In the first era of the Chinese women's volleyball team, it has created brilliant achievements and achieved a group of women's volleyball heroes: Lang Ping, Zhang Rongfang, Liang Yan and Zhou Xiaolan. Zhou Xiaolan is known for her ultra-high-tech defensive skills and is known as the "Tiananmen City Wall". After retiring, she became the youngest deputy director-level leader in the sports committee system. However, she had a bright future and resigned after just eight months in the post and left for the United States with her husband. This bizarre turn has sparked reflections about her volleyball career and departure.
The status of the Chinese women's volleyball team as a national hero in the 80s is closely linked to the spirit of the group. In that era, China was in ruins, and the women's volleyball team won five consecutive championships in the world volleyball arena with the spirit of "dare to fight and fight", becoming a miracle in the history of Chinese sports. This spirit inspires people from all walks of life to work hard and create brilliant achievements in various fields. The reason why the Chinese women's volleyball team can achieve such brilliant results is that teamwork is very important, and every player cannot drop the chain. In the third Women's Volleyball World Cup in 1981, the Chinese women's volleyball team passed all the way and finally faced off against the Japanese team. At that time, the Japanese women's volleyball team was also a world powerhouse, and this game was full of suspense and highlights. Zhou Xiaolan and other women's volleyball heroes play an important role in this team and have made indelible contributions to the brilliant achievements of the Chinese women's volleyball team.
But the brave wins. The Japanese team encountered the ** of the "iron hammer", and then encountered the solidity of the "city wall". In the end, the Chinese women's volleyball team defeated the Japanese women's volleyball team to win the final victory. Japan** found that the Chinese women's volleyball team not only has a strong main attack, but also Zhou Xiaolan, who has strong defensive skills, so ** gave Zhou Xiaolan a nickname "Tiananmen City Wall".
Zhou Xiaolan's posture on the field left a deep impression on the public, and because of her strong blocking skills, Zhou Xiaolan's reputation as "Tiananmen City Wall" is well deserved. While the main attack is important, the defense is still a key position. It is precisely with such a strong secondary attack as Zhou Xiaolan that the main attack will be able to fight the front battle without worries.
At that World Cup, Zhou Xiaolan also won the "Best Athlete Award". In 1982, she won the gold medal in the women's volleyball competition of the 9th Asian Games. In 1983, she won the championship at the World Super Women's Volleyball Championship. In 1984, she won the gold medal in the women's volleyball competition at the 23rd Olympiad.
Athletes may be the shortest career in all careers, as long as athletes exceed a certain age, many advantages are gone, coupled with the perennial accumulation of injuries, so that many athletes basically choose to retire at the age of age. And Zhou Xiaolan did not escape this fate. 28-year-old Zhou Xiaolan retired, and after retiring, she held a simple wedding with her boyfriend Hou Xiaofei, who had been in love for eight years.
Zhou Xiaolan and Hou Xiaofei, a couple with the same career, were the main attackers of the national men's volleyball team, and their height is as high as 1At 93 meters, he is a benchmark player in the team. The marriage of the two has become a good story in the circle, however, they do not stop at the glory of the sports field. On the contrary, they have also excelled in their careers and have shown their talented side.
In the step-by-step work arrangement, Zhou Xiaolan chose to go to Shanghai University of Sport for further study, dedicated to improving her professional skills. At the same time, Hou Xiaofei founded a sporting goods company and struggled for his career in the field of sports. The two of them have worked hard in different fields to build a solid foundation for their careers.
In 1988, after graduation, Zhou Xiaolan was assigned by the state to work in the National Sports Commission. With her extensive on-court experience and expertise, she quickly rose through the ranks to become the Director of Volleyball Division, becoming one of the youngest leaders within the sports system. This honor made her the envy of everyone and showed excellent leadership skills.
However, fate is changeable. The period when Zhou Xiaolan was qualified as the director of the women's volleyball team coincided with the period of transformation and unstable results of the Chinese women's volleyball team. The Chinese women's volleyball team has passed its peak, the first generation of players has retired, the new generation of players has not yet emerged, and the whole team is undergoing a profound change. Zhou Xiaolan is well aware that the situation is not good, but she has an extremely proactive attitude to cooperate with the change. In order to allow the Chinese women's volleyball team to grow rapidly without increasing the pressure of the players, she proposed and implemented a training method of "training by competition".
Despite Zhou Xiaolan's outstanding leadership during challenging times, however, things are unpredictable. If there is no fermentation of **, Zhou Xiaolan may always be the leader that everyone envies. In the field of sports full of uncertainties, she has laid a solid foundation for the transformation of the Chinese women's volleyball team with her firm determination and outstanding leadership skills.
Zhou Xiaolan put forward a bold suggestion: let the Chinese women's volleyball players play friendly matches with the top teams of commercial clubs, and improve the state and practical experience of the players through the competition with high-level opponents. However, the proposal was met with strong opposition from industry insiders, with many criticizing Ms. Zhou for being too commercial and ignoring sportsmanship.
Despite the criticism, Zhou Xiaolan did not back down, but went all out to complete the preparation for each friendly match. She adopts the method of "training by competition" and is committed to helping the Chinese women's volleyball team improve its actual combat level. However, what is surprising is that in the 1994 World Championships, the Chinese women's volleyball team only finished eighth, causing more criticism of Zhou Xiaolan.
