sportspeople-from-china

"I want an Olympic gold. My goal is 70m and I don't think it's a faraway target. I have good skills. I need more training, more inspiration, and more energy to boost myself. I have such a feeling that I can make it happen sometime in the future."

"Nothing is impossible. I was hoping for some better results after securing the medal"

"The tough competition pushed me to fight hard and the pressure can be somehow kind of encouragement, motivating me to finish the throws with better skills."

"I fought for it with every possible effort. I can feel that I could reach 68m. That's a fair result for me and will make me feel more confident"

"I have to really take care of my mental state and make sure I don't get into a depression. I have worked with a psychiatrist or psychologist who helped me quite a bit with some of the mental stresses of being a competitive diver and dealing with depression and things like that."

"I don’t want to waste time thinking about the result."

"I enjoy watching other sports, like tennis and golf. I’ve only played golf once, but I like it very much. I want to distract myself from diving and learn what great athletes mean to be great. Like Roger Federer, Tiger Woods and the others."

"I should be grateful for the difficulties and challenges I experienced. I felt I am stronger and tougher in mind. And that is why I want to praise myself."

"Every dive was a fear for me and I had to face all those fears one by one. I was terribly afraid that I could not dive and I could not eat and sleep well during those days. But I was very lucky, I had a great and strong team with me. Everyone in the team helped me, motivated me and encouraged me to tackle the difficulties. That is the reason why I give myself full marks for 2019, because I overcame my fears and weaknesses from the previous season and had an enlightened 2019. I am proud of myself."

"There are two of me in my mental state that actually fight with one another. Part of me says ‘you’re a gold medallist, you can take a break, you can be done’. Another part of me says ‘you can’t give this up, you love diving’."

"I really love diving and I realised that there was no way that I could give it up."

"It is not the gold medal that makes you stronger. It is your courage to face up difficulties and then overcome them on the road leading to the podium. It is easy for one to believe in himself in favorable circumstances, but hard in times of adversity. This might be the difference between excellence and greatness."

"I feel that if we could give 100 percent effort, that is the what the Olympics are about. We cannot predict the results, but I'm happy if we could just enjoy the process."

"One year ago I was not doing that well. I'm very thankful that I didn't give up."

"I will definitely continue diving if my body allows me, so I will keep training hard, keep competing and hopefully represent China more and win more titles for China."

"My life is pretty interesting now … I definitely can do better with more training and a coach but I don’t want to compare myself to others. I just want to enjoy my life, and my badminton"

"In the ’80s and ’90s, not a lot of people knew what diving was and I didn’t actually know what it meant. When I heard the word ‘water’ in the Chinese pronunciation of ‘diving,’ I had an image of families swimming happily together during the summer—and I wanted to have that."

"When I realised it wasn’t swimming I signed up for, I just went with it because I liked the challenge. It wasn’t a hobby, but I grew to enjoy it and become good at it through my training. Eventually I developed the goal of competing and winning a gold medal. Little did I know that raising my hand would lead me to where I am now"

"I began to feel like I’d failed if I didn’t win a medal, and I lost that feeling of excitement I felt when I first began."

"As an athlete, you’re only focused on yourself and it’s mainly about physical exertion, whereas as a mother I have to think not only about myself but also my child. Everything is new to me as a mother. In a way, I also feel like a baby because I’m learning bit by bit. Nobody really understands what being a mother is like until they actually become one. It changes the way you think about everything."

"I don't like discussing my private life in public. It feels strange."

"I don't care about my public figure, or gossip; It doesn't have an impact on my training or competitions."

"I’ll be honest, I’m not really good like a top-five player. So of course, it also depends on the draw. If I’m lucky, I’ll get a good draw. I’m looking for a medal, not like gold medals."

"When you win some tournaments and when you get good results, people are going to enjoy the success. But they don’t really think about what is going to be next. You’re going to lose the next week, too. So other players, they don’t really think about it. They’re always thinking, ‘I’m really good.’"

"Like sometimes when a coach is behind you, they don’t really know how you feel. It’s hard for me to tell him, because I’m also thinking. If the coach and I think the same thing, that’s good, but sometimes it doesn’t happen. Then do you listen to the coach, or do you listen to yourself?"

"Coaching teaches me a lot; mentally, it’s helping, but skill-wise, no. The juniors have the same problems every day, you have to remind them all the time. Adult players know their problems, so you don’t need to remind them every day, every single shot."

"I’m just wishing I can play with higher-level players, so I can get used to that speed and focus while training at that speed. If I get used to playing with slower players, mentally it’s not pushing my limit."

"If I had stayed in Singapore, I don’t think I would have what I have now. I’m too straightforward and ask questions, and some people don’t like that. When I had a problem, I didn’t get to talk to the SBA, only the coach. Now I can do whatever I want, I control my own life."

"When I think I'm good, I find out I'm actually not."

"There is a lot of pressure on the players in the Chinese team. I wouldn’t have survived if I had stayed there. Right now, I have the freedom to choose which tournaments to play and where to train. I take decisions that suit me."

"I am already considered an elderly player on the platform during the Rio Olympics cycle. In general, my state is quite poor, and my abilities in all aspects are going down. Therefore, I can't participate in single-player competitions and continue to write new gold medal records, which is a little regretful."

"At the beginning, I thought I was an ordinary athlete, and I didn't think too much about it. But as people asked me for a lot of things, I also felt that I should pay attention to my words and deeds. No longer. Can't let my temper anymore."

"Just treat every day as a new day to swim. When it's used up, recharge it, and when it's used up, recharge it again."

"I didn't even want to train, I was just playing, but I was persuaded to come back by the coach at the time. He said that you can't train like this. Everyone has a low point. Why can't you persist?"

"But I just want to say if I cannot win the gold eventually, I will not let my rivals win easily. We need to fight for it. I can accept not standing on the highest podium, but I will never give up."

"After I finished school, I started to get in touch with the referee's work. After all, I grew up in this circle and felt that the referee's job was more interesting, so I slowly decided that the referee's work was my future direction."

"Diving is relatively niche and not so market-oriented. It is one aspect that audiences like to watch, but in terms of participation, there will be fewer people participating."

"In the end, I can have today's achievements, and it is inseparable from the coach and team leader of the national team."

"Nowadays, many people are not focusing on gold medals, but sportsmanship, the positive energy in sportspeople."

"1500 metre, I am the king."

"霍頓（Mack Horton）、蓋伊（James Guy），你們游得再快一點，就能喝到我美味的洗腳水了。"

"If Horton and Guy can swim a little faster, they can taste my delicious footbath water."

"You’re a loser, I’m a winner."

"I don't think I did anything great. Any Chinese or Olympics-loving torchbearer would protect the torch under such circumstances."

"Local police were separated for me for a moment when activists began to disturb the relay. I was attacked three times. The most terrible moment was when three or four men came to rob the torch, but I couldn't give up. As a torchbearer, that's my duty."