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

Gu Ran was in a drowsy sleep when she felt a sharp pain in her leg, and she woke up immediately.

He opened his eyes and slowed down in the darkness for a long time, thinking that the pain would be relieved if he persisted for a while.I don't know that it is impossible to alleviate, but to adapt.

He reached out and groped beside the pillow for a long time, found his mobile phone, turned on the screen and saw that it was only 03:30, it was still early before getting up for morning exercises.

There was a slight snoring sound from the other side of the bed. It was Zheng Wenkang. He started high-intensity physical training on the first day yesterday, paralyzed on the bed, sleeping like a pig.

In order not to wake up his teammates, Gu Ran turned over with difficulty, thinking that changing his position would make him feel better, but his legs still hurt so badly that he couldn't sleep.

So he turned over again.

Repeat several times, just like pancakes.Finally, Gao Ziyi, who was relatively light in sleep, was woken up.

Gao Ziyi sat up, lit up a small night light, looked towards him through the aisle in the middle, and the first thing he saw was Gu Ran's big bright eyes.

He rolled over and got out of bed, came to Gu Ran's bed, and asked him softly: "What's wrong, is it too hot?"

Gu Ran shook his head lightly.

Although it is now late June, the temperature is high during the day, but it is still very cool at night. The air conditioner in the dormitory does not need to be turned on, and it does not feel stuffy.

Gao Ziyi asked again: "What's wrong?" He stretched out his hand and tried it on Gu Ran's forehead, "You don't have a fever either, what's wrong with you, you toss and turn and don't sleep."

Gu Ran said, "My leg hurts."

"Ah?" Gao Ziyi didn't know what was going on, "Why does the leg hurt? Is it the soreness caused by the accumulation of lactic acid?"

"Probably not." Gu Ran felt it carefully, "It feels different."

Gao Ziyi frowned: "Then... is it serious?"

Gu Ran nodded: "I think it's serious."

Gao Ziyi said again: "Then I'll go to the coach on duty and have the team doctor show you."

"How about...I'll bear with it and tell the coach when the morning exercises are out."

Gao Ziyi thought about it, and he could only do this: "That's fine. How about I rub it for you."

Gu Ran forced a smile: "Brother, can you still massage?"

"A little bit." Gao Ziyi stretched his hand into his blanket, starting from the knee joint, rubbing it lightly and then heavily along his calf.

His massage technique was really good, which effectively relieved the pain from Gu Ran's leg.

Gu Ran asked him: "Brother, where have you studied acupuncture and massage?"

Gao Ziyi really smiled and nodded: "I have worked with an old Chinese doctor in our village."

"Ah?" Gu Ran didn't expect this answer, "Why are you learning this?"

"..."

Gao Ziyi didn't answer, and Wu Kaize's indistinct raving came from the other side.

Gu Ran thought, perhaps Senior Brother Gao had been injured before, so he learned two tricks when he asked for a massage.

He didn't want to say, and Gu Ran didn't ask too much.

"Brother, go to bed quickly, you'll have to get up and do morning exercises in a while."

Gao Ziyi asked him: "Can you still fall asleep?"

Gu Ran patted her leg lightly: "It won't let me sleep."

"Then what are you going to do, just stay up until dawn?"

Gu Ran shook the phone: "I'll check Baidu to see what terminal illness I have."

Gao Ziyi covered his mouth: "Don't talk nonsense!"

In the darkness, Gu Ran smiled and blinked again: "Brother, you are so kind."

His eyes are beautiful, reflecting the little night light on the desk, as if falling into a shining star.

Finally, it was five o'clock, and when the bell rang, everyone quickly got up from the bed, brushed their teeth, washed their faces, changed their clothes, and got ready for morning exercises.

The speed skating coach was on duty today. Gao Ziyi took Gu Ran over and explained the situation.

The coach looked at the time: "The team doctor is not at work yet, go back and have a rest first, and go to the medical room later."

Xu Qing came to the ice training base early in the morning, and just walked into the locker room to change clothes, when Wu Kaize said that Gu Ran had a leg pain and was at the team doctor's side.

He quickly put down his things, let Director Wang watch the training, and rushed over by himself.

In the medical room, Gu Ran and the team doctor stared at each other.

The team doctor said: "It's nothing serious, it still hurts tonight."

Gu Ran bit her lower lip: "But I am in so much pain that I can't sleep, you can think of a way, and you can prescribe two painkillers."

The team doctor quickly waved his hand: "I don't dare to give you random medicines, especially painkillers. Maybe there will be an out-of-competition urine test at any time."

Gu Ran asked: "Then what should I do?"

"Be patient."

"That..." At this time, Xu Qing, who rushed from outside in a hurry, interjected, "Can I ask, what's his situation?"

The team doctor said: "According to my judgment, it should be growing pains. Didn't you find that he has grown up recently?"

