xie Sihang is the most excited and nervous, because she is the number one fan of her brother. Every time a reporter came to interview, Xie Sihang would tell the reporters, "I always look forward to my brother's victory and return." Now the family can basically get together once a year, mainly because my brother's training and competition schedule is very tight. And every time Xie Siwei came back, I would take him to eat Chaoshan special snacks, ride a shared bicycle together, and walk around the Haibin Road. Anyway, back in Shantou, our preferred activity is definitely eating, snacks, beef balls, hot pot and the like. This time is no exception, the younger brother won the gold medal to win the glory of the country is important, the sister and brother and the parents can get together is also important, Xie Sihang is looking forward to his brother returning home as soon as possible to take him to enjoy the food of his hometown.

In fact, it is true that as Xie Sipi's family said, in recent years, Xie Sipi's usual training and competitions, he either flew all over the world to participate in various competitions, or trained in the diving hall of the State General Administration of Sport in Beijing, and the family rarely had time to reunite.

This situation began when Xie Sibei was selected for the Guangdong team in 2009, when the good and evil matches were mostly concentrated in the domestic arena. By the beginning of 2012, when he began playing internationally as a national team, he was even further away from home. In the outbreak of the epidemic in 2020, although the diving team no longer goes out to play, but because of the closed training, it is difficult for the family to meet in China, which further deepens the concern of the family.

He was less than 20 years old and competed at the World Championships

Before the Rio Olympics, it won the domestic championship

According to the schedule, the diving team stayed in Tokyo the longest, because the first double and single events were played with a gap of about a week. And Xie Sibei is one of the double-sport players, there is no competition arrangement in the middle, he must insist on going to the Tokyo Aquatic Center every day to train after the double, patiently waiting for the arrival of the single event competition. From the july 19th trip to Tokyo, until the final finish, the diving team will stay at the venue for nearly three weeks, which is a test for the team members.

Fortunately, Xie Sibei is a "experienced player", not counting the original international series and grand prix, he began to compete in the World Championships in 2015 when he was less than 20 years old. With the growth of age, experience and skills, he began to take on heavier racing tasks, and in the next two World Championships, he was a double event, and won the men's 3m board championship twice in succession, and once won the gold medal of the double 3m board, becoming the first chinese men's springboard. In fact, as early as the Rio Olympics, Xie Sibei's level was basically the best in China, but it was a sudden foot injury before the Olympic Games that made him rub shoulders with the Olympics 5 years ago, which also became a major regret in his career. Now, 25-year-old Xie Sibei finally dreamed of the Olympics.

Behind the gold medal

Wang Zongyuan: Represents the future of diving in China

Looking at the 20-year-old Wang Zongyuan's international competition results, the Hubei boy seems to have no more records than the gold medal in the men's 1m springboard final at the 2019 Gwangju Swimming World Championships, and it is still a non-Olympic event. However, it is such a lack of experience in the competition, a fledgling little handsome guy, who debuted on the big stage of the Olympic Games, and suddenly won a gold medal and a silver medal in the men's 3 meters springboard single and double finals. It is amazing, but it is not accidental, produced by the talented Chinese diving "Dream Team", there is nothing unimaginable. He also broke an age record for the Chinese diving team, and Wang Zongyuan, born in October 2001, became the youngest men's springboard Olympic champion in the history of the Dream Team.

To some extent, Wang Zongyuan can represent the Chinese diving team in Tokyo, and suddenly take on the burden of the men's 3m springboard single and double events, and there are some lucky elements in it. Due to the outbreak of the new crown epidemic, the Tokyo Olympic Games have been postponed from 2020 to 2021, which is a pity and a huge challenge for many athletes, especially veterans. After all, the competitive level and training plan of many veterans are around the four-year Olympic cycle, and this extra year out of thin air makes it more difficult for the veterans' persistence, but it makes the emergence of new people a huge opportunity to change their fate and rewrite their career resumes, and Wang Zongyuan undoubtedly belongs to the latter.

If the men's 3-meter springboard diving event of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games can be held as scheduled, the chinese team's participants should be Cao Yuan of the Rio Olympic Champion event and Xie Sibei, the 2017 and 2019 World Championship champions. If it were not for the postponement of the Olympic Games, 19-year-old Wang Zongyuan would probably have to wait until 2024 to go to Paris to realize his Olympic dream. But by postponing the year, everything changed. Wang Zongyuan once said when talking about the feelings of the postponement of the Olympic Games: "In fact, this is a good thing for me, as a new team member, an extra year can make me have more improvements and better preparations." I hope to be able to play my best in the Olympic arena, leave no regrets, and give myself the best answer. ”

Just earlier this year, a report was issued on the official website of the Tokyo Olympics, calling Wang Zongyuan "the future of diving in the world." In fact, with Wang Zongyuan's soaring performance this year, it can almost be asserted that he is not only the "future" of the world's diving, he is also the "present" of the world's diving.

The two national team brothers Xie Sibei and Cao Yuan have been unable to jump him in many cases, and the Olympic double gold medalist Cao Yuan has been changed back to the old line of jumping, which is the result of the talent of the Chinese diving team, which may mean cruelty for some veterans, but for Chinese diving, this is the best thing. Zhou Jihong, chairman of the Swimming Association and leader of the national diving team, commented on Wang Zongyuan that this is a down-to-earth young man, he has higher requirements for himself and is more hardworking, but he also needs a growth process and more opportunities to exercise.

And Wang Zongyuan, who got the opportunity to exercise, also seized the opportunity, and he is still so young, the future is really unlimited.

This group of articles/ reporters Liu Ailin

Photo courtesy of Xinhua News Agency, coordinator/Wang Haozhou