With a huge lead of nearly 10 seconds, Chinese duo Zou Jiaqi and Qiu Xiuping claimed the first gold of the Hangzhou Asian Games, winning the lightweight women’s double sculls (双桨赛艇比赛) title at the Fuyang Water Sports Centre on Sunday. Meanwhile, a photo of Zou Jiaqi’s calloused (有茧子的) and blistered (起水疱的) hands became popular online, leaving everyone in respect of the incredible effort she put into her championship win.
Born in 2001, Zou Jiaqi was chosen by a Hangzhou City team coach in the fourth grade, starting her rowing journey. Just two years later, she won her first gold medal at the Hangzhou City Games. Rowing rules forbid the use of gloves. Her hands experienced long-term friction (摩擦) against the oars (桨), leading to blisters, bleeding, and ultimately calluses over time. Sometimes, with blistered hands, she had to continue training the next day without them fully healing.
Despite his deep concern for her, her father continued to encourage her to be strong. In this manner, Zou Jiaqi advanced from the city team to the Zhejiang province women’s lightweight rowing team, and she successfully transitioned into the national team.
She has secured lots of national gold medals: in 2020, as part of the provincial team, she won the women’s lightweight 2,000 meters at the National Rowing Championships, and in 2021, she won the gold in the same category at the National Spring Rowing Championships. Then, she continued to dominate at the national level, winning several more championships.
The two are now firmly focused on winning the gold medal at next summer’s Paris Olympics. “As we earned our ticket to the 2024 Olympics, with the help of our coaches, at the world championships, our next goal is claiming the title in Paris,” said Qiu.
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