Breaststroke QUEEN LUO Xuejuan: Life is more important than gold MEDALS

On January 29, 2007, LUO XueJUAN, THE BREASTSTROKE QUEEN OF THE Chinese SWIMMING TEAM, officially announced her retirement. Luo Xuejuan's parents Luo Guoan, and Xu Baoyi also do not have a taste in their hearts. It was they put up with all hardships to train their daughter on the road of swimming when the daughter at the peak of her career suffered the tribulations of life, and they asked her to retire without turning back...

White lies for her daughter to fly

Luo Xuejuan was born in Hangzhou in 1984 to Luo Guoan, an electrician at an Hangzhou resin factory, and Xu Baoyi, a salesgirl at a department store. Poor family circumstances, let Luo Xuejuan earlier than the same-age children understand the hardships of life. When Luo Xuejuan was 6 years old, Zhang Renchao, the swimming coach of Hangzhou Sports School, came to her primary school to pick a young girl. Luo Xuejuan, who was slender and flexible, caught his eye. When she heard that the sports school not only costs nothing but also has a living allowance, she was moved.

When she got home, Luo Xuejuan told her parents, "Mom and Dad, I don't have to spend any more money on sports school. I also have a living allowance, which can reduce your burden." Daughter's words, let Luo Guoan couple heart mixed feelings......

No one knows, Luo Xuejuan was holding such a purpose to set foot on the road of swimming. At the sports school, Luo Xuejuan has classes in the morning and exercises in the afternoon. After all, she is only a few years old, and the daily training life gradually makes her tired, but she is not so serious. Luo Guoan now severely criticized his daughter. Often, during the period after her father's criticism, Luo trained hard, but after a while, she began to relax again.

In 1991, Luo was diagnosed with severe hepatitis B. His disease was discovered very early, but afraid of spending money and has not been treated. This time, Xu Baoyi dragged her husband to the hospital. After the disease is controlled, Luo Guoan from the factory for internal return procedures receives 300 yuan a month for living expenses.

That day, Luo Xuejuan excitedly returned home, and will just get more than ten yuan subsidy from his father. Luo Guoan in the mind is not the taste, he does not expect the children to take back a monthly living allowance to the home, just hoping that the children can go out of the bungalow area and that the future is better than theirs. But he felt anxious and worried about his young daughter's slow training and little improvement in grades.

The torture of liver disease, let Luo Guoan's mental state very poor. One day in March 1992, Luo Guoan was basking in the sun. Luo Xuejuan came back and said to her father thoughtfully, "Dad, are you feeling better?" Luo Guoan looked at his daughter's big eyes and said: "Dad is heart disease, as long as you are obedient, and have good training, dad's disease will slowly get better. When you become world champion, Dad will recover completely."

His father's words are deeply engraved in Luo Xuejuan's heart, the original practice of swimming can also let his father's physical rehabilitation. Since then, swimming has taken on a deeper meaning for Luo, who trains harder than all her teammates.

At the beginning of 1993, Xu Baoyi also retired internally, and the family's economic situation became more difficult. At that time, Luo Guoan and his wife increased their daughter's nutrition by letting her eat several ducks a month. Yellow hair, less subcutaneous oil of the duck than white hair, oil more expensive, although a jin only two cents more expensive, Luo Guoan thought to buy two ducks can be cheaper than seven or eight cents, so every time he walked from the half moon bridge to Wulin gate, and then walked to Xinhua Road, to buy a duck all over the place for a long time.

With outstanding talent and hard training, Luo Xuejuan frequently in various competitions in the province to achieve good results. To her delight, her father's condition was improving little by little. Luo Xuejuan thinks that these are good results, how could she know, that every time her daughter comes back, Luo Guoan is in a strong spirit, with a good mental outlook on the face her daughter!

In 1995, 11 years old Luo Xuejuan entered the provincial swimming team, however, in addition to breaststroke outstanding results, other events were mediocre results, half a year later was returned to the city sports school. Luo Xuejuan cried as she told her father the news.

For Luo Guoan, his daughter carries all his hopes. He tried to control his pain, and said to Luo Xuejuan: "My son, don't lose heart, there will be another chance."

In 1996, Zhang Yadong, the coach of the swimming team of Zhejiang Province, came to the sports school to select members of the team. He saw through his eyes and brought Luo back to the provincial team. Under the guidance of Zhang Yadong, Luo Xuejuan's performance improved quickly. In March the following year, due to severe cold, Luo Guoan repeated illness, hospitalized, the doctor a day even under two critical notice, and said to Xu Baoyi: "I'm afraid this time can not survive..."

At that time, Luo Xuejuan was participating in the national competition, Luo Guoan said to his wife weakly: "Don't tell the children, otherwise it will affect her competition." The next day, Luo Xuejuan took the national children's 100-meter breaststroke gold medal and rushed to the hospital excitedly, Luo Guoan has been in a coma for a long time, and she cried to put the gold medal on his father's chest: "Dad, you wake up ah, I took the gold medal!" Perhaps father and daughter have telepathy, perhaps Luo Guoan mianmianzhong heard the daughter's deep feeling call, and he woke up from a coma: "children, dad congratulations!"

