HANGZHOU, Oct. 8 (Xinhua) — The Hangzhou Asian Games marked the curtain name of many veterans of the athletic stage. Regardless of how they carried out on the Asiad, their perseverance deserves to be remembered. Here are eight of these shining stars.
1. Oksana Chusovitina (Artistic Gymnastics)
48-year-old Oksana Chusovitina of Uzbekistan is a real legend on the gymnastics stage who exemplified enduring spirit on the Hangzhou Asian Games.
She narrowly missed a medal within the vault last by ending on 13.383 factors, solely 0.15 factors behind China’s Yu Linmin, who claimed a bronze medal.
Despite her sense of remorse at lacking the rostrum, she has already shifted her focus to additional enhancements, declaring, “Before the Olympic qualification competitions, I need to work on certain aspects.”
2. Abdullah Alrashidi (Shooting)
60-year-old Abdullah Alrashidi of Kuwait elevated his tally of Asian Games medals to a formidable 10 in Hangzhou, whereas matching the world file within the males’s skeet last.
“In Kuwait, we face significant limitations in training conditions, but I possess innate talent, coupled with experience and relentless training, which has brought me to this level,” he commented.
3. Reza Alipour Shenazandifard (Climbing)
Iran’s Reza Alipour Shenazandifard, 29, upset a number of favorites to defend his males’s velocity climbing title.
Shenazandifard defeated China’s Zhong Qixin 5 years in the past in Jakarta, claiming the primary males’s velocity climbing gold within the historical past of the Asian Games.
However, Shenazandifard had barely made a podium end on the worldwide stage since 2018, however displayed his capability once more by displaying stability with zero errors all through the ultimate in Hangzhou.
“For five years I had been training hard everyday. I lost, lost, lost, but still trained from morning to night. I sometimes cried alone at night, but I never give up,” mentioned Shenazandifard.
4. Alexey Lutsenko (Road biking)
Kazakhstan’s Alexey Lutsenko efficiently defended his title within the males’s particular person time trial of the highway biking competitors in Hangzhou.
The 31-year-old, who had beforehand claimed the occasion’s golds at Incheon 2014 and Jakarta 2018, completed in 48 minutes and 5.75 seconds.
“The achievement [at the Asian Games] was the main goal for this year, and I put in a lot of effort for it,” he mentioned.
5. Gong Lijiao (Shot put)
34-year-old Olympic champion Gong Lijiao pocketed her third Asiad shot put title with a throw of 19.58 meters.
Despite having develop into a Grand Slam winner after being topped on the Tokyo Olympics with a private better of 20.58 meters, Gong has by no means stopped attempting to succeed in a better objective.
“I will keep pursuing a better performance; I hope to break the 21-meter mark at the Paris Olympics,” she mentioned.
6. Ma Long (Table tennis)
After serving to China obtain its eighth consecutive males’s staff title on the Hangzhou Asiad, Ma Long, 34, arguably the best desk tennis participant of all time, bade farewell to his Asiad journey.
Starting his Asiad marketing campaign in Doha in 2006, Ma has six gold medals beneath his belt, along with his first coming from the staff occasion in 2006. He then claimed the singles and staff golds at Guangzhou 2010, and got here high within the doubles and staff occasions at Incheon 2014.
“My Asian Games might be done, but I still have other competitions coming up in future,” Ma mentioned.
7. Li Ling (Athletics)
Li Ling broke her personal pole vault Games file to win her third straight Asiad gold medal.
34-year-old Li wanted solely two makes an attempt to clear 4.30m and 4.53m. She went on to clear 4.63m on her first strive, bettering the Games file she set 5 years in the past in Jakarta by three centimeters.
“I feel that I might not be as nervous as before. When I first participated in the Asian Games, I would get very nervous, but now my mindset is much calmer,” she mentioned. “This is because my goal is very clear and it’s to break my personal best. When I set my goal higher, I don’t have an overwhelming obsession with the gold medal because I have higher objectives to pursue.”
8. Li Qian (Boxing)
Having misplaced to India’s Lovlina Borgohain within the World Championships semifinals in March, Li Qian underlined her ability within the ladies’s 75kg last and regularly received the bout beneath management en path to clinch her maiden Asiad gold medal.
“I have been training hard in the past nine years and have participated in all kinds of competitions,” mentioned Li, silver medalist on the 2014 Incheon Asian Games. “It has been a long tough journey for me to finally win gold.”
The 33-year-old has set her sights excessive on her third Olympic Games in Paris, aiming to transform her silver in Tokyo right into a gold.
“I’m more stable and mature mentally. I also have a higher standard for myself,” added Li.