China's 18-year-old BMX cyclist Deng Yawen underwent three turning points before she won the Olympic gold medal.
By sportswriters Yao Youming and Xing Jianqiao
PARIS, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- Deng Yawen, who won the gold medal in the women's BMX freestyle event at Paris 2024, burst into tears when discussing her past with Xinhua here on Wednesday night.
Before the 18-year-old had bagged the Olympic gold, she had passed through three turning points in career.
MAKING A DECISION
In 2013, Deng became a member of the athletics team in Luzhou city, in southwest China's Sichuan Province. Although she was selected by Sichuan's provincial javelin team, she also received a trial invitation from Sichuan's BMX squad.
"My coach wanted me to go to the javelin team, but my grandmother suggested I should first go for the BMX trial. They showed me BMX racing videos. I thought it was cool to be a BMX rider," said Deng.
In the eyes of Deng's grandmother, when the little girl left for the BMX team, she would be back in a week. But Deng never cut the connection with the sport after first going to Chengdu as a BMX cyclist. That decision from her grandmother changed her career track.
"When I spent holidays at home, my grandmother asked me whether I loved BMX or not. I was too young to give her a clear answer," Deng recalled.
But when her grandmother asked her what she wanted to eat and if there were any places she intended to visit, the questions reminded Deng of her experiences in the provincial BMX team.
"I told my grandmother what we ate after the training sessions, plus many ideal destinations that I wanted to visit my BMX teammates. Then my grandmother told me that I might never leave BMX for the rest of my life," Deng said.
TIMELY WARNING
China's national BMX freestyle team was established in 2018. Deng was only 13 at the time, but she was selected as a trial cyclist for the new team.
"I was too young to have a good performance in the trial, I was thinking where I could do a city walk in Shanghai. So when the team went aboard, to participate in qualifiers for the Tokyo Olympics, I went back to Sichuan when the trial concluded," Deng said.
As a teenager, Deng was very happy to have her holidays again. But when she returned, she met many questions from the coach of her provincial team.
"Deng, have you considered your future? What kind of person will you be?" Deng's coach questioned.
"Since then, I recognized my problem, I told my coach that I would take BMX training seriously from then on," Deng said.
THE OLYMPIC GAMES
In May 2024, Deng finished third at the Olympic Qualifier Series in Shanghai. But according to IOC rules, each NOC can only have a maximum of two riders at Paris 2024. If Deng had wanted to make the Olympic Games, she would have had to beat at least one teammate in the last Olympic Qualifier Series in Budapest.
"I did think that I may fail to qualify. I even didn't want to take the flight to Budapest, especially when I saw the course map, which included many wall obstacles that I don't like," Deng said.
"I even hated myself when I injured my shoulder and waist in a training session in April. Those injuries contributed to a bad result in Shanghai."
At that time, Daniel Dhers, Deng's coach, helped her get out of the mire. "Daniel gave me many suggestions about the event in Budapest. He asked me to make friends with the flips in order to have better performance," Deng said.
Then Deng beat her teammate Sun Sibei and secured a place at Paris after finishing fourth in Budapest.
After winning the gold, Deng wore a hairpin, a gift from her best friend.
And after the historic win, Deng simply looked forward to going back home, and eating Chinese hotpot with her close friends. ■
