[Short track speed skating] From academic master to Winter Olympic champion

Yan An put down the guitar, walked up to Gu Ran, and patted him on the shoulder: "Gu Ran, you are a genius, and you work hard enough, so you have always been so good, you can become the first in the history of the Winter Olympics, and you can also be the first person in the computer field. With my own scientific research results, I don’t think the whole world can photograph another person.”

"I believe you have the same feeling as me—doing a Ph.D. is a very painful thing. You need to settle down and spend a lot of time writing papers and doing scientific research. Even so, it may not be successful."

"Exploring the boundaries of knowledge is not easy. If you put in a lot of effort, you may not be able to make a little progress. If you still think that you can take care of training and scientific research, maybe in the end you will make the same choice as me."

These words made Gu Ran feel very heavy. He should seriously consider his future.

Yan An was very active. He said he was going to drop out of school, and he went to his tutor the next day.

His mentor is a very open-minded person. Indeed, not everyone is suitable for scientific research, and there is no need to waste time.Stopping losses in time and developing in other fields may be another achievement.

Make sure that he is not impulsive, express respect for his personal choice, and agree that he will prepare a master's thesis and graduate with a master's degree after passing the defense.

Gu Ran returned to the training base the next day, but this incident gave him a great shock.

The roster of the national training team has changed a lot this time. In addition to the four of them, there are four more small players.Although they have seen them in domestic competitions, they are familiar faces, but it is the first time for these people to enter the national team, so Gu Ran is really not very familiar with them.

The women's team changed even more. Except for Liang Kexin and Yang Shanshan, the other six were all new faces.

Gu Ran came back in the evening and was packing things in the room.After a while, Gao Ziyi knocked on the door and came in: "Let's go, go down to eat. Just now the leader announced that there will be a meeting in the evening."

When they went out together, they happened to meet Chi Lang and Lin Jiaxi, and the four of them went downstairs to the cafeteria together.

After dinner, they had nothing else to do, so they came to the meeting room early.

When a few people were chatting, they talked about the Winter Olympics.Chi Lang said: "The average age of other teams is 23, and ours is 27. Canada is so strong, I think we have no hope."

Gao Ziyi interjected: "But we still won the championship in the end."

Lin Jiaxi looked to the side: "Xiaoran performed so well in the last blow, and the team members from other countries felt a sense of fear of facing the big devil when they saw him."

Chi Lang said: "This is the thigh."

Gu Ran didn't answer his words, she lowered her head and didn't know what she was thinking.

Lin Jiaxi sighed: "In fact, in the six months before the Winter Olympics, Da Qiao's condition has declined a lot."

Gao Ziyi explained: "There is no way. He skates short distances and relies on explosive power. After all, he is getting older and cannot be compared with young players."

"But his performance in the relay race is not broken at all. This is called professionalism."

Chi Lang showed a mean smile: "You are taking advantage of Da Qiao's absence to speak ill of him."

At this time, Cheng Sen and Xu Qing walked in from the outside: "Let's have a meeting."

This was the first meeting to resume training before the new season, and there were many new players. Cheng Sen announced a bunch of disciplines on it. This one will be fired, and that one will be sent back to the local team.

The small team members below were stupefied by him, and sat there silently one by one.

Cheng Sen has been a coach for so many years, and he knows how to deal with these inexperienced young athletes.

After announcing the strict discipline, he began to speak the truth again, instilling a sense of national honor, and let them always remember the phrase "win glory for the motherland and glory for the nation".

In the end, he brought out Gu Ran and said how hard he had trained to achieve what he is today.Everyone learns from him, even if they can't surpass him, they can continue to approach his level.

Gu Ran is now the idol of children who practice short track speed skating all over China. The [-] shiny Olympic gold medals on his body are unprecedented, and there is a high probability that there will be no one in the future.

He just sits there and he doesn't have to say anything to inspire people.These young players trained with him, seeing that he has reached today's achievements and heights, but still works so hard, who would dare to be lazy.Everyone is encouraged, and the amount of training dare not be less than him.

Only Gu Ran knew that his condition was actually very bad.

After the three Winter Olympics, he has no goals. In the short track speed skating field, he doesn't know what he should work hard for.

