Now, nearly 20 years have passed, and the beauty champion of that year has achieved a perfect transformation. As the deputy director of Guangzhou Sports Bureau and the president of Guangzhou Badminton Association, she is busy and thinking every day. The World Youth Championship, Tang You Cup, China Open and Sudirman Cup are only one world championship away, and Guangzhou will soon become a grand slam city hosting world-class badminton events. Turning Guangzhou into a city of badminton is the direction she has been working hard.
Guan Weizhen, who is now the deputy director of Guangzhou Sports Bureau, is still as elegant as ever. Because she is in charge of mass sports, she can be seen wearing sportswear and short hair in large-scale mass sports activities every year, such as walking race, dragon boat race and crossing the Pearl River. Many old Guangzhou people are still familiar with this face they saw on TV before, and people come forward to say hello from time to time. In government offices, she often wears professional clothes and speaks elegantly. In the municipal authorities, she is also a famous "beauty director".
After taking the leadership position, Guan Weizhen has been committed to promoting and popularizing badminton. She thinks badminton has a good foundation in Guangzhou. "Badminton is more suitable for the physical characteristics of Guangzhou people. Guangzhou people really like badminton." Guangzhou has a population of 3 million badminton courts 1500. It trains a world champion every three years, and the establishment of an international badminton training center is the best proof. In 1970s and 1980s, badminton talents came forth in large numbers in China. Guan Weizhen began to practice badminton at the age of 65,438+00. However, due to physical limitations, she followed the coach's advice-changed to practice doubles, which also made her go up a storey still higher.
Whether Lin Ying or Nong Qunhua, Guan Weizhen can establish a tacit understanding with her partner. She once said, "Everyone has his own personality, so you should ask yourself to be comprehensive, not the other person, but you should adapt to the other person."
Because of this, Guan Weizhen became the only player in the history of the World Championships who won the women's doubles championship three times in a row. I won the championship nine times in international competitions such as the World Badminton Championship, and the only regret is that I didn't win an Olympic gold medal, one step away.
That was before the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games. Guan Weizhen, who was almost 30 years old, had planned to retire, but after repeated persuasion by then head coach Wang Wenjiao, she insisted on participating in the Olympic Games. At that time, she partnered with Nong Qunhua and made it through all the way, becoming the only pair of finalists of China team at that time.
In the final, their opponents were South Korean stars Huang Huiying and Zheng. In the first game, Guan Weizhen/Nong Qunhua made a mistake in serving when 15 was ahead of 14, and was won by a Korean player with 18+06. In the second game, Guan Weizhen/Nong Qunhua pulled back a game with a ratio of 15 12; In the deciding game, with 1 1 behind 14, Guan Weizhen and Nong Qunhua stubbornly chased the score to 13 14. At the crucial moment, the referee also ruled that Guan Weizhen had misjudged when receiving the service. As a result, they lost by 13 to 15.
In this game, the British referee on duty actually sentenced China players to serve six times at the crucial moment. Although the British referee was permanently banned by the World Badminton Federation after the Olympic Games, the result of the competition could not be changed. A small step away from the Grand Slam, Guan Weizhen ended her career as an athlete. 199265438+February, Guan Weizhen retired. Many athletes went abroad to teach and earn dollars after retiring, which was very popular at that time, but Guan Weizhen chose to go back to Guangzhou. In April of the following year, she served as the deputy director of the Guangzhou Municipal Sports Commission. However, considering her lack of cultural knowledge, she postponed her appointment for several years and plunged into the university campus to "recharge". 1994, at the age of 30, she started a formal undergraduate study, and finally completed her studies in international journalism and communication at the School of Journalism of Jinan University, and obtained a bachelor's degree in journalism. This work-study life has made her gain a lot, not only applying what she has learned to her work in time, but also asking teachers, classmates and books for advice on the problems encountered in her work, which laid a solid foundation for her smooth transition from an athlete to a leader of the sports bureau.