"Is there?" Xu Qing was relieved when he heard that Gu Ran's legs were nothing serious, and then looked Gu Ran up and down, "I watched it every day, but I didn't pay attention."

When he spoke, there was a smile on his face unconsciously, and he looked at Gu Ran like an old father whose stupid son had grown up.

It happened that there was a height and weight measuring instrument in the medical room, and the team doctor asked Gu Ran to stand on it.

If you don't measure it, you won't feel it, but if you measure it, you will be shocked.

Xu Qing was a little unbelievable: "I remember that during the competition last month, his height was still 161 centimeters. It's only been a month, and he's only 163 centimeters?"

The team doctor said: "Adolescent children either don't grow up or grow up like crazy. It's just so unreasonable."

Gu Ran has never worried about his height. For him, height has never been a problem.

His current trouble is that his leg hurts so much that he can't sleep at night, which affects the next day's training.

"Director Xu," the two walked out of the medical room, Gu Ran called Xu Qing to stop, "I'm very sleepy, can the physical training in the morning..."

"No."

"..."

Mr. Xu, this person, is sometimes really stern and selfless, and doesn't show any kindness at all.

After training, Gu Ran took the time to take the senior high school entrance examination, as a perfect end to her junior high school life.

After the exam, his former classmates invited him out for dinner.Although Gu Ran can't eat outside, after all, we have been classmates for three years, and the relationship is pure and beautiful.

He still went and chatted with his classmates.

During the period, a female classmate put his shoulders and said, "How lucky can a good-looking person be?"

"Look at our Gu Xiaoran, who studies well and is handsome, suddenly entered the provincial team and became a professional athlete."

"Tell me about you, will you let us live like this?"

Gu Ran spread her hands innocently: "This is purely accidental. I didn't know that I was so talented that I could win a gold medal with just a swipe."

The male classmate who had the best relationship with him, and his teammate who played games together, leaned over and asked, "Look at me, can I win a gold medal by skating casually?"

Gu Ran picked up a piece of sweet and sour pork ribs for him: "Don't just drink, eat some food."

"Hahahahahahaha!!!" The students roared with laughter, and someone suddenly shouted, "Gu Xiaoran, I won't watch the next Winter Olympics without you!"

"You haven't even seen it."

The classmate stood up: "I will start watching from today, and I will only watch short track speed skating."

"If you participate in the Winter Olympics, I will go to Beijing to watch."

"You won the championship, and when I saw people, I said, hey, did you see that, the one on the podium is my junior high school classmate."

Gu Ran could tell that even though he was joking and joking, the students' blessings to him were all sincere.

Similarly, he also hopes that each of them will be admitted to the ideal high school and everything will go well in the future.

June 6th was Gu Ran's 30th birthday. His parents came from City C to visit him. Xu Qing also gave him a day off to accompany his parents.

After seeing Gu Ran again after another month of absence, Xu Mei was delighted to find that her precious son had grown taller.

Not to mention being a mother, she was so happy, she dragged him to the largest shopping mall in the provincial capital, saying that she had grown taller, and couldn't wear her old clothes anymore, so she had to buy a few more for each season.

Gu Ran waved her hand: "I always wear team uniforms in the team, and I can't usually wear these clothes."

"If you can't wear it, you have to buy it!"

"Buy, buy, buy!" Gu Changfeng swiped his card, "We can buy whatever we like."

At the age of 14 and joining the provincial team, the first thing Gu Ran has to do is to complete the athlete registration with the State Sports General Administration.

This is different from youth athletes. Once registered, it means that he has been sent to a professional team and becomes a professional athlete. Unless there are special regulations, he is not eligible to participate in domestic youth competitions.

Short track speed skating is different from other sports. All short track speed skaters officially registered with the National Sports General Institute will get their own helmet number.

This number is fixed over the years and will accompany the athlete throughout his career.

Every time they participate in domestic competitions, they will put the yellow helmet cover with this number on their helmets.

Until the athlete retires, this number will be freed up for the next athlete to use.

But there are exceptions. If athletes have made outstanding contributions and become iconic figures in short track speed skating, their numbers will be retired with the athletes and will no longer be used.

So far, there are only a handful of short track speed skaters who can win this honor, so most of the numbers are reused.

Even so, with the development and popularization of short-track speed skating in recent years, the number of registration numbers has become tense, expanding from the original 1000 to [-].

It is said that in province H alone, there are as many as 200 officially registered short track speed skaters.

Gu Ran also saw Chi Lang's name in the announcement list.And the helmet numbers they got were very close.

Chi Lang is number 75, and he is number 77.

From this point of view, they are two old numbers. It should be that some athletes have retired in the past two years, left them idle, and then reactivated them.

However, Gu Ran hasn't participated in a professional competition yet, and he doesn't know anything about domestic short track speed skaters, and he doesn't know who these two numbers used to belong to.