Such a result seems to provide more arguments for critics, as the club involved in the friendly match is run by Zhou Xiaolan's husband. This raised questions about Zhou Xiaolan's "abuse of power for personal gain". Under great pressure, Zhou Xiaolan's husband chose to cancel the company and go to the United States to start a new business. However, even so, Zhou Xiaolan's work was still affected, and there was a gap between her and the upper echelons.
In order to save the future of the Chinese women's volleyball team, Zhou Xiaolan took proactive measures and contacted Lang Ping, who was studying in the United States, hoping that she could return to China as a coach. Although Lang Ping did not agree at first, under Zhou Xiaolan's continuous efforts and maneuvers, Lang Ping finally agreed. However, before the official document was released, Zhou Xiaolan accidentally leaked the news in an interview, which caused a huge impact and made the leaders dissatisfied with her. The incident also further deepened the estrangement between her and the upper echelons.
When Lang Ping returned to China, the unit did not arrange for Zhou Xiaolan to pick up the plane, but she went to several pick-up sessions as Lang Ping's friend. Zhou Xiaolan's low emotional intelligence behaviors have buried a lot of hidden dangers for her future work. In her later work, Zhou Xiaolan felt something in hindsight, because she encountered resistance in whatever she did, and everything she did didn't go well.
Her husband knew that she was not working well in China, so he invited her to come and live with him abroad. Zhou Xiaolan looked at the volleyball career she was fighting for, although she was reluctant, she still gave up everything in China and went to live in the United States with her husband. After arriving in the United States, Zhou Xiaolan still couldn't let go of her volleyball career, so she went to George Washington University to be a volleyball coach. And her husband's career is also booming here, and the two have started to live together day and night. After that, Zhou Xiaolan gave birth to another daughter.
In order to take care of her children and take care of her family, Zhou Xiaolan gave up her volleyball career and chose to be an ordinary person. So she worked as an engineer at a medical device company in Maryland and is now the head of the company's division. Giving up the glory of volleyball and living the life of an ordinary worker, Zhou Xiaolan is very satisfied.
Now her two daughters also like to play volleyball, but Zhou Xiaolan warned her daughter: "It's okay to play volleyball, but you can't play against the Chinese women's volleyball team." After all, Zhou Xiaolan once stood on the world stage and stood for China, and she didn't want her children to become the opponent of the Chinese women's volleyball team in the future.
Although Zhou Xiaolan has been away from the sports world for a long time, she still maintains her love and attention to sports, especially the Chinese women's volleyball team. Recalling the time when she first learned volleyball, she still feels emotional.
Many professional athletes have been exposed to sports since they were young, but Zhou Xiaolan never touched volleyball until she was 16 years old, which makes her unique in the field of sports. Born in a dual-income family in Nanjing, with a father who is an engineer and a mother who is a doctor, Zhou Xiaolan, who should have lived a prosperous life, has experienced many hardships.
When she was 13 years old, Zhou Xiaolan went to the countryside with her parents to work in Gujiao Village, Shanxi. It was barren and the living conditions were difficult, and the daily labor was hard, and even the drinking water came from rain. In order to be able to study with peace of mind, she worked hard during the day and studied hard at night, and often had to light a kerosene lamp to continue studying. This arduous experience forged her tenacity and character.
After returning to the city, Zhou Xiaolan was fortunate to meet Coach Yuan Weimin. She was tall and attracted the attention of Coach Yuan. All these special experiences and encounters have jointly shaped Zhou Xiaolan's tenacious character and love for sports.
Zhou Xiaolan, a legend in the field of volleyball. Despite her late start in her career, she is unique among domestic professional athletes with her outstanding comprehension skills and unremitting efforts. She only started playing volleyball at the age of 16, but she quickly showed her innate talent, and it took only one year to be promoted from the provincial team to the national team. Although the training of the national team is even harder, many players can't stand it and propose to leave the team, but Zhou Xiaolan feels very lucky. In the national team, she not only has a bright future, but also has enough food and clothing, has a clear goal, and every day is full and beautiful.
In Zhou Xiaolan's volleyball career, the efforts made were by no means in vain. She finished second at the first World Junior Volleyball Championship in 1977, finished sixth at the 8th World Women's Volleyball Championship in 1978, and won a silver medal at the 8th Asian Games in the same year. These achievements not only show her personal strength, but also win glory for the national team.
However, Zhou's success has not been without its challenges. She went through the hard years of practicing and playing games with her teammates, and this time was the most precious and unforgettable time for her. However, over time, life shifts have changed everything around them. Today, despite returning home every year to visit family and reunite with old friends, she rarely appears in public. Even so, her brilliant achievements and tireless efforts in the field of volleyball are still remembered.
Zhou Xiaolan, a former member of the Chinese women's volleyball team, was an Olympic star at the 2004 Athens Olympics. Her contribution to volleyball cannot be ignored, and even though she has now reached the 60 mark, she still has the idea of returning to her roots. In 2007, CCTV also captured her in the documentary recording of all Olympic heroes. Zhou Xiaolan's story will never disappear, and reports about her can be found on Southern People Weekly and Sina.com. No matter how she chooses to live in ** in the future, her position in the history of the Chinese women's volleyball team will always shine.