Often dealing with some international organizations, Guan Weizhen realized that it would be difficult to communicate with them on an equal footing if he could not master English skillfully. At this time, she felt the importance of English more and more urgently, and she had a great wish that she could concentrate on learning English well for a long time. Nowadays, English books can be seen everywhere in her office. She also smiled and said that if she had to choose again, she would choose one more English major when she was in college. Guan Weizhen said in an interview that the Olympic champion is the highest goal of athletes. Although she has won numerous world championships, the Olympic Games is the most sacred and lofty in an athlete's life. If she can get it, it will represent her highest achievement. Believe in yourself, do your best and have the ability to beat your opponent.
Guan Weizhen and Nong Qunhua played well in the Barcelona Olympic Games and reached the finals all the way, but both China and South Korea are in the leading ranks in the badminton world competition. Korean stars Huang Huiying and Zheng have also won many world championships. This game was a contest between the top players in the world at that time. When the two sides fought to 10 ratio 10 in the deciding game, the referee inexplicably sentenced Nong Qunhua to an online foul. At that time, Guan Weizhen and Nong Qunhua didn't care too much about the ball, but at the crucial moment, the referee repeatedly sentenced Guan Weizhen to serve illegally and receive the ball incorrectly. Finally, they decided to use 65438+.
At that time, Guan Weizhen felt very painful, uncomfortable and wronged, and could not accept it. At that time, his mind suddenly exploded and he couldn't react! ! Guan Wei Zhen said, if it weren't for such a misjudgment, they would have defeated their opponents. The first and last Olympic Games ended in this way, and Guan Weizhen chose to accept the result. However, due to some objective factors, Guan Weizhen's last career did not end perfectly and happily. Finally, she accepted the fact. She said that athletes come out of success and failure, but when the dust settles, stepping off the podium is a new beginning. So far, Guan Weizhen feels that this is the biggest regret of her sports career. Guan Weizhen's heart has never left badminton. 1998, she ushered in the opportunity to develop her potential. She accepted the appointment of Guangzhou Sports Bureau and was responsible for the establishment of Guangzhou Badminton Management Center. This management center, which integrates Guangzhou Badminton Association, national fitness and competition, is the first in China, and its model is unique in China. This is a Guangzhou-style system innovation, and the leaders hope that badminton can find a new way in its development.
Later, despite her busy work, Guan Weizhen paid great attention to the cultivation of connotation after work. The hosting of Beijing Olympic Games and Guangzhou Asian Games will bring unprecedented opportunities and challenges to the sports development in China and Guangzhou.
Accordingly, since 2004, Guan Weizhen began to study professional knowledge in a planned way after her busy work. In the end, it took her two years to successfully complete the study task of the master of sports management course in Tsinghua University and obtain a master's degree in management from the school.
During her study, Guan Weizhen always insisted on using learning to promote her study, and both her study and work should be "correct". She applies her knowledge to work, social activities and international sports affairs, and strives to become a sports management expert who is familiar with management theory and practice and adapts to the trend of international competition. Her efforts have been recognized by international sports organizations, and she was elected as a member of the development department of the World Badminton Federation in 2005.
Guan Weizhen devoted her passion and ideal to her beloved badminton career, which is closely linked with the development of badminton career in China. After taking office, Guan Weizhen selected a group of young people with new ideas to form a team and formulated a five-year development plan for Guangzhou badminton, aiming at holding international competitions and promoting the development of local badminton. From an athlete to a manager, she completed a gorgeous transformation.
Fu Hanxun, (a famous badminton coach, once served as badminton coach of Guangzhou Gymnasium Sports School, downtown sports school and sports team of the Municipal Sports Commission, part-time vice chairman of the 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th Guangzhou Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese, chairman of Guangzhou Municipal Committee of Zhi Gong Dang and vice chairman of Guangzhou).
Fu, who is nearly seventy years old, still remembers seeing Guan Virgin for the first time. "That was 197 1 year. When she was studying at Xianlie East Road Primary School in Shahe, she was brought to us by the physical education teacher for amateur training. The first time I saw her, I thought she had a good figure. More importantly, her arm strength is very good, and she is a throwing champion every year at school. " Despite his good physical condition, Guan Weizhen also had a big weakness at that time, that is, his lower limbs were not flexible enough. To this end, Fu also added some training programs to her. "Because she is young and a girl, it is hard to avoid being a little effeminacy. However, with the increase of age, her consciousness has increased and she has overcome the inflexibility of her lower limbs. The characteristics of good hands-on skills and great strength are more obvious, and her level has improved rapidly. " Fu told reporters that Guan Weizhen later went to the national team and they often talked on the phone.
