Retired women's soccer goddess Zhao Lina, after saying goodbye to the pitch, took a leap of faith and stepped into a whole new realm.
The woman who had guarded the gates of China's women's soccer team now stood on the gorgeous stage of Ride 2023, stirring up buzz among viewers in both realms.
Lena Zhao from Ride the Wind 2023.
Confronted by ThePaper, Zhao Lina, known as the "Gateway to Beauty," admitted that singing and dancing is not an easy task for her - "I lost eight pounds, and that's my biggest achievement. " She said humorously.
As she said goodbye to the stage, she also revealed her heartfelt message, "You don't have to shed tears when you leave, just hide them in your heart. I hope my sisters don't give up, you are not alone. I hope I can give you one last support."
"The final coincides with the eve of the Women's World Cup, so I hope to do more publicity for women's soccer, and I hope your baby will play more soccer." Zhao Lina was the women's soccer team's starting goalkeeper.
Participating in a singing and dancing program, she lost eight pounds.
All professional athletes push their physical strength to the limit, and women's soccer players are no exception.
Lena Zhao's many years of career have made her accustomed to intense training, but on the singing and dancing stage, she had to start everything from scratch.
Before the official recording, she watched the previous seasons of the program, and after the recording, the performance task is as intensive as the competition schedule, so she has no time to rest.
"After completing one company, I immediately jumped into preparing the next one. This process leaves little free time. I feel like I can't wait to get more sleep every day. The energy drain is really high." She told ThePaper.
Lena Zhao was once in tears at her retirement ceremony.
Lena Zhao teased, "Losing eight pounds, that's my biggest gain. At the same time, I gained more."
"I have made many good friends and enriched my life experience. Even after a long training period in singing and dancing, dancing has become my new hobby - I even enrolled in a street dance class to teach myself how to dance.
"Dancing makes me feel very happy. Maybe I still like to exercise and can't stop. I also talked to Sun Yue. She also likes to play badminton. We both belong to the kind of people who like to move when they can't sit comfortably."
When I take a dance class, even if I'm tired, the feeling of being sore on my body is familiar and I love it, it's like I'm back on the team again.
Height has gone from a strength to a weakness.
In fact, as a former national team starter, Zhao Lina is not afraid of challenges. As she says, "Difficulties are definitely difficult, but athletes are not afraid of them."
"I can't sing, I can practice; I can't dance, I can practice, at least I can make myself better tomorrow than today." But in addition to these two items, there is a "short board" in Zhao Lina seems difficult to change, that is, her height.
As a goalkeeper, her outstanding height is her guarantee to protect the team on the field. However, when she comes to a performance stage that requires the cooperation of many people, she becomes an unavoidable "shortcoming".
"I had actually prepared myself mentally that my height would look out of place, but I didn't realize that it would still hit me quite hard." She also looked helpless in the face of this situation.
Lena Cho on the show.
"Although no one else said anything, my presence made the stage seem disjointed. I myself would feel sad that it would affect the team, that it would affect the stage as a whole, that it would seem disjointed."
"Being tall really puts pressure on me on stage, including feeling a bit 'special' when I'm with my sisters, but I can't really change that, so I can't cut my legs."
Because of this, Lena Zhao is especially grateful to her other sisters for being so accommodating during the recording process and "encouraging me all the time."
"They have a lot to learn from them and have taught me a lot, like how to sing and dance and how to look good on stage."
Zhao Lina is coaching the children to play soccer.
Bringing more attention to the women's soccer community
While competing as a pro, Zhao Lina, who has an outstanding figure and face value, had received offers from the entertainment industry, but she declined at the time.
"I'm still in the team, so I should look like an athlete. After all, playing soccer is my job, so I have to do my job well before I think about anything else."
"Now that I'm retired, I have a different identity. I can spend more energy enriching my life experiences. Personally, I also want to experience a different life." She told ThePaper.
In addition to the experience of recording this variety show, she also has a wish - to let more people know about the group of female soccer players and draw attention to women's soccer.
"Making friends with my sisters and letting them know I'm an athlete might get them interested in soccer."
In fact, Zhao Lina has not left soccer. She joined a soccer charity program called "Planet Project", which aims to provide soccer training and competition opportunities for primary school students in remote areas.
On June 1, the program's first Sunshine Stadium was unveiled at Huangshan Baima Primary School in Yulong County, Lijiang City, Yunnan Province, marking the first time the century-old elementary school has had a real soccer field.
"If you can get more people to know me, you can also drive the program so everyone knows what I'm doing. If you go to the schools (to match), it might work better." Lena Zhao said.
The definition of beauty is getting broader and broader
Zhao Lina showed her other status besides being an athlete on the variety stage and received positive comments from the audience.
However, as an ex-professional player, Zhao Lina is also aware of the big gap between her stage ability and acting level and those of her sisters, and she doesn't put too much psychological pressure on herself.
"Athletes and singers are actually very similar. Ten years off stage and only a few minutes on stage. A lot of times, their efforts go unseen, but the truth is, everyone is eager to be discovered and liked."
"My idea is to perform my best on every stage. The rest I can only leave to the fate of the voters in the live audience. When the votes finally come in, there will be a natural answer. There's no point worrying or fretting about things you can't decide."
This calmness may stem from the years of training under the pressure of competition, but Zhao believes that toughness is inherent in many women, not just athletes.
"I grew up surrounded by girls and witnessed so many girls working their asses off on the field. The fact that many girls show resilience and perseverance when going through difficult times is especially valuable."
To Lena Zhao, women's definition of beauty is getting broader. "I don't think you can only look good if you are thin and white." Being healthy from the inside to the outside has become a sought after beauty.
"Perseverance is a beauty, so is sticking to something for a long time, and so is kindness. I think a woman's true beauty radiates from the inside out."
