Stepping down from the springboard, she smiled like a flower, and it was an oriental face. Should this beautiful girl be called "Esther-Qin", or "Qin Fan"? In fact, as early as the 2014 Commonwealth Games, she represented Australia and won the championship. When I came to Kazan, I came face to face with this Chinese player as I wished, and listened to Qin Fan tell the story of falling in love with diving again and falling in love with "him".
In the same door as Olympic champion Matthew, he did not have the opportunity to participate in international competitions in China
On the evening of August 1, local time, the 2015 Kazan Swimming World Championships ended the 9th day of diving. In the women's 3m springboard final, the defending champion He Zi lost to teammate Stingmao and lost silver, and Italy's Tania Cagnanotto finished third. Although he did not win the podium because of the fourth place, Qin Fan, a Chinese athlete born in 91, admitted that he had a full harvest. Debuting on the World Championship stage, she also participated in the women's 1m springboard (fifth) and won the bronze medal in the women's doubles 3m springboard with her partner Mills Samantha.
In 2009, Qin Fan met her family in Sydney, who had emigrated a step ahead of herself, and she confessed to this writer that she was ready to say goodbye to diving. "To be honest, I don't particularly want to practice, I'm tired, I don't want to toss anymore." Later, I don't know how the school knew that I had practiced diving before, and I also contacted the club for me, that is, there were many children, and they paid for training by themselves. I haven't trained for a year, so let's see how I recover, after all, it's an opportunity in Australia. ”
She also deeply remembers the scene when she watched Tian Liang participate in the men's 10-meter platform jumping competition in front of the TV set at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, "especially the third set of actions, what if the head hits the (jumping) platform?" It was so terrible, I thought at the time that I would not practice diving to kill me. However, the fate is so wonderful, from the primary school gymnastics Qin Fan began diving training at the age of 12, "gymnastics is the foot landing, but diving is the head into the water, then even the 1 meter board is afraid." My first time... I was kicked down by the coach! ”
In this way, the reluctant Qin Fan continued to grind in the pool, and she switched from a platform to a springboard out of the needs of the Beijing team. Only in the talented Chinese diving, Qin Fan did not even have the opportunity to participate in international competitions until he went abroad, and the biggest event he participated in in China was the 2005 Nanjing Ten Games, and the best result achieved was the fifth place in the double 3-meter springboard.
"I didn't like it when I was a child, but after changing the environment abroad, my mentality was different, and I slowly became more and more interested in diving." As long as the mentality is good, everything can get better. Qin Fan said that foreign training is all based on self-awareness, "the coach does not force you, nor does he care about you, ordinary heart." The usual training is also much easier than in China - two hours in the morning and then go to class, and only two or three hours in the afternoon, "mainly in class, I study film production." She introduced that the Australian diving team has produced 2 lawyers, as well as doctors, banks and other professionals, "like Melissa Wu is studying accounting, Matthew is learning language." ”
With Australian diving star Melissa Wu
When he first arrived in Australia, despite being accompanied by his parents, Qin Fan still felt lonely, "Because of the language barrier, there are no friends around, you can only stay at home every day, and you often get lost when you go out to take the train." The situation didn't get any better until she started diving again," said my teammates in Australia who were willing to teach me English. ”
It is worth mentioning that Qin Fan is also the same sister of Matthew Mitcham, the men's 10m platform champion at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, and has been studying under gold medal coach Andrea Chava Soberino, a Mexican, for two or three years.
Talking about this bold brother, Qin Fan was very admiring: "When I first started training with Matthew, I felt that he was a star, and his level was one level higher than ours, and he didn't dare to talk to him." But he was very nice and humorous, helped me a lot, and taught me English, and later I also taught him Chinese. We'll also play on the three-meter springboard and he'll lose to me when he's not in good shape. ”
After regaining his love of diving, Qin Fan, who trained hard, improved rapidly. At the 2014 Commonwealth Games, she won gold in the women's 3m springboard and bronze in the 1m springboard. Coach Chava was confident in the prospects of his disciples after the game: "She was really overjoyed. Qin has never been selected for the national team (of China or Australia), but now she is starting to gain experience, and once you get experience, you can wait and see the results. This time in Kazan, she played at the World Championships for the first time and delivered a satisfactory answer - she successfully won the Rio Olympic Games ticket for the Australian diving women's team with a single and double 3-meter springboard.
Kazan Universiade met basketball lover because of his trust in transnational love is not afraid of tests
"Once again, when we came to the place where we met, although you were not there, everything was vividly remembered." A few days ago, the little girl also wrote this love story affectionately on Sina Weibo. The "he" in Qin Fan's heart is Liu Lian, a peer in China who plays for the "Jilin Northeast Tigers" basketball team.
Talking about this transnational love, Qin Fan, 23, fell generously: "We met at the 2013 University Games in Kazan, he represented China in basketball competitions, and I represented the Australian team in diving competitions. "I have forgotten that the first time we met was in the Universiade Village or the canteen, because the two people who are lucky can always see each other in the crowd." But the one that impressed me the most was once.
"The Chinese team held an event downstairs, making balloons or something, and we ran into them when we went there to play. Because the basketball players were tall and conspicuous, our whole team took pictures with them. Qin Fan said that she was not in love with Liu Lian at first sight, "At first I met here, there was not much communication, but later I interacted and chatted on Weibo WeChat, and after a period of time, I confirmed the relationship." ”
Previously, Liu Lian also generously responded to the relationship in an interview with a basketball reporter: "Looking back now, it is indeed very fateful, if I had not participated in the Universiade, we may never have known each other." She's a big motivator for me in basketball and life, and although it's exotic, we all trust each other very much. As long as we have trust as a foundation, we can have more energy to focus on our careers than those who are together every day. ”
When asked what was most attractive to the young man, Qin Fan, who was standing in front of the author, smiled: "Others are good, and they will especially care about taking care of people." After all, I am alone in Australia, sometimes quite lonely, he chats with me and feels very happy. When I came to Kazan, he would send messages every day, telling me not to be nervous and to think more about movement. He knows how to dive now, and I didn't know the rules of basketball until I got to know him. ”
Just long-distance love is already torturous enough, and these two are still in two different hemispheres of the north and south, which undoubtedly means more tests. They can only visit each other during the holidays, usually relying on the Internet and the telephone to relieve the pain of lovesickness, "up to three times a year, two to three weeks each time." I have a lot of vacations, two to three weeks after the competition. ”
"We feel that as long as we love each other and like each other, these are not problems. In fact, especially many girls like him, and boys like this are willing to wait for you very rarely. (Not worried?) Fans can't ignore people, as long as his heart is in me. Qin Fan, who is not very old, is learning how to manage this good relationship.
At the end of tonight's final, Qin Fan also hugged the Chinese divers who were watching the game by the pool, which was a celebration and a farewell. She said that in addition to being able to reunite with Former Beijing teammates such as Lin Yue and Cao Yuan on the field, almost all the female players who were in the same group as her have retired and changed careers. "The first time I participated in the World Championships, I was very happy to have such a result. I will continue to work hard and hope to be able to catch the train (to) Rio! Talking about the goal before parting, Qin Fan's tone was firm and confident.
(He Xia from Kazan)