To discuss whether someone can be a great athlete, we must first understand a question, what is the essence of sports?
Samaranch, the former president of the International Olympic Committee, famously said: "Human beings have five common languages, money, war, art, sex and sports, and sports can blend the first four together." It can be seen from this point that sports is not a simple competitive activity, but also a communication tool. The great sports launch not only has a good degree of competition, but also promotes the implementation of sports, enhances the national self-confidence, and even has a certain influence on the political and diplomatic fields of the country.
Give some examples. Why is Diego Maradona the king of the ball? If we simply talk about the data, he doesn't score many goals and assists, and he certainly can't compare with Messi Ronaldo. However, he defeated Argentina's arch-enemy England in the 86 World Cup on his own, and insulted England in a very special way, which made the Argentines who failed in the battlefield very happy. The value of this goal has established his position as the king of the ball. No matter how many wonderful goals Messi scored, it is difficult to surpass his dedication!
Why is Lang Ping the biggest volleyball player? Not only because of her excellent ball skills, but also because at the beginning of the reform and opening up in the 198s, the women's volleyball team pushed its body to the whole country with five consecutive championships, which enhanced the self-confidence of the whole Chinese nation and had a great social impact. Lang Ping is just one of the representatives. Later comers, such as Zhu Ting, may be better than Lang Ping, but they are unlikely to have such a grand social impact.
why is Nie Weiping a chess player? He didn't win any world champions, and then he won many world champions in Chang Hao, Guli and Ke Jie. However, Nie Weiping's dedication to Weiqi is obviously greater than the latter ones. Those who have not experienced the Chinese-Japanese Weiqi tournament can't feel the psychological impact of Nie Weiping's single-handedly winning the championship of the Chinese-Japanese tournament on the people of the whole country, and can't understand the situation of empty streets at that time. And this situation, no matter how many world champions later, will not reappear.
Back to Malone, in fact, he caught up with a good time. People planted trees before enjoying the cool. China's table tennis has been at a high level in the world for many years, and he has also won many world championships. If we simply discuss the number of champions, he may be regarded as the GOAT of this sport. However, when it comes to the dedication and implementation of this sport, both the Rong Guo Tuan, who won the world championship for the first time, and Zhuang Zedong and Xu Yinsheng, who are engaged in ping-pong diplomacy, have obviously contributed more than him. Malone's dedication is just like a tiger's wings, and then it's a groundbreaking dedication.