Shuttling her way back to the top

After being rocked by Olympic disappointment in Paris, China's Chen Yufei is gearing up for an ambitious comeback

By LI YINGXUE | China Daily | Updated: 2025-02-05 10:24
Share
Share - WeChat
As she prepares to return to the international stage following a six-month hiatus from the sport, former Olympic women's singles champion Chen Yufei has developed a more ambitious mindset, and desire to prove her doubters wrong. XINHUA/AFP

After a brief hiatus, badminton world champion Chen Yufei is gearing up for a comeback. Despite maintaining her Weibo username "Chen Yufei on vacation" until late last month, the 26-year-old Tokyo Olympic gold medalist has actually been hard at work, with a renewed focus on claiming the top prize at the Los Angeles Games.

In an exclusive interview with China Daily's online show Tracking Success last month, Chen officially announced her bid for a third shot at Olympic glory. The same day the show was published, related Weibo topics surged to the platform's trending list, amassing over 40 million views.

Chen's Olympic career has been marked by both triumph and setbacks. At the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, she made an unforgettable debut as the youngest player in China's 14-member badminton squad. At just 23 years of age, she overcame Chinese Taipei's Tai Tzu-ying in a thrilling 2-1 final, ending a nine-year drought for China in the women's singles competition.

However, her title defense at the Paris Olympics last year ended in disappointment. As one of only two Olympic champions in China's 16-player roster, Chen fell 2-0 to teammate He Bingjiao in the women's singles quarterfinals. The result was in stark contrast to her strong record against He, as Chen struggled to find her form on the court.

After her early exit from the Paris Olympics, Chen took a step back from the sport, spending 10 weeks in Australia to study English. She returned home at the end of last year, refreshed and ready to pursue the next chapter of her life.

Chen explained her decision to temporarily leave the court: "After the Olympics, I didn't want to return to the field, because I felt that someone without ambition shouldn't be there."

Ambition has been a key theme in Chen's reflections over the past few months. Looking back at the previous Olympic cycle, she admitted that her mindset was a challenge.

"After the Tokyo Olympics, I was constantly competing and felt exhausted. I said I just wanted to play badminton for fun, but I didn't really know what I wanted. I wanted to win, but I also wanted to enjoy myself."

Following her disappointment at the Paris Olympics, Chen took a break to rethink her approach. She also changed her Weibo name to mark her time away from competition.

During her break, Chen kept up her strength training, but also turned to mental exercise as well.

"I've always wanted to learn English, but could never stick with it," she explained. "After the Olympics, I had the chance, so I took it. At first, it was tough, but I persisted. I realized that, if I can keep going with English, I can also keep improving in badminton."

The time away allowed Chen to gain clarity about her future. "I realized that I still love badminton. I also understood that competitive sports are not just about effort. Victory requires the right mindset — ambition is critical. That's what I'm going to focus on moving forward."

After her return, Chen updated her social media, sharing her renewed outlook: "Ten weeks of English lessons have come to an end, and my study abroad is wrapping up. This experience showed me a world beyond badminton and introduced me to so many wonderful people."

"I've made new plans for the future, and now it's time to meet you all where you've missed me. Brave Yufei is ready to return to the badminton court," she wrote.

1 2 3 4 5 Next   >>|
Top
BACK TO THE TOP
English
Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

Registration Number: 130349
FOLLOW US
主站蜘蛛池模板: 国产精品亚洲精品日韩已方| 日本人强jizz多人| 北岛玲亚洲一区在线观看| 1000部国产成人免费视频| 好男人在线社区| 久久精品一本到99热免费| 欧美高清性色生活片免费观看| 四虎色姝姝影院www| 麻豆国产一区二区在线观看 | 动漫毛片在线观看| 黄网站在线观看| 国产精品自在自线| √天堂资源最新版中文种子| 日本妇人成熟免费| 亚洲国产夜色在线观看| 理论秋霞在线看免费| 四影虎库1515mc海外| 黄色网站在线免费| 国产精品自产拍2021在线观看 | 国产午夜精品福利| 44luba爱你啪| 天天做天天爱夜夜爽| 中文字幕在线精品| 日韩欧美高清在线| 亚洲国产精品嫩草影院| 狼人无码精华AV午夜精品| 啊灬啊灬啊灬快灬性| 香港经典aa毛片免费观看变态 | 狠狠色丁香久久婷婷综合| 同城免费妇女寂寞| 青青视频国产在线播放| 国产特级毛片aaaaaa毛片| 91成人午夜在线精品| 天天舔天天射天天干| 三年片在线观看免费观看大全中国 | 四虎国产精品永久地址99| 高清国产一级精品毛片基地| 国产精品免费av片在线观看| 97国产在线公开免费观看| 夫妇交换性三中文字幕| 一线在线观看全集免费高清中文 |