1At the end of 992, Guan Weizhen retired and returned to Guangzhou as the deputy director of the Guangzhou Municipal Sports Commission. At first, she lived in the tutor's house. "Just like my own daughter," Fu recalled that period and praised Guan Weizhen for her strong adaptability. "Without any experience, it was still difficult for her to take a leadership position just after she retired from the national team, but I didn't have much experience in this field at that time, so I encouraged her to learn and consult more from her colleagues, but I found that she was particularly adaptable and could get started quickly, so we didn't have it later.
In Fu's view, Guan Weizhen is becoming more and more mature in all aspects, especially in the layout and planning of badminton development in Guangzhou in the past decade. At the same time, Guan Weizhen's activity ability is also very strong, and the settlement of a series of badminton events has also improved Guangzhou's popularity at home and abroad.
To this day, there is still one thing in Mr. Fu's mind that he regrets most, that is, Guan Weizhen and Lin Ying lost the chance to win the Olympic gold medal in the badminton women's doubles final of Barcelona Olympic Games in 1992. Bonita, who won the women's doubles championship in the Olympic Games and the World Championships and is now the deputy director of the Guangzhou Badminton Sports Management Center, said: I admire Senior Sister very much, because as an athlete, it is not easy to transform into an executive after retirement, but it is even more rare for her to do so well. Moreover, I think she is a little different from the current athletes. Like us, she is careless and belongs to thick lines, and many things are almost forgotten. But she is very serious and pays great attention to details, and she can find fault with you and tell convincing reasons.
In addition, she is good at planning the future, seeing things comprehensively, seeing far and having original opinions. As my senior and current leader, she is still very strict with us. She looks cool on the surface, and everyone is a little afraid of her, but in fact she is very good inside. Although she won't say anything nice, she can help you silently behind your back. I have encountered such a thing several times. Fate especially favors her beauty. Twenty years ago, she won the women's doubles championship at the Beijing Asian Games. Twenty years later, she became one of the organizers of the Guangzhou Asian Games. Guan Weizhen said that the greatest wealth left to her by sports is not only the exercise of will and physique, but most importantly, it gives her a far-sighted international vision.
The 20 10 Guangzhou Asian Games is the focus of Guan Weizhen's work now. She once participated in the Beijing Asian Games as an athlete. After 20 years, she prepared for the Asian Games as a contestant, and she even showed a cautious attitude of walking on thin ice.
She said, "As long as you step into the preparatory work, you will feel a great responsibility, because you can't make any mistakes. As long as there are mistakes, it will affect the influence of Guangzhou as a whole, including the whole country in Asia. " As a leader, she is under great pressure.
Speaking of organizing the Asian Games, she said that this significance may have a heavier sense of history and mission than her participation in the Olympic Games. As a strong sports province, Guangdong is full of confidence in running this Asian Games well. On the eve of the one-year countdown to the Asian Games, Guan Weizhen called on Guangzhou citizens to participate more actively. As the organizer, the Asian Games Organizing Committee can also provide more interactive activities, and don't leave regrets in your life.
She put forward her hope for next year's Asian Games: "If all Guangzhou people, including us, can have such a heart, then we should not neglect to integrate this force, so that all Asia and the whole world can see that the Guangzhou Asian Games is not an Asian Games made of materials, but should fully reflect our characteristics and have our own characteristics."
Guan Weizhen, a former athlete, became the deputy director of today's game. She plays every role properly. She speaks slowly, but with a little confidence. Just as she sees the future of Guangzhou badminton, even if Xie leaves and the old players retire, there will always be someone to do this business.
As Han Aiping, a former world champion and former teammate, said: "It is really not easy for Guan Weizhen to achieve such achievements as an excellent athlete, and it is also a great encouragement to the majority of sports people." Reporter: Among many retired athletes, your transformation is relatively successful. What is the secret?
