Reach the peak again and strive to defend the title.

In winter, Ding ‘an, Hainan, the temperature of more than 20 degrees Celsius and the calm Nanli Lake attracted the national rowing team to come here for the last winter training before the Paris Olympic Games.

A few days ago, in a highly competitive 4× 2,000m single boat racing confrontation training, the women’s sculls team showed a very high level. Cui Xiaotong, Lu Yang, Zhang Ling and Chen Yunxia, women’s quadruple sculls champions at the Tokyo Olympic Games, were very good at seizing every opportunity to temper themselves, and entered the Paris Olympic time rhythmically, so that every minute of hard work shone with gorgeous colors and the struggling youth did not leave any regrets.

As a physical training project, the winter training of rowing teams has always been boring and hard, with dozens of kilometers of long strokes, coupled with strength rooms and dynamometer, every day there is a feeling that the body is completely drained. However, the players are working hard to complete these training amounts, because only when they have sufficient physical reserves can they have a bottom in their hearts when they reach the international arena.

"I am in good shape now, and I hope that there will be new breakthroughs in various abilities at the end of winter training." "The goal of my winter training is to restore my physical fitness to my peak moment, and now the dynamometer and strength are close." Lu Yang and Cui Xiaotong, two elder sisters on the women’s quadruple boat, said that younger Chen Yunxia and Zhang Ling went all out to make the boat more dynamic and energetic.

The women’s quadruple sculls event is the traditional advantage event of China rowing-in 1993, it was the first to win the World Championship of Olympic events; In 2008, it was the first to win the Olympic champion; Today, it is also the one who hopes to defend the Olympic gold medal.

It is precisely because of this dream that after the Tokyo Olympic Games, Lu Yang, who is 29 years old, did not choose to retire. Cui Xiaotong, who has always been particularly painful to resume training, chose to continue. Chen Yunxia and Zhang Ling also overcame their respective injuries and difficulties to prepare for the war. Hard sweat earned the champion from the World Cup to the World Championships in 2022, which also made a good start for the Paris cycle. However, two world powerhouses, Britain and the Netherlands, have to "smash" women’s quadruplets in this cycle, which has a great impact. Throughout the 2023 season, opponents have maintained a high level of competition, and won the championship and runner-up in the World Championships, while our women’s quadruplets ranked third.

"The main reason is that the state and ability of four people have not reached the best. We will not lose confidence in ourselves because we lost a championship." Lu Yang was very calm and sincere when summing up the 2023 competition. "In this winter training, everyone must first practice their individual abilities, and then four people will work together to improve the performance of the whole boat."

"There are only 200 days before the Paris Olympic Games, and this period is very important for us." Cui Xiaotong also agrees with Lv Yang’s point of view. "Compared with our competitors, we still have an advantage. After all, they have never surpassed our best results in the world at the Tokyo Olympics, so we must seize this last time and restore our ability to the peak level, which is very important for us."

Temporary difficulties will not hinder the girls’ progress, and more clear goals will make them more indomitable. "There are still the last 200 days. The more you get to the back, the more you have to challenge yourself." Zhang Ling is ready to fight for the Paris Olympic Games in one breath. "We have gradually adapted to the training volume and intensity. Although it will be very difficult to reach the coach’s goal, we can only improve our ability if we try hard and break through the limit."

"The four of us are making progress, and the current state is much better than last year." Chen Yunxia and his companions have gained some gains from their efforts, and they are also looking forward to using more efforts to realize their ultimate dreams. "Everyone is now more strict with themselves ideologically. We know that if we want to win, we must pay more, which requires us to be stronger in all aspects. " (From January 11th, China Sports Daily, 01 edition)