Have you ever wondered what life will be like for a women's basketball star after retiring?Our Liu Qing, once the iron goalpost of the Chinese women's basketball team, is a female man who is hot on the court and gentle as water off the court!
When it comes to Liu Qing's basketball path, it is really a legend. How did she get on this path step by step?There must have been a lot of hardship and sweat. And how many little-known sweetness and challenges are hidden in her love story with her husband?
Female warrior on the basketball court
Let's talk about Liu Qing, the legend of the Chinese women's basketball team, you may not think that she was once a warrior known as "Desperate Saburo". In that.
On the basketball court in the 80s and 90s, she was like an eagle soaring in the air, unmatched.
Liu Qing, a height of 1The 88-meter basketball giant was born in a "giant family", and her mother, father, brother and sister are all taller than ordinary people imagine. Think about it, is such a family destined for her to have an indissoluble bond with basketball?
When she was 13 years old, she was 168 meters. Can you imagine?At that age, we were still playing with mud, and she was already showing extraordinary talent on the basketball court.
With large palms, long arms, and a well-proportioned and flexible body, she resembles a dexterous cheetah on the basketball court.
In 1979, Liu Qing's height grew to 185 meters, at this time, she has been selected by the Heilongjiang Provincial Youth Women's Basketball Team, and was selected for the provincial team half a year later. Come to think of it, such a speed is incredible!
Liu Qing's basketball career is full of legends. In the fall of 1980, she showed amazing talent in a teaching game of the national youth women's basketball team.
She has a wide range of movement, steals, blocks**, and decisive shooting. Even if her nose was crooked in a fierce scramble with her opponent, she still insisted on playing with an injury, and this tenacity and courage are not the basketball spirit in our hearts
This kind of performance attracted the attention of Yang Boyong, the head coach of the national women's basketball team, who originally planned to let her join the team in 1982, and decided to let Liu Qing join the national team in advance. Since then, Liu Qing has started her national team career.
In that period of the Chinese women's basketball team, Liu Qing was an indispensable member of the team. In 1982, she helped the Chinese team win the runner-up in the Asian Championships, and also won the "Dare to Fight Award" personally.
In the Asian Games of the same year, as the main second center, she helped the Chinese women's basketball team defeat the strong rival South Korea team and won the championship.
The Giantess of the Basketball Court: Liu Qing's Legendary Basketball Journey
When a women's basketball player is nearly 1At 88 meters, what is it like to stand on a basketball court?Yes, I'm talking about Liu Qing, the "giantess" on the basketball court, the pride of the Chinese women's basketball team.
Back in July 1983, when the 9th Women's World Basketball Championship was held in Sao Paulo, Brazil, all the world's best basketball teams came together.
Who would have thought that on this stage, the Chinese women's basketball team, a new army that has just stepped into the world stage, actually won the bronze medal!And among them, Liu Qing's performance is really amazing.
That year, the former Soviet women's basketball team won the championship, the United States team won the runner-up, and the Chinese women's basketball team gave the world a surprise. Did you know?
Liu Qing and Chen Yuefang, the two centers, their performance on the court is so strong that even the former Soviet women's basketball team has to go all out. That kind of scene is like a tiger descending from a mountain, unstoppable.
Jump to the story of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. Imagine that the Chinese women's basketball team at that time did not have a ticket to the Olympic Games.
In the qualifying match in Havana, Cuba, Liu Qing and her teammates played at an extraordinary level.
Song Xiaobo was injured, but her strength infected the entire team, and the players, including Liu Qing, held their breath and won the Olympic ticket. You say, this kind of spirit, isn't it moving?
Let's talk about the Los Angeles Olympics. The first match of the Chinese women's basketball team was against the Australian team. In that game, Liu Qing's task was to control the rebounding ball and launch a secondary offense, which was a key role on the basketball court.
Despite the opponent's tall and strong opponent, Liu Qing and his teammates narrowly won 67-64 through tenacious defense. In that game, Liu Qing scored 16 points alone, and he was really a big hero on the court.
From the World Championships to the Olympic Games, Liu Qing's basketball journey has been full of challenges and glories. Every jump and goal she makes on the court is proving to the world that the Chinese women's basketball team is no longer a weak team in Asia, and they have the ability to compete with the world's top teams.
Warriors on the Basketball Court: Liu Qing's Battles and Glory
On August 2, 1984, Liu Qing and her teammates won a brilliant duel against Yugoslavia. Think about it, with a score of 79 to 58, Liu Qing scored 12 points alone, what kind of feat is this!But you know what, it's just part of her saga.
