How would you like to spend your holiday? The reigning women's singles world champion Liu Shiwen made a humble request on a TV program "A Date with Luyu", hoping to spend hers like an ordinary youth would have normally spent. Without further ado, let's delve into a day in the life of Liu Shiwen and learn about the tidbit in her training and daily life.
The interview was conducted after the Championships and was aired on Southeast TV on 5 June. Due to copyright reason, subbing and re-uploading this video on Youtube is not possible. So I regret to say that you have to watch this interview in Chinese but here are some brief notes which might help you to enjoy the interview more!
A World Champion's Training Routine
Liu Shiwen's vlog began at 7 am of the filming day in the athletes' dormitory.
She has an egg and 2 dumplings for breakfast. Liu is very cautious about her meals, especially those she had dining out because she has to prevent from eating contaminated meat which would affect her doping test result. Therefore no beef, pork and lamb while dining out. If she wants to cook herself a meal, she has to buy pork at a designated butcher to ensure everything is 'clean' for athletes.
1. An hour of stretching to prevent injuries.
2. Warm Up
3. Training (with male athletes) 8-9 hours per day. Everything is done in Olympic standard.
4. Lunch time! It's a relative light lunch for athletes with intensive training but Liu said it's alright because she will have snacks in the afternoon in between training sessions. One of the problems of having competition in a foreign country is that the food (especially Western cuisine) doesn't fit her appetite but she would fill her stomach regardless of the taste of the food.
5. 12:30 pm, take a break in the dormitory and more training sessions to come in the afternoon.
So this is about a typical day of a regular training for Liu Shiwen while training sessions would be more intense during closed-door training period.
Life Other Than Table Tennis
Liu Shiwen said she never has the time and chance to experience the daily life of an ordinary youth. That's why she would like to try some of the favourite pastime of the youth. And for girls, it is doing makeups and trying out new outfits!
Talk about attending Fukahara Ai's wedding. Liu has been a good friend of Fukahara Ai as they used to play at the same club at CTTSL for years. Liu attended the wedding right after the competition day of CTTSL.
Talk about drinking coffee (Liu's favourite pick is latte!)
The 10-Year Wait for the Belated Title
Liu feels great finally being able to lift the Geist Prize (women's singles world champion trophy). It means a lot.
Of course, there were bitter moments over the last 10 years, especially when the others winning more titles while her best result remained to be the World Cup champion she won in 2009. She described the women's singles world title is a reward for her long-time effort.
Competitive sport is ruthless. You don't win a silver, you lose a gold. Placing second is considered as a failure but winning a gold is not easy at all. Victory comes after setbacks and failures.That explains why Liu got so emotional after winning the singles title and the hard work pays off. It's 20-odd years of hard work.
Ultimate Goal -- The 2020 Olympics
There is definitely an ultimate goal such as winning the grand slam title (World Championships, World Cup and the Olympics) but it's just a direction which needs numerous of small goals to set you up.
Liu almost lost hope in making the Olympics prior to the World Championships. All she could do is to try her best and leave no regrets.She feels fortunate that she has won the Championships and keep her Olympic dream alive.
What if Liu didn't make it? Since the Chinese team is stacked with talents, it could be her last World Championships if she had a poor performance at the Championships, Liu Shiwen thought. Her last hope of making to the Olympics might depend on her results in the mixed doubles. Yet, in a nutshell, her ultimate dream is to play the singles event at the Olympics.
Olympic Memory
2008:Cheered for Zhang Yining and Wang Nan with the national flag stickers on her face.
2012: Went to London as the P alternate athlete. She was the practice partner for the Chinese Olympians but didn't have access to the athletes' canteen and the competition hall at the Games. She felt excited that the Chinese won but it's a bittersweet moment for her because she had trained hard like her teammates did and was capable of competing at the Olympics but it happened she didn't make the Olympic team. The Olympic dream was so close yet so far.
2016: Won the women's team Olympic champion and look forward to competing (especially in the singles event) at the next Olympics.
2017 and 2018 were some tough years for LIu since many young players emerged. Liu said she took one step at a time. Since there are always uncontrollable variables in life, all she could do is to do her best.
The defeat in 2010 World Team Championships and the 2 years (2017 & 2018) were both equally tough but the mental game is different. Liu said she was very young in 2010 and didn't know how to manage the pressure and setbacks. She doubted herself in the later team competitions after the defeat. And she didn't want to lose again and dare not lose again. She tried to walk out of the shadow of the defeat in the following years and built her confidence by winning more matches in the team event. It turned out her performance in the team matches in Rio was pretty good. Hardships come after the other and it all about overcoming them.
Tears
Liu Shiwen has 2 ways to hide her tears.
1. Tucked in her blanket so her roommate couldn't hear her but she would make noise when she uses tissue paper.
2. Cry in the shower so that no one could hear her.
3. Talk about shedding tears after winning the title. It seems that only the winner has the right to shed her tears on the competition court.
Friends or Teammates or Opponents
Liu explained there are close friends that she could share a room with while there are also friends like Ding Ning whom Liu has known for a long time since they always compete and train together. It is a complicated relationship, Yet she thought athletes need opponents to stimulate their potentials.
Liu Shiwen admires Ding Ning's determination and Ma Long's playing style and mental toughness. However, each athlete has her own career path while some topped the podium, some are not as successful but there are nothing unacceptable since there's always win and lose in a competition. If one could not accept defeats, he or she can never win.
Important People -- Ma Lin and LIu Guoliang
Ma Lin has motivated Liu Shiwen and helped her a lot in the technical aspect. Whereas she felt distant from Liu Guoliang. Liu Guoliang's word was hard to understand but it often solved the problems efficiently, Liu said.
A Minute with Liu Shiwen
Q: What are the things that you would like to re-do?
A: A second chance in a match that I lost.
Q: What are the comments you would like to hear from others?
A: A nice person, a good athlete, a kind and excellent athlete. What I mean a good athlete is the ones who earn the respect from others.
Q: Love or to be loved?
A: To be loved.
Q: What is the craziest decision you have ever made?
A: Nothing.
The day in the life of the world champion is deemed to be different because her success always comes after scarifies. Perhaps what in common between a world champion and an ordinary person is their attitude towards life, work hard and play hard.
Thanks for doing this! This is exactly what I have been looking for a long time.
ReplyDelete