In the men’s long jump final of the 2022 World Track and Field Championships, 26-year-old Chinese player Wang Jiagan turned against the wind with the last jump of 8 meters 36, winning the first gold medal in the world long jump in the history of Chinese track and field. This is not only a historic breakthrough in Chinese men’s field events, but also the first time that Asian athletes have won the championship of long jump in the world championships. This week, Wang Jiaman, who was far away from Eugene in the United States, received an exclusive interview with face to face.

Winning the World Championship

eight years ago, on July 24, 2014, Wang Jiaan, who was under 18 years old, won the men’s long jump championship in the world youth track and field championship with a score of 8 meters 08 in Eugene make a great coup in the United States. In the following eight years, although Wang Jianan has made great achievements and tied the national record of 8 meters 47 at one stroke, he has always missed the highest podium of the world championships and the Olympic Games. At last year’s Tokyo Olympic Games, he jumped out of 7 meters 81 in the preliminary match and failed to enter the final. He went to Eugene again this time. Although he successfully advanced to the final, he was not favored by the outside world at first.

Reporter: I have won the gold medal in the World Youth Championship before. When I came to Eugene before this competition, was the gold medal within my goal?

Wang Jiaman: To be honest, I really didn’t consider the gold medal. I feel that my mentality is particularly good, including I will also observe my opponents and look at everyone’s status during the inspection, in my heart, I booked the top three for this final. The Greek Olympic champion was the first, and the second was the Swedish young man.

Wang Jiaman became the first long jump champion in the world championships in Chinese track and field. He was also the fourth Chinese male player to win the championship in the world championships in track and field after Liu Xiang, Wang Hao and Chen Ding. When all the dust had settled, Wang Jiaman wore the five-starred red flag to celebrate this historic victory in front of more than 20,000 spectators. He had seen this scene several times in his dream.

Reporter: is the moment when dreams come true the same as the previous dream scene?

Wang Jiaman: it can be said to be exactly the same. The only difference is that the feeling of loss when I woke up in my dream was not there that day. I was still questioning myself in my dream before, I said that I won the champion of the single champion world championship. It is impossible. In the dream, others said that they believe in themselves. You have no problem with the little man. You are the champion. When I woke up, I looked at the ceiling. The feeling of loss was particularly strong, but after I won the championship in this competition, the people next to me congratulated me on my congratulations. I didn’t have this feeling of loss.

Ten years of sharpening dreams come true

in 1996, Wang Jiannan was born in Shenyang, Liaoning province. Because of his athletic talent, he was married to track and field very early, and then he was selected into the Jiangsu provincial sports team. At the beginning, he mainly practiced the decathlon, in 2012, the project transfer specialized in long jump.

Since breaking the 8-meter barrier in the early 1980 s, Chinese men’s long jump has been seeking breakthroughs, but most of the athletes have achieved their best results in domestic or Asian competitions. Until 2013, the men’s long jump corps, mainly Li Jinzhe, began to make efforts and emerged on the international stage. It was also this year that 17-year-old Wang Jiaan was elected to the national team. During that period, in order to improve the situation that athletes were weak in foreign war, Chinas track and field team hired Randi Huntington as a foreign teacher, the American legend coach once directed the legendary character Willy banks in the triple jump and Mike Powell, the world record holder of the long jump. Wang Jiaman was coached by Landy and the Chinese coach.

Reporter: What is the impact of his participation on the adjustment of your entire training?

Wang Jiaman: training with foreign teachers, especially those with a character like Landi, will still bring some positive content to our character, which will make our whole team particularly confident, he encouraged me from the time I joined the national team. He always praised me, said I was good, said my ability was fine, said my speed was fine, I always train to compete in his praise, so I will be more confident in the education of my thoughts.

In 2014, Wang Jiaman won the gold medal at the Eugene world youth track and field championships with a score of 8 meters 08, and stood on the top of the world for the first time. In the second year of the Beijing world track and field championships, Wang Jiagan, who was under 19 years old, made history again and won the bronze medal with a score of 8 meters 18, becoming the first Asian athlete to enter the men’s long jump podium in the world championships.

Wang Jiaman: To be honest, after winning that medal, my confidence in me did not really improve greatly, but it put more pressure on me, this medal was the only medal for Asians in 32 years. I got it, and it was an 8-meter-18 score. It was not high or low. At that time, did I think this score was convincing? As a result, I didn’t perform very well in the whole year following 2016, feeling that the whole person was suppressed by the bronze medal.

