Yuan Longping’s sports life： he loves swimming and playing volleyball, and won the swimming championship in Wuhan.
"In order not to be bullied by others, the country must be strong." Yuan Longping has closely linked his personal future with the national interests since he was a child. Before becoming an agronomist, he once thought about joining the army to serve the country and had the dream of saving the country through sports. Throughout his life, Yuan Longping was a sports enthusiast, once won the swimming championship in Wuhan, loved playing volleyball and even refused to join the senior team. And sports also gave Yuan Longping a strong body, so that he can still appear in the fields at the age of 90.
In an interview, when asked how to maintain a good physical and mental state in scientific research, Yuan Longping gave a simple answer-sports. "Sports are beneficial in all aspects and have a role. As the saying goes, the body is the capital of the revolution, and a good body is also the basis for all work."
Yuan Longping once proudly told reporters: "I liked to exercise when I was young, and the swimming competition was the first in Wuhan!"
As early as during the Anti-Japanese War, Yuan Longping, who was only 8 years old, accidentally fell into the water on his way from Hankou to Taoyuan County, Hunan Province with his parents. Fortunately, he was rescued by an old boatman in time. From that day on, young Yuan Longping was determined to learn to swim, even to save people in the water.
After school, Yuan Longping exchanged skills with a master swimmer, and Yuan Longping was responsible for teaching him to solve math problems, in exchange for swimming teaching. According to the memories of Yuan Longping’s classmates at that time, Yuan Longping learned to swim quickly, and he was able to swim across the Yangtze River in only one year, so that when he was young, he went to the other side of the river to watch movies. In order to save money, he almost never took a boat, but swam with his clothes on his head and put them on.
Since the age of 16, Yuan Longping has been a great swimmer in Wuhan No.4 Middle School. He has won the swimming champion in Wuhan, the runner-up in the 100-meter freestyle in Hubei Province and the swimming champion after entering Southwest Agricultural College.
Because of his superb swimming skills, Yuan Longping once went to Chengdu to participate in the competition on behalf of East Sichuan, but he only finished fourth because of his bad stomach. The top three players were all selected into the national team, which may make China lose a swimmer, but make China gain a world-renowned hybrid rice expert.
After work, Yuan Longping insisted on swimming wherever there was water, whether in Yuanshui, near Anjiang Agricultural School, the seaside natural swimming pool on Hainan Island, or Xiangjiang River near the Provincial Academy of Agricultural Sciences. This habit persisted until he was 70 years old.
In an interview during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, Yuan Longping even joked: "Phelps won the gold medal in Beijing and broke the record, but if I go to the competition, maybe he will not be so relaxed!"
Besides keen on swimming, Yuan Longping also loves playing volleyball. There is a volleyball court in front of his residence in Hunan Academy of Agricultural Sciences. As long as the weather is good, he often appears on the court after dinner and plays soft volleyball with the retired staff of the Academy of Agricultural Sciences.
However, due to his age, Yuan Lao himself felt: "I am playing volleyball everyday now, but I am too old to play."
Yuan Longping also served as honorary chairman of Hunan Volleyball Association, during which he personally kicked off a number of public welfare activities. In 2011, he went to Guangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences for academic exchange and led a team to play a volleyball friendly match.
Yuan Longping also regards scientific research in the field as a good way to exercise. He believes that working in the fields can breathe fresh air and fully enjoy the sun, which is beneficial to health.
Tap dancing is another specialty of Yuan Longping, and he likes it for a simple reason. "That kind of dance is fast-paced, free and free, and the mood can be relaxed very well." Doing broadcast gymnastics every morning is a sport that the elderly can’t shake.
Except for a little gastritis, Yuan Longping has always been in good health. For this reason, Yuan Longping often said that he has an age of 80, a body of 50, a heart of 30 and a muscle of 20. It is precisely because of years of exercise that in 2008, at the age of 78, he was elected as the No.001 torchbearer of the Beijing Olympic Games.
When it comes to physical strength, Yuan Lao himself is full of confidence. "I like to play sports and run a distance. Physical strength should be affordable."
The staff next to Yuan Longping said: "Academician Yuan can become an Olympic torchbearer, not because of his social status, but more because of an old man’s long-term love and persistence in sports."
On New Year’s Day in 2020, 90-year-old Yuan Longping also sent a message to young people: Pay attention to your health, and exercise more in 2020, and you will be healthy. Just like 90-year-old Yuan Lao said to himself, "This is the real post-90s generation".
Upstream News chongqing morning post reporter Tang Hao
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