2 . Every time Oksana Chusovitina competes in a gymnastics event, she captures the spotlight. The Hangzhou Asian Games proved no exception.

When the 48-year-old Uzbek gymnast participated in the Asian women’s gymnastics qualification at Huanglong Gymnasium on Monday, thousands of spectators chanted for “Qiu Ma”, which translates to “Mother Chusovitina”. A throng of journalists waited in the mixed zone, hoping for an interview opportunity. Some audiences touched by Chusovitina’s story that she tried to save her son and just never gave up.

During the interview, Chusovitina said that it was the love and support of the people that kept her going and give her the strength to achieve more.

Chusovitina has a storied history at the Asian Games, having won eight medals, including two golds in 2002. This year, she’s targeting a medal in the vault (跳马). “I will increase the difficult in the final,” she shared.

Chusovitina’s Olympic journey began in 1992, representing the Unified Team of the former Soviet Union. She later stood for Uzbekistan, transitioned to German citizenship in 2006, and reclaimed her Uzbek citizenship in 2013.

When Chusovitina’s son was diagnosed with leukemia (白血病) in 2002, she adopted German citizenship to compete at global events for a higher income and better medical treatment. Her heartfelt sentiment, “I dare not grow old until you are well,” has resonated with many.

After her son’s recovery, Chusovitina continued her gymnastics journey out of sheer love for the sport. Though she announced her retirement after the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, she decided to return shortly after.

“The biggest motivation is my desire. I want to perform. I love gymnastics, and this profession brings me great joy. I’m just doing what I love, so why should I stop?” Chusovitina said.

4 . Shizo Kanakuri, known as the “father of the Japanese marathon”, was one of only two Japanese athletes to compete in the 1912 Stockholn Olympics. The media gave little attention and the government did not cover athletes’ travel costs. As a result, Kanakuri’s fellow college students organized a nationwide fundraiser (资金筹集活动) to collect money.

The trip to Sweden took 18 days, first by ship and then by the Trans-Siberian Railway. At stations, whenever the train stopped, Kanakuri would jump for a quick workout before hurriedly getting on the train again. The difficult journey had taken its toll, and when he finally arrived in Sweden, he discovered that the local food didn’t agree with his stomach. To make matters worse, Kanakuri’s coach had to stay in bed due to a serious disease which prevented him from giving two athletes, including Kanakuri, enough pre-race training.

On the day of the race, the heat was scorching (灼热的). One Portuguese runner was hospitalized and died the next day, the first reported death during the Olympics. About halfway into the race, suffering from the heat, Kanakuri stopped at a house and asked the locals for a glass of water. After drinking, Kanakuri lay down and against his better judgment fell asleep. When he woke up, it was the next morning.

Kanakuri wrote in his journal the next day, “It’s the morning after my defeat. My heart is aching with regret for the rest of my life. I was a weak quitter.” Kanakuri did not tell the race officials, and quietly returned to Japan, thus many people thought he “disappeared” in the middle of the race.

Once back in his country, Kanakuri renewed training and determined to race again in the future. In 1967, Kanakuri returned to Stockholm and finished the race. When he finally crossed the finish line, his time was announced as 54 years 8 months 6 days 5 hours 32 minutes 20.3 seconds. Kanakuri joked, “It was a long trip. Along the way, I got married, had six children and 10 grandchildren.”

5 . For most of her school years, Tamika Catchings kept a secret from her classmates and teachers. She was born with hearing loss in both ears. If someone spoke too quietly or with their back to her, she was unable to know what they were saying. She taught herself to read lips. To keep up with her schoolwork, she depended on textbooks for instruction.

Though Catchings had hearing aids, she refused to wearing them. One day, she took them off and threw them away in a field. Then she began her new life. She worked hard in the classroom and at sports. Soon, even without her hearing aids, she did better than most of her schoolmates and her teammates.

While attending high school in Illinois, Catchings led her basketball team to the state championship in 1995. That same year she and her mother moved to Duncanville, Texas. There, many college basketball coaches noticed her talent. She chose to attend the University of Tennessee, partly because she admired the coach Pat Summitt.

Apart from helping her team at the university, Catchings made a big change in her life. Coach Summitt convinced (使相信) Catchings that wearing hearing aids would not only help her be a better player but also help others who were hearing-impaired (听力受损的), allowing her to serve as a role model. So Catchings started wearing her hearing aids and finally began to speak openly about her hearing loss. Catchings has even written a book to tell others her story. In 2004 Catchings founded the Catch the Stars Foundation, an organization that encourages children to set goals and dream big.

But those achievements were just a stepping stone to another important goal for Catchings. The little girl who once tried to hide her disability (残疾) now encourages others with a disability to appreciate how special they are. She wants all children, whether they have a disability or not, to believe that they can “catch their dreams one star at a time”.

