Sun Yingsha: “I'm quite proud of myself being able to be a role model”

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The 21-year-old world number 1, Olympic team gold and singles silver medallist, opens up about inspiring her peers.

這位21歲的世界第一，奧運會團體金牌和單打銀牌獲得者，公開了她對同齡人的激勵。

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What do you do when at?age 21?you've already won?Olympic and World Championship team gold?medals and become?world number 1? Would you embrace your?position and the responsibilities?that come with it?

That's a question that China's?Sun Yingsha?has had to answer after finally reaching the peak of?table tennis?– first for seven weeks in February and March 2022, then again since July this year.

Speaking to Olympics.com via the ITTF, the?2018 Youth Olympic Games?gold medallist acknowledged the added attention and pressure her achievements have brought, admitting it came at a level which she was not prepared for.

"It's true that people have paid more attention to me and have expectations for me more than I thought they would," Sun says keenly.

But it's something she has grown into.

當(dāng)21歲的你已經(jīng)贏得奧運會和世界錦標(biāo)賽團體金牌并成為世界第一時，你會怎么做？你會接受你的地位和隨之而來的責(zé)任嗎？

這是中國的孫穎莎在最終達到乒乓球的頂峰后不得不回答的問題--先是2022年2月和3月的七周，然后是今年7月以來的再次。

這位2018年青奧會金牌得主通過ITTF向Olympic.com發(fā)表講話時，承認(rèn)她的成就帶來了更多的關(guān)注和壓力，承認(rèn)這是她沒有準(zhǔn)備好的水平。

“人們對我的關(guān)注和對我的期望確實比我想象的要多?！?/span>孫穎莎敏銳地說道。

但這是她已經(jīng)成長起來的事情。

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Sun Yingsha on being a motivation for her peers

孫穎莎談成為同齡人的動力

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For Sun, the biggest impact of her success has been connecting with her peers – so to speak. While Sun has had a life scheduled around her table tennis training regiment, others her age will not have had the same exploits.

Being world number 1 and finding out about her reach, therefore, has been a validating experience for Sun.

"There are times I think some people might pay attention, or might know who I am, but there are probably more people who do than I think," she explains. "They may be the same age as me. Some may be in university, some may be taking exams.

"Sometimes before the college entrance examinations, I actually think even though I'm not in the same career as them, I feel the same pressure and the same tension (from competitions). I actually understand them very well, so I think I'm quite proud of myself being able to be their role model."

Sun admits having seen videos where young adults in her age group are asked about people who inspire them, and hearing herself as the answer – saying that, in turn, motivates her.

"I come across students my age being asked who their idol is or who inspires them and they say 'Sun Yingsha'," she reveals.

"They may say that I motivate them and things like that, and I'm very happy that within my peers and those younger than me, I'm inspiring them, and at the same time encouraging myself more and more."

對孫穎莎來說，她的成功最大的影響是與她的同齡人建立聯(lián)系--可以這么說。雖然孫穎莎的生活是圍繞著她的乒乓球訓(xùn)練計劃進行的，但與她同齡的其他人不會有同樣的經(jīng)歷。

因此，成為世界第一并發(fā)現(xiàn)她的影響力，對孫穎莎來說是一種有效的經(jīng)驗。

她解釋說：“有些時候，我認(rèn)為有些人可能會注意，或者可能知道我是誰，但可能有比我想象的更多的人知道。他們可能與我同齡。有些人可能正在上大學(xué)，有些人可能正在參加考試。”

“有時在高考前，我其實覺得即使我和他們不是同一個職業(yè)，我也會感到同樣的壓力和同樣的緊張（來自競爭）。我其實很理解他們，所以我覺得自己能夠成為他們的榜樣，我也挺自豪的。”

Sun承認(rèn)曾看過一些視頻，在這些視頻中，她這個年齡段的年輕人被問及激勵他們的人，而聽到自己的回答--說這反過來激勵了她。

她說：“我遇到與我同齡的學(xué)生被問及誰是他們的偶像或誰激勵了他們，他們說‘孫穎莎’。”

“他們可能會說我激勵了他們，諸如此類的事情，我很高興在我的同齡人和比我年輕的人中，我正在激勵他們，同時也越來越鼓勵我自己。”

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Sun's advice for others

Sun對他人的建議

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Sun – who won silver medals in singles at both the?Tokyo 2020?Olympic Games?behind?team-mate?Chen Meng?and the 2021 World Championships behind another fellow Chinese,?Wang Manyu?– has settled into being a role model well.