Guan Weizhen: At that time, after many athletes retired, it was very popular to go abroad as coaches to earn dollars. My greatest wish is to study, hoping to learn scientific and cultural knowledge systematically, so I chose to go back to Guangzhou and study at Jinan University. When I was an athlete, I often interviewed and dealt with journalists the most, so I chose international news at that time.
Reporter: Now your work in the Sports Bureau is actually very busy. Why do you want to take a part-time job in Guangzhou Asian Games Organizing Committee?
Guan Weizhen: First of all, I feel lucky to work in the Asian Games Organizing Committee, because not everyone has this opportunity. In fact, although I have been engaged in sports, I didn't take part in the preparations for the Asian Games until February this year. I hold several positions now. The mass activities here in the Sports Bureau continue all year round. I also have the deputy director of the celebration and cultural activities department of the Asian Games Organizing Committee, and later the director of the badminton team. However, I will allocate my time to synchronize my work. It can be said that this year is my busiest, most fulfilling and most challenging year.
Reporter: Are you asking for trouble?
Guan Weizhen: Not asking for trouble. I think this opportunity in life is rare. If I didn't attend, it would be the biggest regret in my life. Because I have participated in two Asian Games, I am now at home and am a sports official. If I don't have a chance to enter, it will be very painful for me to feel lost.
Reporter: You are the vice minister in charge of the torch relay in the celebration and cultural activities department of the Asian Games Organizing Committee. How is this different from your previous experience as a torchbearer in passing the torch of the Beijing Olympic Games?
Guan Weizhen: My mind is very peaceful, because I often change positions in various roles. In fact, you can experience different real feelings from different roles, and the gains are different. Torchbearer is a symbolic honor, but it is a temper to have the opportunity to organize and coordinate the torch relay. This experience is very valuable to my life.
Reporter: As a badminton world champion, now you are also committed to promoting badminton in Guangzhou. Is this an irresistible complex?
Guan Weizhen: Guangzhou has hosted the World Championships, Thomas Cup, Uber Cup and Sudirman Cup. If the World Championships can be held again, it will be a grand slam city. At present, no city in the world can do it. China is one of the world's badminton powers. If Guangzhou can play such a leading role in China, I think as a citizen of Guangzhou, it is a very proud thing, which should be advocated and developed.
This is not my personal business. I have only worked for more than ten years to popularize badminton and make more people like badminton. But I hope more people will extend this concept in the future. I hope that the senior sisters can take over this baton after returning to Guangzhou, pass on the badminton culture and keep moving forward, so that more people like badminton and bring more excitement. This is also my greatest wish. As a badminton player who has made brilliant achievements in the world, Guan Weizhen regards promoting the development of badminton as his lifelong career. 1998 Entrusted by the Party Committee of the Municipal Sports Bureau, she took the lead in setting up the Guangzhou Badminton Sports Management Center in China. According to the regional and national characteristics of Guangzhou, she put forward the goal of making badminton a "city ball" in Guangzhou and put it into practice actively.
Grasping the competition, she personally promoted Guangzhou to hold an international badminton competition every year from 2000, replacing training with competition and strengthening the actual training of athletes. Under her specific leadership, in recent years, Guangzhou badminton players have achieved excellent competitive results: in the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, Yang Wei and bonita won the women's doubles championship; Xie won the runner-up in women's singles at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, and also won gold medals in women's doubles and women's singles at the World Badminton Championships, ranking first in the world in women's singles and doubles in recent two years.
She vigorously promoted the international badminton training center and used her influence to make Guangzhou the only city in China and the second city in the world with an international badminton training center. Under her impetus, the population of badminton in Guangzhou has reached more than 2 million, the total number of badminton courts has exceeded 1.600, and there are 1.72 business premises, making it a veritable "badminton capital". "At present, mass sports have been mentioned to an unprecedented new strategic height and become a livelihood project." As the deputy director in charge of mass sports, Guan Weizhen thinks so, and so does she.
She proposed that the mass sports work in Guangzhou should be planned according to the "three-oriented" standards of internationalization, quality and socialization, and the social value of mass sports should be realized by strengthening the service function of government sports companies in accordance with the principle of "jumping out of sports to see sports and jumping out of Guangzhou to see achievements".
