Heroes stir local pride in Rio Games
Print Edition
STAFF and students at the Shanghai No. 2 Sports School in Minhang spent a sleepless night when local track cyclist Zhong Tianshi won a gold medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
They sat in a large classroom with Shanghai Vice Mayor Zhao Wen to watch 25-year-old Zhong and her teammate Gong Jinjie make sports history by claiming China’s first-ever gold medal in track cycling. The duo set a world record in track team sprint, beating the Russian silver medalist team with a time of 31.98 seconds.
When Zhong sped across the finish line, the room erupted into loud cheering and applause.
Wang Haili, Zhong’s first coach at the school, said he wasn’t surprised by her gold-medal performance. He has been helping her train since she was 12, and spent two-and-a-half years coaching her until she was selected for the city team.
“She has strong willpower,” said Wang. “She never gives up.”
Wang recalled one day in a training session on the road, when Zhong was not in the lead. Many of the team members lagging behind chose to drop out, but Zhong refused to give up and pedaled harder.
“I was afraid that she was going to lose control of the bicycle and called out ‘Slow down! Slow down!’ But she wasn’t listening to me,” said Wang. “At that moment I knew she would be a champion some day.”
Xia Lanlan, a cyclist with the Shanghai team, once trained with Zhong for a year. She said Zhong had two entirely different personalities — one on the track and one off the track.
“When we were in the relaxing room, she was always very quiet, reading while getting massaged,” Xia said. “But once she got on the bicycle, you could feel the passion seeping out of her.”
Zhong participated in the UCI Track Cycling World Championships in 2012, 2014 and 2015. She became world champion in the team sprint last year.
Apart from Zhong, four other athletes from Minhang participated in Rio events.
Qi Yuhong made to the final eight on China’s women’s archery team, and Cui Qiuxia was a member of the women’s hockey team. Xie Wenjun competed in the men’s 110-meter hurdles, and cyclist Xu Chao rode in the men’s sprint.
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