Life is "Work hard. Be yourself, and have fun!”
--Yu Kwan Ying Shan
Earlier this month, the chinese-American figure skater Kwan Yingshan's mansion in Newport, Rhode Island, was sold for $4 million a year after its listing.
Speaking of Guan Yingshan, many post-90s generations may not know her. Kwan was the brightest star in the history of figure skating, with 9 All-American Singles titles, 5 Women's Singles World Champions, an Olympic runner-up and an Olympic Runner-up.
The name represents an era.
▲ Guan Yingshan of Cantonese descent is not stunning, and her nose is still a little large, but her chin is curved beautifully, and she has a full and round back of her head
In 2013, Kwan married Klay Pelle, the third generation of officials, and the following year bought the 1900s mansion for $1.5 million and renovated it.
Last year, Guan Yingshan divorced Pell, and after getting the property rights, Guan Yingshan immediately listed the house for sale, and it seems that there is not much nostalgia.
This four-bedroom, six-guard mansion covers an area of two acres (8 acres), and when it was first bought, there were many Italian-style sculptures decorated with gold leaf inside and outside the mansion, but they were later removed by the small two, which is estimated to be too heavy for its local tycoon temperament.
Guan Yingshan's property was listed for 4.4 million yuan last year, and a buyer was found nearly a year later.
Yu Yanjie flipped through Guan Yingshan's tweets, mostly about sports and politics, and the latest tweet called on Asians to actively vote in the midterm elections.
It seems that in the year after the divorce, Guan Yingshan's life was happy and fulfilling.
▲ 37-year-old Guan Yingshan is still slim and beautiful, and has many friends around her
From the age of 5 to 13 I thought about jumping all day
Born in 1980 in Torrance, Los Angeles County, Kwan was the third child of a Hong Kong immigrant family.
Like most first-generation immigrants at that time, due to technical and language limitations, Guan Yingshan's parents lived a simple life by working in restaurants and saving money.
However, this poor Chinese family never spared in their children's education. Guan Yingshan's brother is good at playing ice hockey, her sister practices figure skating, and Guan Yingshan's first time on ice was when she was 5 years old and trained with her sister.
At the time, Kwan's parents' idea was simple — getting a good grade would help her apply to college. Who would have thought that the brightest star in the history of American figure skating would be born from here.
▲ Guan Yingshan in childhood, looking so cute to say. The flat-headed star was deeply envious of the back of her head
At the age of 8, Guan Yingshan and her sister began to receive vocational training. Since the family could not afford to rent an ice rink, the sisters had to glide for hours before the ice rink opened through the accompaniment of friends.
To do this, they have to get up at 4 a.m. In order to save time, the sisters had basically slept the night before in their clothes.
"For such a small child, the willpower required can be imagined," Guan Yingshan later said when recalling the experience, "Now that I think about it, when others are lying in the warm bed, you can get up and put on skates, which has begun to move towards success."
▲ Born in a loving family, it is Guan Yingshan's greatest luck (the picture shows Guan Yingshan's photo with her parents and brother)
Guan Yingshan began practicing from the early morning to school every day, and rushed back to the ice rink from school immediately after school. Except for chickenpox, I have to recuperate, and I never go more than two days without practicing.
Although the family tries its best to support the children's hobbies, figure skating is a money-burning sport after all.
In the biographical film "I, Queen of Patterns", The mother of Tanya Harding, who also came from the bottom and won the National Figure Skating Championships twice, also spent every penny earned from three jobs on her daughter's skating training.
Even so, the poor Tanya was ridiculed by her companions for not having a fur coat that was standard for the white rich and beautiful people on ice.
▲ When the coach suggested that Tanya's mother buy a fur coat for each of the white rich beauties on ice for her children, the mother showed disdain for circles and unspoken rules
Kim Yeon-na, who was a hit in the previous two years, also experienced financial constraints. Because South Korea is the "barren land" of figure skating, Kim's mother sends her to a two-month overseas training camp every year, which costs as much as 75,000 yuan per trip.
Not only that, Kim Yeon-na and Kwan Young-san's relatives have fully demonstrated the east Asian family spirit, and the sister who practiced figure skating with Kim Yeon-er quit training in order to save money for her sister, and Kwan Young-san's sister became a nurse in order to fund her sister to give up her dream of music academy. Even Yu Yu's mother, in order to save money for the production of performance costumes, did it herself and did not sleep all night.
▲ The Kausten that Yusei wore in the competition when he was a child was made by his mother
A pair of custom skates costs $500, which needs to be replaced in seven or eight months, and the daily training costs at least $50. This was a heavy burden for an ordinary family in the 90s.
Almost all interviews mention an anecdote — Kwan's skates are small, and her father promised to buy a new pair. Filled with joy, she got a pair of second-hand skates the next day, the sole of which bears the name of the original owner.
▲ In the second grade, Kim Yeon-in saw Kwan Young-san's performance at the Nagano Winter Olympics on TV and has since regarded her as an idol
▲ In 2010, at the "Skating Star Show" held in Los Angeles, Kim Yeon-er and Kwan Ying-san performed on the same stage
The continued training expenses have left Kwan's family facing financial difficulties. Kwan's mother works two jobs, her father works longer hours and sets up a donation box at a restaurant.
In the end, the Guan family even sold the house, but it was still not enough to cope with the cost of professional training.
Fortunately, at the most difficult moment, due to Kwan's outstanding performance in the regional competition, a figure skating club reached out to the Kwan sisters and allowed them to practice at the training center of the arrow paste.
In order to keep the hard-won training opportunity, Guan Yingshan's parents abandoned their jobs and led their children to move to the training base, which is really not easy.
▲ In 1991, 10-year-old Guan Yingshan and coach Frank Carroll.
Exotic costumes, impeccable action, in 1996, 15-year-old Kwan Ying-shan, accompanied by a song "Salome", won the first world championship medal.
Over the next 10 years, she won an unprecedented 45 medals. In an era when the figure skating system was 6.0 points, Guan Yingshan scored a total of 6.0 points in 57 times. American Skating Magazine has named Kwan Ying Shan the "Skater of the Year" for seven times.
Compared with many people who disappeared after winning a world championship, or switched to a more relaxed professional competition, Guan Yingshan has been extremely diligent and has always maintained stability and competitiveness for more than a decade.
Effort is not for fame, but from the heart of love. Because of this, she is considered one of the greatest figure skaters of all time.
▲ At the 1996 World Championships, 15-year-old Guan Yingshan won the championship
I'm really hardworking, and I often encourage myself: 'My athletic career isn't going to be long, my form isn't going to last long, so every day I encourage myself to be the best I can be.' ’
Kwan said.
As an athlete, she didn't have time to watch TV, didn't have time to have boyfriends, and ate chocolate only once a month to control her weight.
Like Kim Yeon-na, Kwan was unable to enter normal schools, and from the age of 13, she chose to study at home and eventually completed her high school courses.
Self-study is not an easy task. Whenever Guan Yingshan missed her homework because of the competition, she asked her tutor to make up from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m., and then did two hours of homework.
These experiences have made Guan Yingshan a very self-disciplined person.