In order to build all kinds of convenient sports facilities, on the one hand, she won the support of the sports lottery public welfare fund, on the other hand, she vigorously attracted social funds to strengthen the supporting construction of stadiums and fitness facilities, which prompted the Municipal Sports Bureau to allocate 20 million yuan from the sports lottery public welfare fund for the construction of community sports facilities every year during the Eleventh Five-Year Plan period. At the same time, she also led various districts (county-level cities), towns and all walks of life to invest more than 400 million yuan to build more than 1600.
In order to expand the opening of public sports facilities, she went deep into the grass-roots investigation, put forward and formulated the Measures for Opening School Sports Facilities to the Society in Guangzhou, and promoted the opening of more than 1000 school venues in the city to the society. This practice of the Municipal Sports Bureau was fully affirmed by the State Sports General Administration, and the experience was introduced at the national working conference on the opening of school sports venues to the society.
In order to enrich the brand of national fitness activities, she organizes more than 60 city-wide collective activities every year, with more than 20 million people participating from 2002 to 2008. Activities such as People Walking on New Year's Day, International Dragon Boat Invitational Tournament, Pearl River Crossing, People Mountaineering in Autumn, and People Healthy Running have gradually formed brands. Accordingly, in 2007, the State General Administration of Sport awarded Guangzhou "National Fitness Olympic Peer" Excellent Organization Award. This award is a full affirmation of the specific organizers and another new milestone in Guan Weizhen's sports career.
From the beauty pageant champion to the beauty pageant chairman and director, Guan Weizhen has been making unremitting efforts. Her dream has never been disillusioned, but it is becoming more and more real. This woman, who can't live without badminton all her life, is building Guangzhou Badminton City step by step. In June 2008, Guan Weizhen attended the first meeting of the "Sports and Peace" Committee of the OCA in Muscat, Oman. Guan Weizhen's election as a member of the "Sports and Peace" Committee of the Olympic Council of Asia fully affirmed Guan Weizhen's important contribution to Asian sports, which is an honor for Guan Weizhen personally, as well as for China sports and Guangzhou sports circles.
The primary task of the "Sports and Peace" Committee of the Olympic Council of Asia is to promote the peaceful coexistence of Asian children and adolescents and strengthen the intermediary role of sports in mediating conflicts in the Olympic movement; Its unique perspective is that in the Olympic movement, through sustainable projects and the tradition of creating peace, the "Sports and Peace" Committee will play a leading role in changing the lives of millions of teenagers and children in Asia; Its main value lies in establishing the "leading position" of the "Sports and Peace" Committee and promoting "respect and tolerance" and "teamwork spirit" through sports.
Guan Weizhen said that by attending the meeting of the "Sports and Peace" Committee, she got in touch with sports management elites from all over the world, increased her understanding of sports development in Asia, and further understood the importance of promoting peace through sports. At the same time, she also learned many new sports management concepts and methods, which she will integrate into the future sports management. 2011/at noon on February 9 (7: 00 a.m. Beijing time), the orange door of the extraordinary conference hall on the first floor of Hilton Hotel Queenstown, South Island, New Zealand has been closed for three and a half hours. Jiang Rongzhong, president of the World Badminton Federation, and 25 other directors of the World Badminton Federation filed out. Then, Jiang Rongzhong, Parsons, executive vice presidents of BWF, and Lund, chief operating officer, sat at a long table with the two logo patterns of BWF as the background, and other directors were surrounded behind. All the members of the four bidding delegations, Guangzhou, China, Copenhagen, China, Macau, China and Kuala Lumpur, China, who bid for the World Championships and Sudirman Cup, were arranged by officials of the World Badminton Federation respectively, waiting for a tense moment.
With Jiang Rongzhong's pronunciation of "Guangzhou, China", the Guangzhou bid delegation embraced and celebrated with excitement in the warm applause. Guan Weizhen, who has an indissoluble bond with the World Championships, has glittering tears in her eyes ... It is unforgettable for anyone for the first time. Guan Weizhen's first world championship was won at the 1987 badminton world championship. As a reporter who interviewed Guan Weizhen on the spot 24 years ago, I still remember the excitement when Guan Weizhen won the championship. Just like the famous "Three Dreams of the Olympic Games", Guan Weizhen realized two dreams of participating in the World Championships and winning the World Championships. The last "World Championship Dream" is to hold a World Championship as a sponsor and organizer.