The things at the school also made him suffer a lot. When he thought of Yan An's last words to him, "Maybe you will make the same choice as me in the end", he would feel dazed and terrified.

He has always been a person who sleeps well, and his biological clock is very regular. When the time comes, he will fall asleep on the bed and close his eyes to fall asleep.

But tonight he couldn't sleep.

Gu Ran took the phone and looked at the time, it was actually only 11:30.

When he came out of the room, the doors of the others were closed, and they must have fallen asleep.

He slipped downstairs alone, walked around the garden twice, and sat down by the flower bed again.

He hesitated for a long time staring at the phone, and finally put it away again.

He knew that no one could help him decide on this matter, and he had to do it himself.

So, after the training ended the next day, he found Cheng Sen and Xu Qing, and said straight to the point: "I want to retire."

Cheng Sen and Xu Qing looked at each other: "So suddenly?"

Gu Ran took half a step back and bowed deeply to them both: "I'm sorry."

Xu Qing stepped forward and tugged at him: "I'm sorry, we just felt it suddenly."

Cheng Sen also echoed, "And I want to hear your reason."

Gu Ran smiled: "I've been thinking about it for many days, and I feel that at this stage of my life, I should not be obsessed with what I want to grasp, but what I want to let go."

"When I was young, I always felt that I couldn't do anything, I wanted everything, I wanted everything."

"It's only now that I realize that my mother is right. People's energy is indeed limited. I was able to balance study and training before, only because the difficulty of these two things was not beyond my ability."

Cheng Sen patted him on the shoulder, Xu Qing walked on the other side of Gu Ran, and the three of them walked to the athlete's apartment.

Xu Qing asked him: "Do you think there is no way to balance study and training now?"

"Yes, not all." Gu Ran smiled, "Some time ago, my classmate dropped out of school. This incident touched me a lot."

Cheng Sen frowned: "You want to quit school too?"

Gu Ran shook her head: "On the contrary, I don't want to drop out of school, and I don't want to just hang around until graduation. I want to do this job wholeheartedly and complete it with quality and quantity."

Xu Qing slapped him on the back: "This is indeed your character."

"Actually, after the Winter Olympics, I wanted to retire. But at that time, Ms. Qiao brought it up first. He was older than us, and it was indeed time to retire. In addition, Director Cheng asked me to persist for another two years. Little team."

Gu Ran looked at Cheng Sen: "I'm really sorry, I broke my promise. Standing on the training ground, I have no motivation, and I feel that it is pointless to persevere."

"I hope the two directors can understand my choice."

Xu Qing looked past Gu Ran and looked at Cheng Sen: "Well, I'm not wrong, do you still dare to bet with me?"

Cheng Sen said with a smile, "You've won this time."

Gu Ran looked at them suspiciously: "Are you betting on me?"

Cheng Sen gave him a push and told him to move on: "Director Xu told me after the Winter Olympics that you will definitely retire. I want to keep you for another two years, but he insists that he can't."

Xu Qing put his hands behind his back: "After all, he is the child I brought out with my own hands. Of course I am the one who knows him best."

"Yes, yes," Cheng Sen was very dissatisfied, "You two are biological father and son, and I am a stepfather."

He slapped Gu Ran on the back of the head again, "It doesn't matter if you are too old, it seems that scientific research is more attractive."

Gu Ran tilted her head to avoid his grasp: "You can't say that, if I miss a gold medal in the past eight years, I can't retire so easily."

He asked Cheng Sen: "Are you angry with me?"

Cheng Sen sneered and said nothing.Xu Qing answered for him: "I can't! He just doesn't want to part with you."

The three of them had already walked downstairs to the apartment building, and Cheng Sen waved his hands impatiently: "If you want to retire, you can retire. If you retire, you should go back to study. If you don't finish your doctorate, I won't spare you."

"Thank you, Director Cheng, and thank you, Director Xu." Gu Ran ran two steps forward, then turned around, "You two are getting old now, hurry up and get your certificate."

As soon as he finished speaking, he was kicked on the butt by Cheng Sen: "Hurry up and get out!"

"okay!"

Gu Ran made this decision very suddenly. When he informed everyone, his teammates were shocked.

Chi Lang squeezed his shoulder: "Gu Xiaoran, are you kidding us?"