In the semi-finals, although the Chinese team unexpectedly lost to the South Korean team, they did not give up. Next, they competed for the bronze medal with the Canadian team, which has beaten the Chinese women's basketball team twice, and this bronze medal means a lot to them.
At the beginning of the game, the intensity was beyond imagination. The Canadian team defended strongly, and Liu Qing was unfortunately injured. Imagine that you have bleeding from your mouth, nose and eye sockets, and can you still play?
But Liu Qing did it. Her fighting spirit and courage inspired her teammates to win the Olympic bronze medal with a 63-57 victory over Canada.
In the last minute of that game, Liu Qing's performance was even more shocking. She grabbed the backcourt rebound, and then passed the ball to Xiu Lijuan from a long distance to help the Chinese team seal the victory.
Her report card reads 8 points, 7 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 block, and 1 assist, which is not just a number, this is Liu Qing's poem on the basketball court.
Time flies and comes to the 1986 Seoul Asian Games. The final battle between the Chinese women's basketball team and the South Korean team. Historically, the record of the two teams is 7 wins and 8 losses, and the Chinese team is slightly inferior.
But in this matchup, the Chinese women's basketball team defeated the South Korean team 78-64 and won the gold medal. Liu Qing once again became the key figure in the victory.
In August 1986, the Women's World Basketball Championship was held in Moscow, Soviet Union. In this game, the Chinese women's basketball team unfortunately lost to the Czechoslovak team in the first game, and this game became a big upset in the World Championships.
The Chinese team had the strength to compete for a silver or even bronze medal, but in the end they only finished fifth. Liu Qing was very disappointed with this result, and she shed tears of heartache.
Heroines on the basketball court, heroines in life
In 1988, the Seoul Olympics, Liu Qing was in her playing year, but at that time, the Chinese women's basketball team was undergoing transformation. Imagine that generals such as Chen Yuefang and Song Xiaobo have retired, and Zheng Haixia has become the new core.
At that time, the Chinese team's tactics were "big men plus three-point shots", the whole team played around Zheng Haixia on the inside, and Cong Xuedi shot three points on the outside. Unfortunately, we only finished sixth at that Olympics. Liu Qing, the fighter on the field, was not satisfied with this result.
Later, Li Yaguang became the head coach of the women's basketball team, and Liu Qing was appointed captain. This change has made the style of the Chinese women's basketball team more dexterous and changeable, and Zheng Haixia's offensive speed has also improved.
Come to think of it, this is a new challenge and opportunity for Liu Qing.
In the blink of an eye, at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, Liu Qing and Zheng Haixia became the double centers of the women's basketball team. How did the Chinese team play in that Olympics?
Beat Spain in the group stage, and although they lost to the United States, they defeated Czechoslovakia.
In the semifinals, facing the Cuban team, the Chinese women's basketball team showed amazing strength, winning 109-70, although the final lost to the CIS team, we won the silver medal, which is the best result of the Chinese women's basketball team in the Olympic Games.
However, a basketball career is only one part of Liu Qing's life. After retiring in 1993, she entered the Beijing Institute of Physical Education for further study. During this period, she got married, and her husband Zou Wei was also a handsome guy in the basketball world, and the two had a daughter named Zou Runjin.
After transforming into a coach, Liu Qing served as the head coach of the women's basketball team of the Beijing Military Region and the Chinese youth women's basketball team. Think about it, how difficult it is for a women's basketball star to transform.
Liu Qing's life is not all smooth sailing. In order to work, she had to sacrifice time with her family, and even because of the pressure, she could only let her daughter breastfeed for half a year.
Her husband, Zou Wei, has been silently supporting her behind the scenes, whether it is taking care of her daughter or dealing with family chores.
In 2002, Liu Qing became the head coach of the Chongqing women's basketball team and lived separately from her husband for a long time. But Liu Qing never gave up on his basketball dream.
Her daughter, Zou Runjin, also inherited her parents' sports genes and became a member of the women's basketball team at Tsinghua University, and was even selected for the national team.
In 2019, Liu Qing was 55 years old, and she retired from her front-line post and began to return to family life. She regards her family as her pillar and tries her best to make up for her previous absence. In 2022, Liu Qing was inducted into the Chinese Basketball Hall of Fame, and in 2023, she was officially inducted.
Qing lives a low-key life, and she sees her daughter as the best work for herself and her husband. She keeps exercising, maintains good physical condition, and looks much younger than her peers.
This is Liu Qing, a female warrior on the basketball court, a heroine in life. Her story is not only about basketball, but also about perseverance, love and sacrifice.
She shows us that even sports stars have the same life challenges and emotional entanglements as ordinary people. Liu Qing is a person worthy of our respect and learning.