Team leader Zhang Boheng escorts Chinese gymnastics with 2 silvers and 1 bronze in 21 apparatus appearances
2024-08-10
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At the Paris Olympics, Zhang Boheng tried his best and won 2 silvers and 1 bronze. Photo/Xinhua News Agency
On August 5, in the men's horizontal bar finals of the Paris Olympics, Zhang Boheng, captain of the Chinese men's gymnastics team, won a bronze medal, ending all his journey in Paris. In this Olympics, from the men's team preliminaries to the finals, from the individual all-around to the three individual events, Zhang Boheng performed 21 times on the apparatus, making him the number one "model worker" of the Chinese gymnastics team, and he handed in 2 silvers and 1 bronze.
Zhang Boheng has been practicing gymnastics since he was a child. He went from being confused to awakening. An injury made him more determined to stay in the gymnastics field. He was disappointed when he missed the qualification to participate in the Tokyo Olympics. After three years of dormancy, he is now a leader of the Chinese men's gymnastics team.
Difficulties
Severely injured at 16, came to Beijing to train hard and persevered
Zhang Boheng was born in Changsha, Hunan in March 2000. He started practicing gymnastics at the age of 4. Because he was active and lively, he stepped into the door of the sports world. At that time, he didn't know that because of gymnastics, he would experience all the ups and downs of competition.
In 2016, Zhang Boheng, who was only 16 years old, made a mistake during training. The moment he fell to the ground, he knew something was wrong. Not only was he unable to move, but he was also sweating all over. When he went to the hospital for a checkup, he found that his lower leg was broken.
Lying on the hospital bed, unable to sleep due to the pain, Zhang Boheng began to think about life. Was he going to give up gymnastics because of the injury before he had any results? Zhang Boheng felt a little unconvinced. This injury made him think more, and after he recovered and returned to the training ground, he began to practice overtime.
In 2018, 18-year-old Zhang Boheng left Hunan for the first time. His destination was Beijing, where the national gymnastics team was located. Zhang Boheng had a lot to adapt to when he first arrived in a foreign land. The climate was completely different from his hometown, the living environment was without acquaintances and friends, the training intensity was close to the limit of his body, and the standards and pressure were far higher than those of the provincial team. All of this made Zhang Boheng feel suffocated.
When he couldn't bear it any longer, he called his mother. His mother, who had always been strict with him since he was young, didn't say anything this time. Instead, she asked for leave and came to Beijing to stay with him for a few days. With his mother's persuasion that "since you're here, it's okay", Zhang Boheng chose to persevere.
Zhang Boheng missed the chance to win the gold medal due to a mistake in the horizontal bar dismount. Photo/Xinhua News Agency
Metamorphosis
Tokyo was not selected, Paris became the team's top "hard worker"
At the Tokyo Olympics, the 21-year-old Zhang Boheng was not on the Chinese gymnastics team's roster. He said that although he did not qualify, he had gone through a complete preparation with the team and learned a lot.
After the Tokyo Olympics, the World Gymnastics Championships were also held in Japan. In the men's all-around final, although Zhang Boheng made a mistake on the pommel horse, he showed his strength in all other events and finally won a gold medal by a narrow margin of 0.017 points over the Olympic champion Hashimoto Daiki who was at home.
After this battle, Zhang Boheng became the fifth Chinese athlete to win the men's individual all-around championship at the World Championships, following Li Xiaoshuang, Feng Jing, Yang Wei and Xiao Ruoteng. As an all-around athlete, Zhang Boheng has won gold and silver medals in individual all-around, horizontal bar and floor exercise many times.
In the Hangzhou Asian Games, despite back injuries and insomnia, Zhang Boheng won 3 golds and 1 silver. His outstanding performance in the Asian Games gave him more confidence. Zhang Boheng said that in the Asian Games individual all-around competition, he had a better sense of control over the game, and he didn't think about anything else, just treated the competition as training.
Three years later, at the Paris Olympics, Zhang Boheng was not only officially selected, but also led the men's team as captain. In the men's team final, he and his team tried their best, but ultimately lost to the Japanese team and won the silver medal. In the men's all-around final, Zhang Boheng made a mistake in the first event of the free exercise, and he chased from 20th place to second place and won a silver medal. In the men's horizontal bar final on August 5, Zhang Boheng made a mistake in his dismount and won the bronze medal with 13.966 points.
At the Paris Olympics, as the top "model worker" of the Chinese gymnastics team, Zhang Boheng competed in 21 events, winning 2 silvers and 1 bronze, which was a certain distance from his pre-match goal. However, this was his first Olympic journey after all, and it was not easy to win 3 medals. Los Angeles is not far away four years later, and the Chinese men's gymnastics team still needs the captain's escort.
Beijing News reporter Zhao Xue
Editor: Wang Chunqiu
Proofread by Jianing