But within two days, just after the announcement period, he received news from Chi Lang.Chi Dali, who had always been very pushy, suddenly became a little overwhelmed with excitement.

Chi Dali [happy] [happy] [happy]: "Gu Xiaoran, do you know? I got my idol's number."

Limit [surprised]: "You actually have an idol?"

Chi Dali [picking nose]: "Don't you have one?"

Limit: "Not really."

Chi Dali: "Oh, I forgot, you are still a layman, and you have only practiced short track speed skating for a year."

Limit [smiling]: "Then won't you feel ashamed if you lose to a layman over and over again?"

Chi Dali: "No, I will win it back sooner or later."

Limit: "Go to bed early, there is still a chance in the dream."

Chi Dali: "Oh, then I'll sleep, good night."

Gu Ran: "..."

The sky has been chatted to death, and Chi Lang didn't say who his idol is in the end.

The exam is over, there is no competition, and the training has resumed from the competition period to the regular period.Coupled with the fact that the weather was getting hotter and hotter, although Gu Ran's 5000-meter run still failed to reach within 20 minutes, Xu Qing stopped him.

Physical training and special training are put in the gym, and the intensity is also reduced.

Gu Ran didn't have to make up lessons for his brothers and sisters anymore, so he was free at night, and the high school textbooks he brought finally came in handy.

Reading books is a habit he has developed since he was a child. Coupled with his strong self-study ability, although he has not yet entered high school life, the textbooks seem to have no obstacles.

Xu Qing happened to be on duty today, and Manager Xu's favorite thing to do was to conduct surprise inspections on the boys' dormitories at night.

He casually picked up a plastic bag, which contained game consoles, tablet computers and various electronic products, and even a magazine whose cover looked very explosive.

Manager Xu pushed the door open without warning, and Zheng Wenkang and Wu Kaize were so frightened that they quickly hid their mobile phones under the quilt.

Gu Ran asked: "Are you not allowed to use your mobile phone?"

"Yes," Xu Qing showed an expression of "Actually, you all misunderstood me", "I'm very democratic, I don't want you to play, you can play properly on Sundays, and you can't play from Monday to Saturday."

Gu Ran said: "I saw you eating chicken in the duty room that day."

Xu Qing didn't feel ashamed or embarrassed at all, and said very frankly: "I can, but you can't."

"..."

This is his democracy.

"Go to bed early, there is still training tomorrow." Xu Qing withdrew, closed the door for them, and shot back three seconds later, he asked Gu Ran, "By the way, what is your registration number? "

Gu Ran was still flipping through the high school physics book in her hand, she didn't care, and replied casually, "Number 77."

Xu Qing was taken aback, then suddenly laughed: "Young man, your luck is really good."

"why?"

"Because you got the luckiest one among all the registration numbers."

Gu Ran then turned her head to look at him: "Do you have any explanation, is this the number used by some world champion?"

"That's right!"

Xu Qing leaned against the door, smiling even more heartily.He was originally a man of outstanding stature and appearance.Even when he was unsmiling during training, some female players privately called him an ascetic male god.

On weekdays, there is always an easy-going smile on his face, with a sharp edge in his easy-going, talking and laughing to make people submissive.

Gu Ran looked at him suspiciously: "The world champion you mentioned...couldn't be yourself."

Xu Qing raised his eyebrows, as acquiesced: "How about it, do you feel lucky?"

Gu Ran said "tsk tut" twice: "It's very stressful to use the number that my coach used to use. Can I apply for another one?"

"What pressure do you have?"

Gu Ran raised her face and gave him a slightly provocative look: "You are already a world champion, if I don't win an Olympic champion, wouldn't it justify me?"

Xu Qing nodded obediently: "That's the truth."

"Young man, work hard, don't embarrass yourself with this number."

It was the first time Gu Ran heard that the number of the helmet is also a matter of face.

On July 7, the National Youth Training Team will start a new training session.

Strictly speaking, this is not the training of the national youth team, but more like a summer camp.

Each provincial team will have a certain number of places and decide on its own candidates, but the athletes participating in the training camp will have age and performance restrictions.There are a total of more than 60 male and female players, and the two-week venue is in Shanghai.

In addition to athletes, during this period, the National Youth Training Team also arranged relevant training for coaches, requiring young coaches under the age of 30 to participate.

A total of four people from Province J participated in this training camp, two men and two women.

Gu Ran was the team member that Cheng Sen asked to participate by name, and the other spot was given to Gao Ziyi.

On the women's side, there are also two athletes under the age of 19.One is Liang Kexin and the other is Zhao Ting. Both of them have a good relationship with Gu Ran.

Gu Ran originally thought that Director Wang would take them to Shanghai this time, but later found out that Director Wang was actually several years older than Xu Qing, in his 30s.

Therefore, the person who led the team to Shanghai this time was Xu Qing.

On the plane, Gu Ran always felt that Director Xu was not very happy about this job that others dreamed of.