In the Chinese sports world, there are many sports that are favorites to win Olympic gold medals.
If you have to choose a project that represents the spirit of Chinese sports, it must be the Chinese women's volleyball team .
In the 1980s when self-confidence was relatively lacking, women's volleyball team 's five consecutive championships undoubtedly gave everyone a shot in the arm. told the world that there is no fence that cannot be broken through as long as you work hard.
However, the performance of the women's volleyball team in recent years has always been unsatisfactory. Tokyo failed to qualify from the group.
People can’t help but recall the trough period from 08 to 12 known as the “Bronze Age”.
At the same time, it also reminds people of Wang Yimei, the slugger who carried the Chinese women's volleyball team during the trough period.
Many unfamiliar fans looked at her resume and realized that her career was really a pity...
01
When she was a child, Wang Yimei was very different from ordinary people, and her body grew very quickly.
She is a head taller than her peers, making her very conspicuous.
Words like "silly big guy" filled her ears.
His height is ridiculed by children, but he is a rare treasure among sports school coaches.
After several persuasion from coaches, she started practicing sports when she was 7 years old.
Being tall and long-armed, she was arranged to learn swimming.
When she was in her fourth year of practice, Wang Yimei was picked up by the provincial team coach.
She is only 11 years old this year when she enters the provincial team. If she continues to learn, she may not have a place in the swimming world in the future. She may even become Sun Yang in women's swimming.
However, at this moment, the fork in the road of fate quietly appeared in front of her.
At that time, a coach named Ning Dongchun of the provincial team happened to be selecting good seedlings.
The moment he saw her, he determined that this child was an absolutely rare talent.
At that time, she was already a very important talent in the swimming team. could not just switch to another unfamiliar field and start from scratch.
Therefore, he was directly rejected by the swimming team coach in Ningdongchun.
Even after Wang Yimei's parents heard about this incident, they scolded him severely.
I thought this matter would be over like this, but did not expect that Ning Dongchun wanted Wang Yimei to practice volleyball.
went to Wang Yimei's house again and again to do work, using his own relationship to mediate. After some efforts, Wang Yimei was finally brought to the volleyball team.
She was only 11 years old at the time and had no idea what was happening.
only knew that he would learn whatever the coach asked him to practice, and after two years of playing ball in a daze.
Just as coach Ning Dongchun expected, Wang Yimei successfully made a name for herself here.
She is tall and strong, and no one on the team can stop her smash.
She had no opponent in the provincial team and successfully entered the national youth team.
Unlike other team members, Wang Yimei was trained as a main player as soon as she joined the team.
Similarly, she did not disappoint the coaches.
At the 2003 Asian Championships, she proved herself with a powerful smash. In that game, she was also named the most valuable player of the tournament.
's outstanding performance made Wang Yimei quickly spotted by the then national team coach Chen Zhonghe.
However, Wang Yimei's was too young at that time, and there was already an absolute main like Feng Kun in the team, so coach Chen Zhonghe did not recruit her into the team immediately.
02
In 2004, the girls in the women's volleyball team, led by Chen Zhonghe, once again ascended to the championship.
In order to ensure the orderly replacement of player talents and avoid the embarrassing situation of lack of talent.
Wang Yimei started training with the national team players, and it seemed like a new world opened up for her here.
Before, no one in the national youth team or the provincial team could block his smash.
not only guarded her tightly here, but every time the ball came from the opposite side, she began to be unable to catch it.
The huge gap in strength made Wang Yimei feel unprecedented pressure and made her very motivated.
In 2005, Wang Yimei officially started her journey with the national team.
Here her technology and strength have been comprehensively improved, and her performance has become increasingly outstanding.
A year later, when the former main players, such as Feng Kun, Zhao Ruirui, , their strength gradually declined due to injuries.
Wang Yimei, who is only 18 years old, quickly picked up the banner and continued to lead the women's volleyball team forward.
This is also the key reason why the women's volleyball team has remained competitive in the two years from 2006 to 2008.
Seeing her outstanding performance, Chen Zhonghe handed over the team's offense to her.
Someone once counted her data at the World Championships. After all the games, had 356 attacks, and she was able to open the door to score every time.
At that time, foreign media unanimously believed that Wang Yimei would be "the next Lang Ping " .
Crisis and hidden dangers always come with success, and Wang Yimei is no exception.
took off and smashed again and again, which put a very high load on her body and caused her physical strength to disappear as quickly as possible.
At that time, she was clearly aware of her problems, and she also attached great importance to physical reserves in her private training.
However, the problem is not just these. A single attack makes it easy for the opponent to find out her trump card.
