Winning an Olympic title is an unparalleled honor for athletes.
Those warriors who won the championship, holding flowers and wearing national flags, were warmly applauded and cheered by the audience in the crowd.
However, at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, Chinese track and field athlete Wang Liping did not cause any uproar at the moment when she won the Olympic championship.
No one applauded her, no one cheered her on, and even her coaches and teammates left the field early, and no one stayed to greet her.
Wang Liping's original action of raising her arms in celebration turned into helplessness, her tears could no longer be controlled, she wandered alone in the venue, but could not find a trace of familiar figure.
Her brain was eroded by desperation, and she looked around again and again, but in the end she didn't wait for the five-star red flag that belonged to her.
In 2000, the race took place at the Sydney Olympics.
China sent two athletes to compete in the women's 20km race walk, with Liu Hongyu, a former World Cup and World Champion champion, arguably one of the strongest contenders in the race.
The other person is Wang Liping, a running companion who is full of injuries.
The difference between the two can be said to be quite significant, so most of the attention of the outside world and the attention of the coaches is focused on Liu Hongyu.
Wang Liping was not mentioned in the original Olympic selection list.
That's because, four days before the start of the trials, she was still suffering from knee problems that made it difficult for her to even walk normally, let alone compete in race walking.
At that time, the doctor had been persuading her to give priority to her health and give up race walking.
Wang Liping is not willing to give up, because the opportunity to play the Olympic Games once every four years is very precious.
Despite the injury, she gave it her all to compete in the tryouts and eventually finished first, successfully qualifying to travel to Sydney to compete.
Although Wang Liping passed the selection, due to comprehensive conditions and personal conditions, the coaching staff did not put her in an important position, but made every effort to cultivate Liu Hongyu, hoping that he would achieve good results in the Olympic Games.
Wang Liping has only one request:
She was asked to assist Liu Hongyu in winning the championship in the race and become his "running companion" partner.
Although Wang Liping is depressed, she has always understood that collective honor is the most important thing.
She clearly knows that Liu Hongyu is much stronger than her own state and strength, so her chances of winning the championship are indeed far less than that of the other party.
In the following training, Wang Liping never expressed any complaints, but actively cooperated with all the decisions made by the coach and worked hard to complete her due "escort" task.
During her breaks, Wang is often seen on the training ground to practice, eager to earn some glory for herself, and even if no one expects anything from her, she still wants to try it out and see if she can get a winner's medal.
Liu Hongyu's state has been somewhat affected, because she has been expected by too many people, and the pressure on her body has increased dramatically.
She was always worried that if she couldn't do it, she would live up to everyone's expectations.
Affected by the huge pressure, Liu Hongyu made frequent mistakes in practice in the days before the competition, which made her even more nervous and seriously affected her mentality.
However, time does not wait for anyone, and in a blink of an eye, the day of the race is here.
The Olympic Committee has set strict criteria to determine whether a competitor meets the rules of the "walk" competition, and requires referees to judge with the naked eye on the spot. The rules for the women's race walking competition are very strict.
She will be disqualified if she is found guilty of a violation by the judges three times in a row.
At the beginning of the race, the two strictly followed the tactical actions formulated by the coach, with Wang Liping as the escort, and the two cooperated tacitly, fully retained their physical strength, and followed the leading group of athletes.
Due to the intense level of the race walking competition, the physical strength of the competitors is quickly depleted, so it is necessary to replenish water in time during the competition.
As the "escort" runner Wang Liping, she shoulders the responsibility of serving tea and pouring water. On the sidelines, she held two bottles of water in her hand and handed one to Liu to make sure he could maintain his strength and try to win the title.
It wasn't long before this smooth rhythm was broken.
While maintaining their strength, the two also slowed down, and they were about to fall to the end. With a strong desire to win, Liu Hongyu decided to accelerate directly, hoping to launch a sprint in advance.
Her acceleration quickly caught the referee's attention and she was immediately warned of two red cards, a decision that carried a huge risk.
In order to catch up with Liu Hongyu, Wang Liping had no choice but to accelerate, and was finally shown a red card by the referee.
In order to ensure that she completed the race smoothly, Wang Liping decided not to chase Liu Hongyu anymore, but to revert to the original plan and move forward steadily and steadily.
Liu Hongyu is a little anxious now, although she has caught up with the first echelon, but two consecutive red cards have made her nervous to the extreme.
Her goal is to win the title, so even with the competition ahead, she keeps accelerating and trying to outdo the others.
Sadly, she ended up suffering the consequences of such an adventure.
Liu Hongyu suffered a third red card due to mental stress that caused his movements to be deformed, which happened with only five kilometers left before the finish line.
In the end, he had to reluctantly say goodbye to the field and miss the medal.
After the game, Liu Hongyu felt unacceptable to this reality, he hugged the railing and cried bitterly.
The coaches were in a heavy mood, and they were saddened by the fact that the dawn of victory was ahead, but it ended in regret.
The coaches looked at Wang Liping, who was at the bottom of the field, and they were pessimistic and seemed to have given up hope, and it was widely believed that the match was over for the Chinese player.
They stepped forward to comfort Liu Hongyu, and then left the competition venue together.
Wang Liping was in the game, and only one interpreter remained on the sidelines waiting.
At that time, Wang Liping had no idea what was happening on the field.
She is still looking forward to reaching the finish line, even if she doesn't get results, she can be comforted by her coaches.
She didn't know that she had long since been abandoned by those people.