Gu Ran looked at him with a half-smile: "I've submitted all the applications, do you think I'm joking?"

"No..." Chi Lang was dumbfounded, "You are too sudden."

"That's right." Lin Jiaxi frowned, and looked at Gu Ran with a sad face, "You are younger than us, and we haven't retired yet, you are about to retire."

Gu Ran adjusted her glasses and said, "I'm so cold at a high place, I'm lonely seeking defeat."

He patted Chi Lang on the shoulder again: "If you work hard, the next Winter Olympics will depend on you."

Chi Lang counted with his fingers and asked Gao Ziyi: "I'm 32 in the next Winter Olympics, is there any hope?"

Gao Ziyi nodded perfunctorily: "Yes."

He kept looking at Gu Ran, and made a gesture casually: "When I first saw you, you were only this tall."

Gu Ran stood beside him: "I am taller than you now."

Gao Ziyi patted his head: "I have helped you sharpen your skates for more than ten years."

Gu Ran leaned her head on his shoulder coquettishly: "Brother is the best to me."

Gao Ziyi tilted his head and rubbed against his head: "Since we have decided, we must study hard in the future."

Gu Ran smiled and said, "I found that you have great potential to be a coach."

"why?"

"Because you said the same thing as Director Cheng."

On the day Gu Ran moved out of the athlete's apartment, two coaches and teammates sent him to the door.

Gu Ran hugged them one by one, and then looked up at the banner hanging in front of the apartment building, "Glory for the motherland, pride for the nation, glory for the Olympics, and glory for life."

He thought, these four sentences, he has already done, worthy of the motherland, also worthy of his career, life without regrets.

Gu Ran looked away, then waved to his coach and teammates: "Let's go."

"Wait a minute!" Cheng Sen suddenly stopped him, "One last question."

Gu Ran raised her chin: "You ask."

"If... I said if," Cheng Sen finally hesitated, but he couldn't ask the question.

Xu Qing snorted and asked for him: "If one day we need you, the country needs you, will you come back?"

Gu Ran smiled, the dimples on his face were very charming under the sun.

The moment he turned around, he said, "It's a duty."

Gu Changfeng and Xu Mei came to pick up their son together. Although the couple were surprised by his sudden decision to retire, they did not intervene in any way.As long as it is their son's decision, they will always fully support it.

The car had already driven out for some distance, but Gu Ran was still looking back.

Xu Mei asked him: "Reluctance?"

"Of course I can't bear it. I've lived with them here for 12 years." Gu Ran turned her head and smiled hard, "It turns out that I have never made up my mind to retire. It's not that I can't bear to bear with the ice rink, but I just can't bear with them."

Xu Mei took his hand and wrapped it in her palm: "They may not be your coach and teammates in the future, but they will be your friends and relatives for life."

Gu Changfeng, who was driving in front, suddenly asked a question: "You are not an athlete now, are you?"

Gu Ran nodded: "No."

Gu Changfeng whistled happily: "Let the secretary order a good restaurant to celebrate."

"..."

There was no ceremony or press conference for Gu Ran's retirement.It’s just that he himself sent a status, with a picture of his skates: “Thank you for accompanying me all the way, no matter where I am, I still love that white track.”

When this Weibo post was posted, it became a trending search immediately.No one thought that he would retire at this time.After all, he will only be 30 years old four years later. Although the age of 30 is embarrassing for short-track athletes, it is not impossible for him to fight hard.

A lot of discussions immediately appeared on the Internet: "This is too sudden, I thought it would take at least two years."

"Respect his choice."

"In fact, it's reasonable to think about it. After all, you have won so many gold medals. Even if you can fight for it four years later, what are you going to do? When you get older, young athletes are like leeks. One crop after another, they will still be able to compete." Guaranteed five gold medals?"

"It's meaningless to practice for another two years. It's good to retire at this time."

"This...won't you hurry up and release a personal documentary?"

"Three Winter Olympics, fifteen gold medals, only 27 years old when he retired, if I guessed correctly, he is now studying for a doctorate."

"Can I wait for a Turing Award in the future?"

"This... this difficulty is too high."

"..."

The news of Gu Ran's retirement was announced, and he received a lot of strange calls in the past few days.