葉敏

Rarely has a sports team in China received praise and admiration as effusively（熱情洋溢地） as the Chinese womens volleyball team. The spirit of the team goes beyond the mere sportsmanship. More importantly， it represents national pride， which has inspired Chinese across generations.

A bright spot in hard times

If there is one group of heroines that can transcend（超越） generations in Chinas sporting history， its the Chinese female volleyball team. In 1981， the team beat Japan 32 and won the FIVB Womens World Cup for the first time in history. The victory greatly boosted Chinese peoples patriotism and morale（士氣） in an age when the countrys might was hardly recognized in the world.They went on to gain gold medals at the 1982 World Championship， the 1984 Olympic Games， the 1985 FIVB Womens World Cup and the 1986 World Championship.

However， the team still had to train under tough conditions due to a lack of financial support at the time. The floor of their training court was made of cement and was full of potholes（坑洞）. The players were often hurt after rolling on the ground in training to recover the ball. Facing all the challenges， they did not complain， but instead chose to move on. Their incredible titlewinning run inspired the whole nation， which admired their remarkable resilience， dedication and unyielding（不屈的） spirit.

A timeless symbol

The Chinese womens volleyball team touched the heartstrings of the whole nation again during the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens， Greece， where they beat Russia in a thrilling final. Russia won the games first two sets， and seemed on the way to victory. However， China managed to stage an amazing comeback， fighting to tie the score set score 22. During the tiebreaker， China made no mistakes and won the titledeciding final set.

Millions of Chinese people watching the game on television witnessed the exciting moment when all Chinese players rushed onto the court， cheering and celebrating. Newer Chinese womens volleyball teams have echoed the success stories enjoyed by teams before them. But， whats different now is that China has become known as a sporting power. For observers， if the world titles won in the 1980s showed the world that China had what it took to become a sports power， achievements earned in the new era are a symbol of Chinas continued progress and unstoppable preeminence in sport.

Passing the torch in a new era

On December 10， 2019， Lang Ping celebrated her 59th birthday. Nicknamed the "Iron Hammer" during her playing days， she is considered as one of Chinas greatest sporting figures. Lang captained the Chinese womens volleyball team that won the gold medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles， and then as a coach， led Team China to victory at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.

No one seems more appropriate than her to pass the spirit of Chinese womens volleyball on to the younger generation and luckily enough， there is already a torch bearer： Zhu Ting. The 25yearold player has already become a household name in China through her outstanding leading role in winning the finals at the Rio Olympics， the 2019 World Cup in Osaka as well as her three successful years at the Turkish club Vakifbank in Istanbul. When Lang Ping coached Guangdong Evergrande in the Chinese Volleyball Super League eight years ago， she quickly spotted Zhus talent. In 2013， Zhu was called up to the national team as soon as Lang took it over. "She is gifted， flexible， and is exactly the same type of player as I was when I was young，" Lang said.

Zhu certainly lived up to expectations. Despite all her sporting accolades， she has stayed grounded and humble， displaying a voracious hunger for improvement. "Im committed to my goals and dreams. And passing on the spirit of the Chinese womens volleyball team really makes me a better player，" she said. Surely， that spirit will live on.

Critical thinking

What made the Chinese womens volleyball team so successful