7 . Andrea Martínez, a 21-year-old law student at the National Autonomous University of México, has been admitted as the country’s first female college football (橄榄球) player. When Martínez tried out for the team, she assumed the school had a women’s team where she might be placed, but was told she would be playing alongside the men.

Martínez got her start as a soccer player before trying out for the university’s football team after they posted an open call for kickers. Martínez wasn’t out to play football specifically, but saw that she could apply her talents as a soccer player to a new game. “The decision I made was to try a new sport. Nothing else,” she said. “I was very happy when I heard the news that I had been the girl selected.”

Martínez is not the only soccer player turning to football, especially as it becomes more popular throughout the country. It is estimated that there are about 48 million football fans in Mexico and the numbers are growing. Martínez is also not the first female college football kicker, although she is the first one in Mexico. In 1997, Liz Heaston became the first woman in the US to play that position on a college team. However, Ashley Martin was the first woman to score a point as a kicker in 2001.

It was never Martínez’s intention to become famous, but that’s exactly what has happened. So far, Martínez has done more than 80 interviews and has seen herself on the cover of every major newspaper in the country and even on national television, a rarity (罕见的事) for any college football player.

“There are little girls and boys who come and ask me for a photo or come up and say very nice words to me,” she said. “It’s the most satisfying thing I’ve ever felt, realizing that perhaps I’m inspiring them a little.”

8 . Argentina’s(阿根廷) vast supporters gathered at Qatar’s(卡塔尔) Energy City with only one man on their minds as they faced World Cup challenge.

Lionel Messi has carried the hopes of this football—mad nation for most of his career, but there was more tension as Argentina came across old opponent Mexico on the stage that will host the final.

Argentina knew defeat would end their World Cup after two games following the embarrassment of the loss to Saudi Arabia in the opener. Messi knew this would mean the major honour that has escaped from his grasp would be forever out of reach.

Messi was, once again, shouldering the burden of Argentina’s expectations when they needed it most, to change the course of the game, and perhaps even change the course of his team’s World Cup in the process.

The clock showed 64 minutes. Each passing second turned up the pressure on Argentina and, in turn, on Messi. He knows any Argentina failure on this stage can be painted as Messi’s failure. One touch delicately killed(停球) the pass from Angel di Maria, Messi’s teammate. The second touch kicked the ball into the net past the left arm of Mexico goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa.

In an explosion of noise from Argentina’s fans, Messi ran towards them with arms outstretched in that familiar celebratory pose. He looked highly excited with the relief, standing in front of the crazy supporters pumping his arms with wild joy. He knew what it meant to them. They knew what it meant to him. Both ecstasy.

The greatest players stand up for their teams when it matters, so it should be no surprise Messi made contributions again. For now, though, Argentina’s World Cup show is back on the road—because where there is Lionel Messi, there is hope.

9 . Zheng Qinwen announced herself as a major new force in women’s tennis with an import French Open debut (首秀) last month. Now the Chinese teenager hopes the fighting spirit she showed at the Grand Slam (大满贯) tournament can encourage kids starting out in the sport to chase their dreams on the court with the same determination.

“If tennis is your dream, I think you always have to fight for your dream. Because we only have one life, you shouldn’t have any regrets,” Zheng said last week in an interview.

The 19-year-old showed she possesses the talent to be a contender at the very top level of tennis with a breakout campaign at French Open.

Accounting for two-time Grand Slam winner Simona Halep along the way, Zhengs journey was ended in the fourth round by a three-set defeat to eventual champion Iga Swiatek. Zheng, though gave the Polish world No. 1 a big scare, battling back from 3-0 down in the first set to force, and win, a tiebreak (平分决胜局)。

“That was the first time I had played the world No.1, so I really wanted to grab this chance so I could judge her level and test myself,” said Zheng. “I didn’t want to give her the match so easy like that. It was pretty difficult for me to hold on in that match because of what my body was going through, but I wanted to show her I'm not easily beaten.

Looking back at Zheng Qinwen’s performances in this year’s French Open, there’s no doubt that she’s a true fighter. Zheng says she avoids being discouraged by higher-ranked opponents by simply focusing on the next point, one shot at a time.Supported by her team, she hopes she can one day win a Grand Slam title.

Zheng’s impressive French Open run has inevitably led to comparisons with China’s solitary Grand Slam singles championLi Na, who won the 2011 French Open and 2014 Australian Open titles.

“When I was a kid, Li Na showed that Asian people also can do something really good in tennis. She was the first one. I will just focus on my own game and then let’s see if I can really compete at the highest level,” said Zheng.