Luo Xuejuan choked up and asked her mother: "My father did not say that the better my performance, his body will slowly recover. Why is he getting sicker?" Xu Baoyi tearfully told his daughter, "Son, this is a lie your father deliberately told you so that you can swim well..." Luo Xuejuan, 13, suddenly understood everything and burst into tears...

I reap the health you get the gold medal

Only then did Luo learn that her father's treatment had been on and off over the years because of the family's financial stress. Tears streamed down her face. "Dad, what's the point of me getting a gold medal with your body like this? If you love your daughter, you should listen to her and take care of yourself." Luo Guoan has mixed feelings...

After joining the provincial team, Luo Xuejuan was paid hundreds of yuan a month, and she was reluctant to spend a penny. When she had saved 4,000 yuan, she took the money with her mother and accompanied her father to the hospital for a comprehensive check-up. The doctor told them that Luo Guoan's condition, if not completely treated, is likely to transform into liver ascites, and then uremia...

The doctor's words made Luo Xuejuan break out in a cold sweat, and she prescribed a lot of expensive drugs for her father. When leaving home, Luo Xuejuan repeatedly told his father to take medicine on time. But more than a month later, Luo returned home and found that her father had taken only a little of the medicine prescribed last time. Originally, their father loathes to give up eating expensive medicine and prescribe some cheap medicine to eat. Luo Xuejuan both distressed and angry: "Dad, you too don't take their own body seriously! If you continue to take care of your body like this, I will not practice!"

Luo Xuejuan's words shocked her father. This evening, under Luo Xuejuan's strong request, the father and daughter reached an agreement: daughter Luo Xuejuan must train well and strive to become the world champion as soon as possible; Father Luo Guoan must take medicine on time, adhere to exercise, good health.

This heavy agreement, let Luo Xuejuan have a more clear direction and goal. In 1999, Luo Xuejuan successfully entered the national swimming team and launched a sprint to the world champion. To fulfill the promise to her father, Luo Xuejuan also consciously trained on weekends and holidays. If they have less training for a while, Luo Xuejuan will feel insecure. Only by overdoing her training tasks and exhausting herself can she sleep soundly in bed.

In September of that year, Luo suffered two serious shoulder strains while training. In the evening, she made a magnetic card phone for her home. It was difficult to hold the microphone in her right hand, but she still reported peace with a relaxed and happy tone: "Mom and Dad, everything is fine with me..." As a result of the microphone's time being too long, the shoulder pain let Luo Xuejuan involuntarily "ah" a phone at the end of the Luo Guoan suddenly nervous: "children, how do you?" "Dad, I'm tired. I want to go to bed," Luo said, pretending to be calm. Luo Guoan told his daughter, that he firmly remember their agreement, and has been trying to recover.

Luo Guoan is right, during this period, he is indeed in compliance with the agreement with his daughter and goes all out to recover the body. The second liver belongs to CHRONIC DISEASE, VERY TALL TO NUTRITIONAL REQUIREMENT, XU Baoyi OFTEN BUYS PIG trotters, pig belly BOIL soup TO drink HUSBAND. Gradually, Luo Guoan's complexion improved significantly.

At the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, Luo Xuejuan finished eighth in the 100m breaststroke final. In fact, for a young athlete in his first Olympics, this is a very good achievement. But Luo Xuejuan with very high morale is not satisfied with his performance very much and is depressed when she trains not like before so assiduous.

Once, Luo Xuejuan did not arrange according to the coach's tactical training, Zhang Yadong's coach was very angry, severely criticized her, and agitated Luo Xuejuan contradicted a few words. Zhang coach gas not to hit a place, hate iron, not into steel he in front of the face of the players, hit Luo Xuejuan a box on the ear. Luo Xuejuan cried and ran out of the training hall......

Luo Xuejuan's low mood to the extreme, and Luo Guoan suddenly nervous couple, rushed to Beijing overnight. After learning the truth, the mother said, "Your father is proud to have you as a national athlete daughter. He always said that the day the boy won the world championship would be the day he was fully recovered..."

Parents' plain words, will Luo Xuejuan's heart siltation haze dispel? She is not do not want to practice but struggled for so many years, her heart backlog too much needs to vent. She told her parents that she would continue to practice as hard as ever.

In May 2001, Luo Xuejuan won two gold MEDALS in breaststroke 50m and 100m at the World Swimming Championships held in Japan at the age of 17. Two years later, at the World Championships in Barcelona, she won three gold MEDALS in the 50m, 100m breaststroke, and 4x100m medley relay, becoming the Chinese swimmer who has won the most world championships in the history of swimming. The 5 heavy gold MEDALS are the best embodiment of Luo Xuejuan's commitment to her father, and at this time, after so many years of systematic treatment, Luo Guoan's body is also basically healed, and the father and daughter made good on each other's agreement with action!