China waited for 24 years from the breakthrough of Olympic gold medal zero to the successful hosting of the Olympic Games. Coincidentally, it just took Guan Weizhen 24 years to win the badminton World Championship and successfully bid for the World Championships. Who can sing? As the "Queen of Badminton" in China in 1980s and 1990s, Guan Weizhen and Li were both comrades-in-arms of the national team in their early years, and they were also "iron brothers and sisters" of similar age. The most significant thing is that as early as 1987 Beijing World Badminton Championships, Li won the gold medal in women's singles in the World Championships, and Guan Weizhen won the women's doubles championship in the World Championships, that is, Guan Weizhen.
What a coincidence. When the Guangzhou Olympic bid delegation arrived at the hotel in Queenstown after many twists and turns, as soon as they entered the hotel lobby, well-dressed Li happened to meet Guan Weizhen head-on, and the two former "badminton queens" met strangely in a foreign country. The good sisters embraced happily and exchanged pleasantries for their coincidence meeting in Queenstown. It turned out that this time Li came to Queenstown as a senior director of the World Badminton Federation to attend the World Badminton Federation Council. Li has also become the strongest backing to help Guangzhou bid for the World Championships.
Coincidentally, as a contemporary of Guan Weizhen, Nora, a British badminton "Queen" star, also came to Queenstown this time. These three former badminton queens, who are outstanding in appearance and superb in skills, finally reunited and performed a beautiful story of a "badminton queen" in Empress Duan Town. 20 10 The last leg of the torch relay of Guangzhou Asian Games is Guangzhou Station with the largest number of torchbearers and the longest relay time and route. From 5th to 1 1 day, 6 13 torchbearers will take part in the relay in Guangzhou. 130 torchbearers will carry the torch in the university town with a total mileage of about 15km.
The 130 torchbearers who participated in today's torch relay gathered with stars. The first torchbearer is Yang Yang, a former short track speed skater and member of the International Olympic Committee. The last torchbearer was Zhong Nanshan, academician of China Academy of Engineering and president of Chinese Medical Association. Today, many famous stars are holding torches in their hands. Citizens can not only participate in the torch relay, but also get a glimpse of this superstar. Badminton world champion Guan Weizhen, tennis champion Sun, table tennis new sister Liu and other Olympic champions and world champions will all appear. In addition, many artists have joined us, including Ceng Zhiwei, President of Hong Kong Artists Association, and Zhang Ziyi, an international movie star. In addition, An Qixuan, Alan Tam, Charlene Choi (Asa), Hins Cheung and Lang Lang will also participate. 20 10 Guangzhou Asian Games torch relay in Guangzhou University Town 165438+ 10/0/1,torchbearer Zhang Tie-Lin (left) and torchbearer Guan Weizhen handed over the torch. On the same day, the torch relay of 16 Asian Games was held in Guangzhou University Town. 130 torchbearers completed the Asian Games torch relay mileage of 15.2 km, and the Asian Games torch relay in Guangzhou Station was successfully completed. 165438+1October 12, the last five torchbearers will deliver the Asian Games torch to the opening ceremony to light the main torch of this Asian Games.
Located at the corner of Outer Ring East Road and Outer Ring West Road in University Town, the No.5 torchbearer Guan Weizhen got off the bus, and many teachers and students immediately shouted the following slogan: "Look at the world champion, welcome to Guangzhou Asian Games!" Hearing the cry, Guan Wei Jane waved to the crowd. Not long after, she started the torch run of120m this morning with the Asian Games flame. See Guan Weizhen running all the way, waving to passers-by on the side of the road. 1 min 20 seconds later, Guan Weizhen handed the torch to the next great Zhang Tie-Lin. This flame combination of "World Champion" and "Emperor Ama" suddenly set off an atmosphere of onlookers around, and citizens who had gathered in the distance immediately flocked here. "That's the world champion, running faster than others.