In the years after the beijing world track and field championships, the overall level of men’s long jump in the world has improved significantly. A number of athletes with scores above 8 meters 50 have emerged in the united states, south africa, cuba, greece and other countries, the difficulty of making young Chinese long jump players such as Wang Jiayan, Huang Changzhou and Gao Xinglong have greatly increased in the competition. In 2016, Wang Jianan went to the Rio Olympic Games for the first time. He jumped 8 meters 24 at the first jump of the qualifier and successfully advanced to the final with the first team.

Wang Jiaman: I went back to the room and didn’t sleep for a night. I want to win the final tomorrow. I want to win a medal. I want to win a silver medal. Can’t I win a gold medal, I jumped 8 meters and 24 meters without any strength today. Tomorrow I will try my best and run faster. I haven’t slept for a whole night.

In the end, Wang Jiaman won the fifth place in the long jump of Rio Olympic Games with a score of 8 meters 17. Although he did not win the medal he expected, but this is already the best result of Chinese men’s long jump players in the history of the Olympic Games. What is not known to everyone is that behind these achievements is that he has been suffering from injuries. After the 2016 Rio Olympics and the 2017 National Games, his left and right knees underwent two knee surgeries.

Reporter: What was the impact of the injury situation on you at that time, and how did you face it at that stage?

Wang Jiaman: after knowing that his menisci was torn, he was depressed for a week. At that time, he didn’t want to practice and wanted to retire. How did the leg stretch and hurt at that time, how to practice? In 2017, I took anti-inflammatory drugs. I took two pills in the morning and two pills in the evening. I ate them for more than a month. At that time, I didn’t know that they had great side effects on the kidney and liver. At that time, I felt young and not afraid, as long as it doesn’t hurt. At that time, what I thought most was whether I could maintain a high level after the operation.

Wang Jiaman: I especially like to admire Liu Xiang very much. I remember I have seen both sides of Liu Xiang. Every time I see him, I want to shed tears. I don’t know why, maybe I feel that he is not easy. We are all athletes. I know too much about his feelings at that time. What he experienced when he was young even said that he experienced too much than us.

Wang Jianan insisted on it. In the 2017 World Championships in London, he jumped 8 meters 23 and ranked seventh; In the 2018 National Track and Field Championship and Asian Games trials, he jumped 8 meters 47, he tied the national record held by Li Jinzhe, which was only 1cm short of the Asian record. In the 2019 Doha World Championship, he ranked sixth with 8 meters 20; in 2020, he ranked first in the world with the best score of 8 meters 36. However, just when he was full of confidence to hit the Tokyo Olympic medal, he broke the Halberd before the final and failed to do so.

Wang Jiaman: at that time, I came to Tokyo as the only athlete with a medal task in the state track and field team jumping department, but I may be the worst person in the jumping group, it also hit me a lot. I think all the problems appear on my own. After Tokyo, I turned all the bad problems that happened before Tokyo into a good side.

One year later, Wang Jiagan jumped hard at Eugene in the United States and boarded the highest podium of the world championships. China’s long jump returned to the international perspective. This unexpected gold medal is not only a reward for him to stick to his teeth in the low ebb for a year, but also the best gift for him to open a new journey.

Wang Jiaman: This medal is the highest level and rank among all the medals I have won, second only to the Olympic gold medal. I am very happy. I hope this gold medal can drive China’s long jump more, chinese track and field encourages more Chinese long jump teenagers.

Reporter: Who do you want to give this gold medal as a gift on the awards stage?

Wang Jiaman: give it to my family, my parents, my wife, and my newborn children.

Reporter: If the child asks you if this gold medal is your most important gold medal, what would you say?

Wang Jiaman: I will tell him that this is actually the best gift he gave me, not the best gift I gave him. Because from knowing him, including expecting him to be born, the kind of encouragement to me, including my parents taking care of my wife, my wife’s understanding and tolerance during pregnancy are all encouragement to me, so it’s not that I give them a gift, I think this is a gift they give me.

Reporter: Will you still see your participation in the next Olympic Games?

Wang Jiaman: I think it will definitely be. I want to impact myself, and I want to break myself.

Producer Qu Liu Bin

reporter Qu Gubing