graduate student zhang yufei appeared at the opening ceremony of dongda university
2024-09-14
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“the most romantic thing in life is that when the motherland calls me, we are still young!”
olympic champion zhang yufei appeared at the opening ceremony for the 2024 freshmen held at southeast university on september 14. as soon as she appeared, the opening ceremony was filled with thunderous applause.
image source: modern express
zhang yufei said: "i am swimmer zhang yufei, your alumnus, and your senior. i am a 2022 master's student in the department of physical education. in the just-concluded paris olympics, we achieved the best results in overseas summer olympics."
"when the country prospers, the sports will prosper; when the country is strong, the sports will be strong. as an olympic athlete, the school motto of 'striving for perfection' has always inspired me to be faster, higher, stronger and more united." zhang yufei told her struggle story on the spot, which inspired the students.
"i think the most romantic thing in life is that when the motherland calls us, we are still young. we will surely work together to create a chapter for tongji university to strengthen our country, realize our dreams, and make new contributions," said zhang yufei.
in september 2022, zhang yufei enrolled in southeast university as a master's student in sports. according to the director of the department of sports at southeast university, the training period for a master's degree in sports is three years.
image source: modern express
zhang yufei was born in xuzhou city, jiangsu province on april 19, 1998. her parents are both professional swimmers. influenced by her family, zhang yufei learned to swim by following her mother by the pool when she was 3 years old. at the age of 5, zhang yufei began to receive professional training and started her sports career.
at the tokyo olympics, zhang yufei won the silver medal in the women's 100m butterfly, the silver medal in the 4×100m medley relay, the gold medal in the women's 200m butterfly (zhang yufei set a new olympic record at the time with a time of 2 minutes 03.86 seconds), and the gold medal in the women's 4×200m freestyle relay.
at the paris olympics, zhang yufei won five bronze medals in the women's 4x100m freestyle relay, women's 100m butterfly, 200m butterfly, women's 4x100m medley relay, and women's 50m freestyle, and a silver medal in the mixed 4x100m medley relay.
adding together the two olympic games, zhang yufei has won 10 olympic medals in her career, making her the athlete with the most medals in the history of the chinese team.
image source: zhang yufei's personal social account
in april 2024, zhang yufei won the honor of "2023 person who moved china". the award speech reads: "i would rather let my muscles burn in the middle of the night than let my emotions sink in failure. nezha is to be reborn; the butterfly queen must be after the butterfly transformation. explore the limits of sports and harvest the gold medal of youth. the champion is the winner, and he is also the one who rises in adversity."
when talking about her next goal, zhang yufei said she hoped to surpass her tokyo olympics performance at the paris olympics. she said: "i want to be the world's butterfly queen."
although zhang yufei failed to achieve her original goal at the paris olympics, she did not give up. she still longed to compete in the los angeles olympics.
zhang yufei at the paris olympics. source: cctv news
on august 23, zhang yufei said at the jiangsu athletes' paris olympics summary meeting: "so far, i have won 10 olympic medals, which is a historic achievement for chinese athletes, but this is not my end."
"there has not yet been a 30-year-old female swimmer in china who can compete in the olympics, and this is exactly my goal for the next four years."
after the meeting, zhang yufei told reporters: "i still have plans to go to the next los angeles olympics. if i really have the talent and if i really still have the ability to participate in the los angeles olympics, i should put my energy back into training in the last two years."
