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Text|Starlight Intelligence Station

Editor|Starlight Intelligence Station

Foreword

When mentioning the "golden partner" in the diving industry in China, Guo Jingjing and Wu Minxia's names will always be mentioned together.

The former is a legend known as the "diving queen" and the latter is the first "hardware king" in the history of Chinese diving. The time when the two fought side by side on the field was once a classic in the hearts of countless people.

The two girls who have fought side by side on the jumping platform have not only won countless world championships, but also used their respective life trajectories to interpret the different appearance of the "champion spirit".

Now, Wu Minxia has been retiring for more than 8 years. Her recent situation disclosed by the official media has made many netizens sigh: What Guo Jingjing said back then is really right.

"Gemini" on the jump

Wu Minxia's diving career has been closely linked to Guo Jingjing from the beginning.

In the early years, the two were the "Ace combination" of the women's double 3-meter board of the Chinese diving team.

Standing on the jumping platform, their movements were as accurate as copy and paste. The splashes of water when entering the water were as light as a feather, almost winning the championships in all competitions of the event at that time.

Every time the game ends, there will always be scenes of two people hugging and smiling in the camera. The tacit understanding is the friendship of comrades who have been trained and worked together for many years.

Even the world's three major news agencies couldn't help but praise: "Their stability is the best proof of China's diving dominance."

Behind this tacit understanding is the indissoluble bond between Wu Minxia and diving since childhood.

In 1985, Wu Minxia was born in an ordinary family in Shanghai. She was selected to join the diving team at the age of 6. From then on, she began her life with the cold pool water.

A young woman has to practice movements repeatedly in the swimming pool every day, enduring physical and psychological pressure that her peers can't imagine.

Later, at the age of 13, she won the first important event medal in her life and successfully opened the door to the national team.

After the Fukuoka World Championships, she and Guo Jingjing participated in the double 3-meter board competition for the first time and won the championship.

This is not only Wu Minxia's first world-class gold medal, but also makes the "Guo-Wu combination" synonymous with the "unbeaten myth" in the diving world.

However, they are not the only ones on the field, and in the single-player event, the two are still the strongest opponents.

Guo Jingjing at that time was already recognized as the "diving queen", and no one could match the dominance of the single-player arena.

Wu Minxia's single-player journey always comes with some regrets of being "almost".

A netizen joked: "Watching the single match between Guo Jingjing and Wu Minxia is more satisfying than watching the fight between gods! Both of them fight to the extreme, but they never get hurt by competition. This is the best sportsmanship."

It is also because of this that the label of "a thousand-year-old second" was firmly attached to her by the outside world, and there were even voices questioning "She will never catch up with Guo Jingjing."

Faced with such evaluation, Wu Minxia never thought of being defined by a label, and she did not stop.

"Two-way rushing" after retirement

In 2011, Guo Jingjing announced her retirement and held a "century wedding" with Ho Kit-kong in the second year, and married into the Hong Kong wealthy Huo family.

But she did not become a "pampered and rich wife" as expected by the outside world.

Daily dressed simply, and when you go to supermarkets, you will bargain like ordinary people, and devote more energy to public welfare—

From caring for the growth of poor children to promoting physical education into campuses, we have always maintained a down-to-earth style.

Netizens often sigh: "Guo Jingjing lives a 'wealthy life' into the spirit of ordinary people, breaking everyone's stereotypes about wealthy ladies. This is what the champion should be."

After Guo Jingjing left, the "big banner" of the Chinese diving team was naturally handed over to Wu Minxia.

Wu Minxia, who carried the pressure, responded to her expectations with harder training.

At the 2012 London Olympics, she first won the 3-meter gold medal in the double-person board with He Zi.

I also achieved a Grand Slam in a single-player project, breaking the curse of "the second-year-old" in one fell swoop and proving myself with my strength.

In the 2016 Rio Olympics, she won the women's double 3-meter board championship in one fell swoop, becoming the first "hardware king" in China's diving history, and engraved her name on the world's diving honor list.

Just when everyone thought she would continue to be "reigned as a god", Wu Minxia announced her retirement after the Rio Olympics, bringing a successful end to her 25-year diving career.

And her love life also entered the public eye at this time.

During the 2016 Rio Olympics, Wu Minxia and Zhang Xiaocheng made their relationship public, and this seven-year low-key relationship finally "surfaced".

The two then held a romantic and warm Chinese wedding in 2017, and the long-distance love run was a success.

Wu Minxia, after retiring, did not appear frequently in the scenes of sports events anymore, but she never stopped "self-renewal".

Cross-border "cheat"

Wu Minxia, after retiring, was not limited to the single identity of "Olympic champion", but quietly unlocked multiple characters:

Mother of two children, video bloggers who share daily life, public welfare image ambassadors who convey warmth, and Shanghai diving team coach who sticks to the diving career.

She proved with her actions that retirement is not the end of her career, but the starting point of a new stage in her life.

She is now 40 years old and often shares her daily life on social platforms.

She will appear without makeup on social platforms, she is in excellent condition, and she is completely unable to tell that she is a mother of two children;

I also run the company with my husband Zhang Xiaocheng, which is a bumper harvest in the family and career.

Recently, a news reported by the official media allowed netizens to see the new look of Wu Minxia after she retired:

In early September this year, she was officially appointed as the vice principal of Shanghai Soong Ching Ling School.

As soon as the news came out, some netizens sighed: "From the Olympic stadium to the podium on campus, Sister Xia's cross-border is so cool! Sure enough, excellent people can shine everywhere."

A parents also said: "With such a champion who knows persistence and perseverance as the vice principal, what children can learn is not only knowledge, but also the principles of being a human being."

What's even more rare is that even with the identity of "vice principal", Wu Minxia did not give up her diving career.

She still sticks to the coaching position of Shanghai diving team, and passes on the training concept of "number produces feelings, and feelings brings improvement" summarized by herself for many years without reservation.

When she first started working as a coach, she was still angry because of "the team members made repeated mistakes in their movements". Now she has learned to teach according to her aptitude and help young people grow with patience and professionalism.

Seeing this, looking back at Guo Jingjing's evaluation of Wu Minxia back then"It will be very thoughtful and hardworking, and if you persist, you will have great development", I realized that she was really right.

Wu Minxia's actions now fully confirm this sentence:

From athletes who focus on diving, to Ziroom switching coaches, vice principals, charity ambassadors and other roles.

She never relied on the halo of "Olympic champion" to "get old money", but completed identity transformation through systematic learning.

It not only deepens its sport field, but also expands new tracks of education and charity, and has become a "transformation template" for retired athletes.

As the official media commented: "The Olympic gold medal is just the starting point of her life. The continuous efforts and efforts have made her life more diverse and exciting."

Conclusion

In fact, whether Guo Jingjing maintains independence and deepens public welfare among wealthy families, or Wu Minxia turns from the arena to life and devotes herself to education, both of them are using their actions to prove that the value of the champion is never limited to medals on the field.

From the "desperate Sanniang" on the field, to the "gentle mother" in life, and then to the "Vice Principal Wu" on campus, she uses "continuous self-renewal" to make the "second half" of her life more exciting.

They all tell us in their own way: The champion spirit is never the moment when standing at the peak, but maintaining upward strength no matter which road they are on.