Asked to provide advice for her peers as well as junior table tennis paddlers coming up through the ranks, the Hebei province native readily delves into a monologue of guidance.

"If you really love the sport of table tennis, I hope you can persevere and you will do your best. Don't feel like when you encounter difficulties that you will give up easily. Of course, that's normal and there are people who will think about giving up if they encounter difficulties," Sun begins.

"Of course, it's normal to lose confidence in yourself after you encounter setbacks. But I hope you and persevere."

Sun adds: "When I run into difficulties, the first thing is to calm myself down – whether that's in life, or playing table tennis.

"Of course, in table tennis, there is always someone who loses, and of course they will be in a bad mood. I try to not let one defeat or any small things influence or affect me, or make me think that I'm incapable of achieving things.

"The person you trust most is yourself. Only you can be sure of yourself."

孫穎莎--在2020年東京奧運會上，她在隊友陳夢身后獲得了銀牌，在2021年世錦賽上，她在另一位中國同胞王曼昱身后獲得了銀牌--已經(jīng)很好地適應(yīng)了作為一個榜樣。

當(dāng)被問及為她的同齡人以及正在成長中的青少年乒乓球運動員提供建議時，這位河北省人很容易就進入了指導(dǎo)的獨白。

“如果你真的熱愛乒乓球運動，我希望你能堅持下去，你會做到最好。不要覺得當(dāng)你遇到困難時，你會輕易放棄。當(dāng)然，這很正常，有的人遇到困難就會想到放棄。”Sun開始說到。

“當(dāng)然，遇到挫折后對自己失去信心也很正常。但我希望你和堅持下去。”

Sun補充說：“當(dāng)我遇到困難時，第一件事就是讓自己冷靜下來--無論是在生活中，還是在打乒乓球時。”

“當(dāng)然，在乒乓球比賽中，總有一些人輸了，當(dāng)然他們的心情也會不好。我盡量不讓一次失敗或任何小事影響或左右我，或讓我認(rèn)為自己沒有能力實現(xiàn)的事情。

“你最信任的人是你自己。只有你能確信你自己。”

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Who influences Sun Yingsha?

誰影響了孫穎莎？

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We've heard a lot about how Sun feels being able to influence, inspire, and motivate others – but who played that role for her?

The Chinese player has been given the nickname the "Little Devil" for her style of play, calling to mind another fellow Chinese great who came before her with a similar nickname.

"My idol is Ning-jie?(Zhang Yining); reversely her nickname was Big Devil," Sun shares, using a polite honorific meaning "older sister" to refer to the four-time Olympic gold medallist Zhang.

"So I feel I've actually always been learning from her, including her previous competitions – going over her past results, including in big competitions. Since there are now so many video sites, I often watch the matches myself, and study them."

The 21-year-old is appreciative of her nickname, and says she will continue to strive to be like her own inspiration.

"No matter what my fans nickname me, they are showing me their fondness. But I hope I can still be down-to-earth and be as outstanding a player as Ning-jie?was."

我們已經(jīng)聽到了很多關(guān)于孫穎莎如何感受到能夠影響、啟發(fā)和激勵他人——但誰為她扮演了這個角色？

這位中國球員因為她的比賽風(fēng)格而獲得了“小魔王”的綽號，讓人想起在她之前的另一位擁有類似綽號的中國同胞。

“我的偶像是寧姐（張怡寧）；反過來說，她的綽號是大魔王，”孫穎莎分享道，用一個禮貌的敬語，意思是“大姐”，指的是四屆奧運會金牌得主張怡寧。

“所以我覺得我實際上一直在向她學(xué)習(xí)，包括她以前的比賽--翻閱她過去的成績，包括在大型比賽中的成績。因為現(xiàn)在有這么多的視頻網(wǎng)站，我經(jīng)常自己看比賽，研究他們。”

這位21歲的選手對自己的綽號表示贊賞，并表示她將繼續(xù)努力，像自己的靈感一樣。

“無論我的粉絲給我起什么綽號，他們都在向我展示他們的喜愛。但我希望我仍然能夠腳踏實地，成為像寧姐那樣出色的球員。”