After some targeted training, opponents are no longer afraid of her powerful and heavy attacks.
htmlThe elite competition held in Switzerland in 108 is a good example.
Faced with the opponent's tight defense, Wang Yimei was always easily blocked by the opponent no matter how he attacked.
She was still unable to open up the situation, and her mentality became more and more impatient, and her performance became worse and worse.
Wang Yimei, who suffered a stumble, carefully analyzed the failure with her coach. She found that not only did she have a single offensive method, but her defense and connection abilities were also very weak.
The Olympic Games held at home were about to be held, in order to successfully defend the title.
She also began to solve the problems one by one, starting with losing weight to make herself more flexible.
However, the process of solving the problem is never smooth sailing. Wang Yimei's weight always fluctuates .
The problem of the core players has never been solved, This may be one of the reasons why the women's volleyball team failed to defend the title that year.
03
The 2008 Beijing Olympics is here, and many shortcomings have not been corrected, but it is too late, and she has no choice but to play with her imperfect self.
Even so, she became the team's biggest scorer.
No matter what kind of team she plays against, she can always be seen on the scoreboard after the game.
Even in the match with Japanese team , she not only reversed the situation, also knocked out the first sister of the Japanese women's volleyball team at the time.
This shows how powerful Wang Yimei is.
However, volleyball is a team sport, and she alone cannot win. Therefore, the women's volleyball team that year unfortunately stopped in third place.
This defeat directly led to Chen Zhonghe leaving the position of head coach.
Coach left, but it did not affect Wang Yimei's core position in the team. No matter which head coach came after
, she was trained as the main player of the team.
This time, being watched and expected, she felt unprecedented pressure.
is different from when she first joined the national team. This time her pressure did not bring her good condition and good results. Instead, it caused her physical problems.
In 2010, Wang Yimei suffered from frequent injuries.
The recurrence of waist injuries made it difficult for her to maintain high-intensity training.
Then the weight went up and down, which also seriously affected Wang Yimei's performance.
did not perform as expected, causing her to gradually become a substitute. did not appear on the court for a long time.
It wasn’t until the Women’s Volleyball Grand Prix of the same year, when she played despite injuries and won the championship, that prompted Wang Yimei to return to the lineup.
has just become the main player under Wang Baoquan , but before he has settled into the national team, he has changed to a new head coach.
04
The appointment of Yu Juemin did not affect Wang Yimei's performance. The emergence of
plus Hui Ruoqi perfectly filled her weakness.
Therefore, in 2011, the women's volleyball girls performed exceptionally well in international competitions.
Especially in the confrontation with the Japanese team, the two of them were existences that no one on the other side wanted to mention.
In this game, the rhythm of the entire game was controlled by the women's volleyball girls.
Kimura Saori was once again smashed to the ground by Wang Yimei, and this time she suffered a slight concussion.
's outstanding performance has made fans look forward to the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
The fact is that in this competition, the Chinese women's volleyball team missed a medal.
This defeat put the girls of the women's volleyball team at the forefront of public opinion.
They themselves are also brooding about this failure. Some people realize their dreams in Brazil, while others regret it for life. Wang Yimei is the latter.
In 2013, Lang Ping became the head coach again and immediately began to revamp the team.
Not only the players have been changed, but also the training methods and the number of people convened have also made huge changes.
As the main players of the previous session, Hui Ruoqi and Wei Qiuyue were both called by Lang Ping.
only left the core Wang Yimei aside and ignored it. As soon as the result
came out, everyone was puzzled at the time.
" Such a good player, if you don't want it, how can your team be good?" "Is there any conflict between them?" and other words are widely circulated in the outside world.
In fact, the most fundamental reason is that Wang Yimei's playing style and technical characteristics do not meet Lang Ping's requirements.
's single offensive method and the technology that tests the players' personal abilities are obviously unable to meet the "rapid change" and "team cooperation" advocated by Lang Ping.
Wang Yimei on the other side did not give up on herself after learning the news. On the contrary, she kept training and even went abroad to compete. The purpose of
in doing this is to maintain his competitive status and accept the call of the national team at any time.
She waited for a long time, but the training notice never came.
Until 2016, the Chinese women's volleyball team won the championship again, but she failed to enter the national team again.
With the passage of time and the decline of physical functions, Wang Yimei's strength has gradually declined. In 2019, she announced her retirement.
Conclusion
Despite Wang Yimei’s career, she has never won an Olympic gold medal, which symbolizes honor.
But her contribution to the Chinese women's volleyball team cannot be ignored. People will not forget this "heavy shooter" who used every smash to defend the dignity of the women's volleyball team when the women's volleyball team was at its lowest point.
wishes her peace and success in her retirement life.
