I was scrolling through my feed, half-watching a compilation of National Games highlights with my morning coffee, when Wang Zongyuan’s face popped up. He had just won two golds and a silver for Hubei, but the interviewer wasn’t asking about those victories. Instead, they kept circling back to Paris, to that three-meter springboard final where he took silver.
Honestly, my first thought was, ‘Let the man enjoy his current wins!’ But then he started talking, and I put my coffee down.
"The biggest problem was that I couldn’t get past my own mental block," he said, his voice calm but his eyes holding a story. "I wanted that gold medal too much." That phrase hit me right in the gut. It wasn’t about technique or a bad dive. It was about a knot tightening in his chest, a desire so fierce it became a cage. Haven’t we all been there? Not for an Olympic medal, maybe, but for that job promotion, that perfect exam score, that person’s approval—wanting something so badly it trips you up.
The clip cut to him now, after the National Games. The tension in his shoulders was gone. "That mental knot is untied," he stated, almost shrugging. "I think it’s really no big deal." No big deal. He said it so simply, but anyone who has ever replayed a single mistake in their head for months knows what a monumental sentence that is. It’s the sound of a weight being dropped, finally.
It reminded me of my cousin, a musician who bombed her biggest audition years ago. She used to dissect every note. Last week, she played the same piece at a local cafe, messed up the same passage, and just laughed. "It’s just a song," she said. That’s the same energy. It’s not about the event becoming unimportant; it’s about you reclaiming your peace from it.
What’s fascinating is the process. Wang didn’t solve this in a therapist’s office (though that’s great too). He solved it by getting back on the board, at a different meet, under different pressure. He had to prove to himself, in real-time, that he was more than that one moment in Paris. The two golds at the National Games weren’t just medals; they were evidence. Tangible proof that he could still perform, that the ‘wanting too much’ ghost was laid to rest.
I read somewhere that elite athletes often have a 72-hour rule—they allow themselves to fully feel the disappointment or joy of a competition for three days, then they actively move on. Wang’s timeline was longer, messier, more human. And maybe that’s more relatable.
So, why did this interview with a diver I’ve never met stick with me all day? Maybe because we’re all constantly coaching our own inner athletes. We face our own ‘finals’ daily—a tough conversation, a project deadline, a personal goal. And sometimes, we silver-medal them because we wanted the gold too desperately, our own minds becoming the biggest opponent.
Wang Zongyuan’s story isn’t just a sports update. It’s a quiet masterclass in how to look back at a moment that defined you, and gently say, ‘Okay, but I’m not letting you define me anymore.’ It’s about the victory that happens off the podium, in the heart and the head. That’s a win no one can take from you.
After writing this, I went back and watched the full interview. The most powerful part was the slight smile at the end when he talked about his future goals. No desperation, just focus. It made me think about my own ‘Paris silver’ from last year—a project that didn’t pan out. I’ve rehashed it a hundred times. Maybe it’s time to say, ‘It’s really no big deal,’ and mean it.
What about you? Is there an old ‘silver medal’—a past regret or ‘almost’—that you’re still mentally replaying? Share in the comments. Sometimes, saying it out loud (or typing it out) is the first step to untying that knot for good.
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