Liu Xiang: Beat my opponent again and again.

People will meet all kinds of opponents in their life. Hurdler Liu Xiang believes that without an opponent, there is no motivation. Therefore, he thanked his opponents, who became the target of his hurdles and inspired him to keep moving forward. The following excerpt is from I am Liu Xiang published by Shanghai Sanlian Bookstore.

Since I was a child playing with glass balls, my competitiveness has been surprisingly strong. If others are better than me, I am better than others. I don't know if this will affect my future career in hurdles, but I think it's always good to set a goal for myself.

When I first joined Sun's coaching staff, I was the youngest and worst in the team, and most of my brothers had titles. And my goal is finally locked in my brother Shen Zhensheng who runs 1 10 meter hurdles with me.

Shen Zhensheng is two years older than me. From 1997 to 1998, he broke the national juvenile hurdle record three times, and the worst was 1 100 meter hurdle champion, 1998, the world champion!

I can't remember how many nights I spent practicing alone. In fact, I really want to play with Shen Zhensheng and others, but I know I can't. My foundation is much worse than others. If I want to surpass others, I must pay twice as much sweat and effort.

The official confrontation with Shen Zhensheng was actually the national track and field grand prix in which I joined the team for more than a month, that is, when I ran the "master" scores of 14 seconds and 18, Shen Zhensheng was only 0.0 1 second faster than me! Although a little sorry, I have a strong feeling: "I can surpass him!" " I can! "Strange to say, every time I feel this way, I will really surpass my opponents in the next games, such as the confrontation with Chen and Johnson.

Sure enough, in the 2000 Nanjing Grand Prix, I ran 14.06 seconds and won the second place, while Shen Zhensheng ran 14.27 seconds. I really passed him!

At that time, perhaps subconsciously, I began to pay attention to another person's name and wrote it in the first place in Nanjing: Chen.

……

The name Chen sounded to hurdlers at that time, just as people who played in NBA heard Jordan's name, at least in China. At that time, Chen cong 1993 began to dominate the whole country and even Asia for nearly six years, and no one could surpass it. Moreover, he is also a disciple of my master Sun Haiping, and can be said to be my master elder brother.

Before that, my fights with Chen ended in failure, but in that grand prix, although I still lost to Chen and won the second place, I was only 0.03 second behind him. The strange feeling when I played against Shen Zhensheng came to my mind: "I will definitely surpass my eldest brother and I will definitely do it next time!"

After I came back from the Guangdong competition, I worked hard every day. Sometimes, even the master Sun Haiping doesn't understand the degree of training. He sometimes jokingly said to me, "I can't see it." Why do you practice so hard at once? " I smiled and didn't answer. But I know what I'm thinking-when something you've been waiting for for a long time and think is far away suddenly becomes within reach, what kind of great motivation will that urgent mood turn into.

Only ten days later, the national track and field grand prix moved to Ningbo, and Chen and I stood on the runway as opponents again. Last time my strange intuition was true, 13.45 seconds, I overtook Chen and won the championship. Chen's score is only 0.02 second slower than mine, but I won after all.

This is the first time I have surpassed Chen. Although I had some psychological preparation, I still couldn't believe it for a while. It's true.

If the last battle in Ningbo can be regarded as an accidental miss by Chen, then this time, he must go all out. Similarly, for me, if I was lucky enough to win last time, I must beat him again to really prove my strength.

May 6th, I clearly remember this day. The sky was gray, and it began to rain in Mao Mao, which was exactly the same as the weather on the day when I first participated in the adult competition and reached the standard of an athlete. This time, will I play beyond my level?

1 10 The broadcast of the final hurdles is about to start. Almost all the audience turned to Chen and me, and the' people' in the stadium surrounded the runway with a shout. Suddenly, there were dark people on both sides of the runway.

"bang!" The starting gun rang, and all I could think of was one word: run! Run! Run! One column, two columns, three columns, four columns ... I can clearly feel that Chen is in a position almost parallel to me, and he is trying to fly forward. When I crossed the finish line, I felt that I was parallel to him. Maybe, I'm a little fast, just a little … but I'm not sure at all.

