Athletes with Minhang sporting ties excel at Hangzhou Asiad
Athletes who have benefited from an essential stage of training in Minhang or are developing their sports careers in the district reaped fruitful results at the just concluded Hangzhou Asian Games, medaling in swimming, rowing and eSport categories, among others. Reporters Yang Yang, Wu Junyan and Mao Haiping learn their stories.
Qin Haiyang
World champion swimmer
Qin, who was selected "Most Valuable Player" by the Hangzhou Asiad Organizing Committee and scooped up five gold medals and one silver in breaststroke, medley and medley relay, received his early swim training at the Minhang District Youth Amateur Athletic School.
Qin, who was only 9 in 2008, traveled from central China's Hunan Province to Minhang for training.
"The boy had a slow yet determined personality, and tended to always pack his belongings neatly," Zhao Fei, Qin's coach at the youth athletic school, recalled.
"Athletic schools tend to neglect training of a swimmer's lower body strength. But at that time, we invited coaches from track and field teams to guide Qin on morning exercises. In addition, to dispel boredom from intense professional training, we also introduced kayaking to raise his interest," Zhao added.
Before 2013, Qin focused his competition on medley and 1,500-meters freestyle, and was frequently one step away from being the champion. Then his coach suggested he try breaststroke.
The decision pointed Qin in the right direction. During the 2013 National Youth Swimming Championship, Qin won first place in the 100-meter and 50-meter breaststroke, and also in the breaststroke all round.
He was also the champion in the 100-meter breaststroke at the 15th Shanghai Games in 2014.
Qin brought home four gold medals from the Fukuoka Swimming World Championship this year.
Qin Haiyang braves the water during the men's 50m breaststroke final at the Hangzhou Asian Games on September 29. He won the championship with a time of 26.35 seconds.
Chen Yunxia
Olympic champion sculler
Chen, an Olympic champion in the women's rowing quadruple sculls, had a similar experience in receiving sports training in Minhang like Qin.
She was also one of the winning team in the Hangzhou Asiad women's rowing quadruple sculls final.
Hailing from Tongliao City in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in north China, Chen was selected into the Field and Track No. 2 Team by Qibao High School in Minhang in 2009. She trained for the long jump and triple jump at first.
At 14 years old, she was already 1.77 meters tall.
"The long jump has a requirement on weight control," Chen said.
"I was in my puberty at that time and found no way to control my weight. That prevented me from making progress in the long jump."
In 2011, her coach made a daring decision when he suggested Chen compete in rowing. That brought Chen to the Shanghai Water Sports Center.
"I ran for 5 kilometers each morning at 6am and intensive rowing of power meters often caused blisters on my hands," she said. "I was previously a long jump athlete, and the exercise load for a rowing athlete was too much for me."
She could apply for leave for only four to six days each year, but she gradually adapted to the new environment and training intensity.
Individually and with others, Chen has won the Asian Youth Championship Double Sculls, the U23 Championship Single Scull, the National Games Single Scull, and an Olympic champion.
Chen Yunxia (right) and her teammates at the Hangzhou Asiad
Chi Xiaoming
eSport athlete
Athletes from Minhang performed well not only in the physical arena during the Asiad.
In the Hangzhou Asiad eSports final, the Chinese team beat the Malaysian team 2:0 to take the gold medal. Among the team members, Chi Xiaoming was an eSport athlete from Minhang. He was a member of the EDward Gaming (EDG) Club in Huacao Town in the district.
The team has won five Demacia Cup titles, five League of Legends Pro League (LPL) titles and the 11th season of the League of Legends World Championship, the highest honor in global LPL competitions.
Shanghai has actively supportied the eSport sector for years.
In a 2023 global eSport cities evaluation report released recently, Shanghai ranked first for the first time, beating Los Angeles, the United States. Shanghai is noted for its excellent eSport basic infrastructure, competition organization and club management.