In the final stages of the game, the crucial nature of the tactics came to the fore.
Wang Liping retained her strength in the early stages, coupled with her strong mentality and spirit of not to be outdone, she surpassed many other competitors in the sprint stage.
Wang Liping is firm in her heart, she has only one belief: no matter what kind of difficulties she encounters, she must go all out, rush to the goal, and never let her sports career leave regrets.
The rivals in front of her dwindled until the final four kilometres, when Wang Liping made an astonishing third place.
As long as she maintains this pace, she will be able to at least win the bronze medal.
She wasn't satisfied with just winning the bronze medal, after all, the championship was just around the corner, so why couldn't she go for it!
She re-accelerated her sprint, following the Italian in front of her, while the Australian was already in sight.
At the same time, Wang Liping had also caught up, making her anxious.
She accelerated in a panic, causing her movements to spiral out of control, and she was sent off by the referee on the spot.
Wang Liping took advantage of the situation to rank second at the moment, making the hope of winning the championship high again.
With a lot of confidence, she began to pick up the pace, trying to catch up with the lead.
She just started to pick up the pace and the referee immediately issued a second red card, which is the reality.
She realizes that if she fouls again, she will have to be sent off, so she can only slow down, regulate her movements, and keep following the first place, looking for opportunities to overtake her opponents and become the leader in the game, and never give the referee a reason to let herself go.
Wang Liping was close to the finish line, but she never found a chance, almost desperately believing that she had missed the gold medal.
There has always been a voice in her heart that keeps telling her not to give up easily, and she will definitely be able to surpass the opponent in front of her!
The competition is no longer just a contest of physical strength, but a contest of mental strength.
The distance between the two is very short, and they both need to maintain a high level of concentration, as the slightest mistake can change the whole situation.
Start at 500 meters, then 400 meters, then 300 meters.
Wang Liping was anxious, but as she got closer and closer to the finish line, she still didn't risk accelerating.
A crowd of referees stood beside her, which put her under pressure, so she had to make sure she didn't make any mistakes, because victory was just around the corner!
100 meters, 200 meters!
There are only 100 meters left to get to the point!
Wang Liping almost felt disheartened, because they were so close to the important position that there was no hope of surpassing them.
She will only be sent off for speeding up, and the runner-up finish she has already won will be far away from her.
Something suddenly happened in the arena, and it was at this time that something happened!
The tide of the game turned in an instant!
The Australian was in first place, and Wang Liping, who was close behind, distracted her and caused a moment of tension that led to her serious missteps!
Although local referees tried to pretend they didn't see the situation in the game, referees from other countries didn't let it go easily.
An American referee showed her a straight red card, and she immediately lost her upcoming title.
Wang Liping is in second place, but as long as she persists, she can become a champion.
Wang Liping felt the favor of the goddess of luck and almost couldn't control her tears.
But she knows very well that the game is not over yet. Although she was already far ahead of the rest of the competition, she was in the first place and became the focus of the judges' attention.
If you're not careful, you could face the fate of being sent off.
She takes it one step at a time, making sure that every movement is standardized.
50 meters, 20 meters, 10 meters. It becomes 10 meters, 20 meters, 50 meters.
She crossed the finish line at a blistering pace and took first place for herself!
For Wang Liping, this first place is not easy to obtain. She rushed to the finish line, ready to be cheered on by the coaching team, only to find that there was silence.
At the time, everyone was expecting the Australian champion, and the camera was even focused on her, but no one knew that she would eventually be sent off.
When Wang Liping was the first to step into the main venue, the audience was shocked, and no one had time to react.
Therefore, when they saw this scene, everyone was dumbfounded.
She threw her hands up and cheered excitedly for herself, but only a few foreign spectators gave sporadic applause from the sidelines.
In front of Wang Liping, the camera rushed suddenly, only capturing her helplessness.
She wanders around in solitude searching for friends from her home country, only to see empty auditoriums.
No one held the flag high for her, and no one cheered for her.
In this silent scene, she silently circled the field with gold medals and tears of grievance, as if celebrating herself.
However, when it was learned that Wang Liping won the championship, the coaching staff did not hesitate to take action and quickly found reporters for an interview.
In response to reporters' questions, he brazenly claimed that Wang Liping's victory was entirely due to his own tactical arrangements, and also said that Liu Hongyu was just a tool used to interfere with other opponents.
Such a reply hurt both athletes.
Liu Hongyu was already blaming himself, but at this time he was even more sad and sad, and Wang Liping's heart was even more full of grievances.
The General Administration of Sports later determined that this incident was a major mistake, because there were many risks in the race walking competition itself, and there were still its own athletes on the field at that time, and Wang Liping herself was injured, if there was a problem, who would take care of her?
Leaving a player before the end of the game is a serious dereliction of duty, regardless of the results.
The General Administration of Sports stipulates that all participating athletes must be present, must not leave without permission, and must carry the national flag regardless of whether the results are good or bad.
However, to this day, these coaches have still failed to admit their mistakes and have never formally apologized to the athlete who brought glory to his country.
After the game, Wang Liping also chose to leave the arena, ended her career, entered the palace of marriage, and lived an ordinary life.
It wasn't until 2004 that the coaches finally found her again and invited her to the upcoming Athens Olympics.
Wang Liping had just finished giving birth at the time and was not yet in good health, but she still decided to accept the invitation and return to her favorite arena.
She finished eighth that year and was cheered on by her teammates and coach in the audience.
She has finally fulfilled her dream four years ago.