The score finally came out. My score is 13.32, and his score is 13.37, which is 0.05 second faster. I won!

In this way, it seems that I defeated Chen overnight. At the 9th National Games, I won the 1 10 meter hurdles championship with a speed of 0.06 second faster than Chen. Many media say that I have surpassed Chen since then, but only I clearly know that the real transcendence is the Shanghai race on May 6, 2006, 5438+0. I have fulfilled my greatest wish after joining Sun's coach team.

The name of Alan Johnson has been known for a long time. I think everyone who practices hurdling knows his name, just as football players know Bailey and basketball players know Jordan.

As a matter of fact, I have always cared about Johnson. I know he used to practice long jump like me, but a ligament injury in his left leg made him choose hurdles. I feel lucky for him. If he really practices the long jump, there will be one less king in the hurdle world. 1 100 meter hurdles, among the 20 achievements, he is a well-deserved "hurdler king".

When I first practiced hurdling, I didn't expect to see Johnson one day. It must be admitted that he has become my idol. In my opinion, he is a distant mountain, and the day I reached the foot of the mountain was far away, let alone crossing it.

I clearly remember the 200 1 International Athletics Championships held in Edmonton, which was the first time I met Johnson.

Unfortunately, at that time, I was still a little immature. Although I ran 13 seconds 5 1, I basically played my own level, but this result is too common in the world. So I didn't make it to the final. I can only feel Johnson's lightning speed as a bystander. That time, he won the championship with 13.04 seconds. I secretly asked myself, "Liu Xiang, can you run as fast as him in the future?"

As soon as the game was over, I found Johnson and asked him to sign it for me. Then I took a photo with him. Johnson is very polite and friendly to me. I know that asking for his autograph and taking a group photo is actually something that his fans will do, and I am his opponent, so I am not very "face-saving". But I don't care. I admire the strong. Johnson is my strong hurdler. Even if I admit that he is my idol, I am not embarrassed.

In 2002, I participated in the International Indoor Athletics Championships held in Athens, Greece. It was the first time that I stood side by side with Johnson on the runway, and it was also the first time that I competed with him. But it's really a pity that I fell down when I passed the second level in that competition and didn't finish the competition at all. I can only see Johnson's back.

With the gradual improvement of my grades, Johnson and I have played tricks face to face more and more times. Sometimes, recalling that history, I can't help but feel discouraged. Throughout 2003, Johnson and I competed for nearly 65,438+00 times, and I was eliminated without a single victory. But what we can see is that my grades have gradually improved from hovering in the fourth and fifth place to the top three. More often, I have always been the second, and Johnson has always been the first.

There is no doubt that Johnson still stood in front of me like a mountain at that time, but I vaguely felt that the mountain was far from being so far away. I even feel that I have stood at the foot of the mountain, and the next thing to do is to climb up!

May 8, 2004, Osaka, Japan, IAAF Grand Prix.

The day I've been waiting for has finally arrived.

I ran 13.06 seconds, while Johnson's score was 13. 13 seconds. I beat Johnson face to face for the first time. Earlier in Lausanne, Switzerland, I ran 13 seconds 12 and beat him 13 seconds 17, but at that time, we were not in the same group, so we were not face to face. I didn't feel like winning him at all.

However, when I crossed the finish line for the first time and showed Johnson my back for the first time, it was strange that I was not particularly excited. Although I ran 13.06, which broke my original Asian record 13. 12, this result was also the best in the world that year.

But amid the shouts of tens of thousands of spectators, I was still a little confused: I beat Johnson? Is it true?/You don't say. /You don't say.

It was Johnson who made me realize that it was true. After the game, he came to me first. That's the same friendly smile. He patted me on the shoulder and said, "Well done, congratulations!" " "At that moment, I just return to absolute being. It's all true. I beat the world "hurdler king"!