After a successful National Championships last month, Tang Xijing has essentially locked her position for the Chinese World Championships Team. Tang will join Luo Rui, Ou Yushan, Wei Xiaoyuan, Zhang Jin, He Licheng, and Sun Xinyi at a training camp in France to determine the five team members and two alternates.
Going into the last rotation of the all-around final, Tang was ranked second behind He Licheng. “My last event was floor. I just wanted to throw everything out there and express myself. I didn’t want to think too much, I just concentrated on the landings, turns, and everything else. I just wanted to immerse myself inside my own world.”
Her strong performance during the all-around final allowed her to move into first and take the National title. From Olympic Games, World Championships, and National Championships, Tang Xijing has a trend of winning silver medals – so much so that her collection of silver medals has given her the nickname “cashier*” by Chinese gym fans and media outlets. Tang mentioned how her win at the National Championships gives her lots of confidence moving ahead.
Tang struggled with setbacks after National Games last year, dealing with injuries. She said because of the recuperation time, her body weight went to an “unimaginable level.” Tang expressed many concerns about her body weight at that time and talked about the process to regain her competitive form. “When I first started trying to lose weight I worked so hard every day I almost collapsed! I kept saying ‘this is too hard, I don’t want to get up,’ but later when I started to get everything back I then thought ‘hey? I can still do this.’ When I saw the improvements, I just worked harder.”
To be a competitive medal contender at the World Championships, Tang knows she needs to upgrade her vault back to the Yurchenko double-full. “For the team and for myself, I need to regain my Yurchenko double-full. On the other events, I’m working on improving the consistency and execution of each element.”
*“Cashier” or “收银员” directly translates to “silver collector”
Source: CCTV
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