Sunday morning 7AM, sitting down to breakfast in a Kunming hotel dining room, the Olympic news came on the TV screen.
Up flashed images of the first Chinese Olympic Gold medal winner, a spirited 25 year old weightlifter by the name of Chen Xiexia.
China's Chen Xiexia celebrates after winning the gold medal in the women's 48kg weightlifting event of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games at the Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics Gymnasium on August 9, 2008. [Agencies]
|
I'd seen her face before - last year, when she took out the honors at the 2007 World Championships. Her character stuck in my mind. Prior to each lift she would charge herself up by screaming just before rubbing talcum powder into her palms, then taking the lonely walk to the weights bar.
This morning watching her complete her lifts my heart filled with admiration, in awe at her steely resolve and super human heart.
You could feel when she bent down, gripping the bar, not just Guangdong but the wider nation and beyond were all investing into her tiny frame, a collective strength, a group effort - to energize her and give her the power to lift more than twice her body weight above her head.
Taking the women's 48kg weightlifting title in front of a parochial Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics Gymnasium crowd she succeeded on all six attempts and set new Olympic records.
Later she wrapped herself in the national flag and waved coyly to the crowd.
Only a month ago she was in doubt of making the games due to a pulled muscle in her left leg. Her coach said he was amazed by her persistence and revealed how she had battled with confidence issues. At the press conference later she sang a delightful song conveying a gentleness that complemented her obvious "explosive strength".
What makes a star like Chen shine is not just her performance while competing but her manner thereafter. A sense of modesty and decency pervades her demeanor.
She was quick to praise the other Chinese weightlifters that failed to make the team, and thanked them for their support.
She also said she could not have won without the support of the local spectators, saying this meant she didn’t have too much pressure on her, though I doubt this. I think she is just being polite and imagine it was probably the reverse situation.
She also went on to downplay the significance of her winning China's first gold at the Games, saying all gold medals meant the same.
Chinese weightlifting team leader Ma Wenguang shed tears when Chen made her first attempt in the snatch.
He wasn't the only one.
I had to get up from the breakfast table and excuse myself, overcome with emotion. Tears of pride and admiration began dripping onto my toast.
It was a grand achievement from the diminutive dynamo lifting the hearts of Guangdong high into the sky and pounding the hearts of home town Panchu citizens and all observers.
After 13 years of hard training, it was the photos of her parents wearing big cheesy grins of just pure happiness, watching their daughter excel and later addressing the media melee outside their home that signified their lives would never be the same.
Their daughter's achievement has etched itself into the history books and for her extended family, hopefully a more comfortable, quality life.
E-mail: brendanjohnworrell@hotmail.com
