Zhang Ping was the hero of the Chinese women's volleyball team's championship win at the 2004 Athens Olympics and was selected as the best attacker in the tournament. She has a sharp attack, powerful and fast jump serve, and enjoys the reputation of "violent secondary attack".

In 2009, Zhang Ping retired early due to a serious knee injury. Away from the playing field, Zhang Ping's life is still exciting. She obtained a master's degree from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, where she is now a physical education lecturer.

In 2013, Zhang Ping also starred in the Hong Kong film "Blind Detective", co-starring Andy Lau and Sammi Cheng.

Zhang Ping's volleyball career has been a bit bumpy. The Olympic champion who came out of the bench is still unmarried and single at the age of 40. This has become a regret and entanglement for her and her parents...

Zhang Ping was born in Tianjin in 1982. Her grandfather named her Zhang Ping. Later, when the father went to the police station to register his household registration, he felt that the name was a bit gender-neutral, so he changed his daughter's name to "Zhang Ping".

Zhang Ping’s father, Zhang Jinggang, is the volleyball coach of Tianjin Hexi District Sports School and Zhang Ping’s first volleyball coach.

Zhang Jinggang was born in Tianjin in 1954 and is 1.96 meters tall. He was admitted to Tianjin Sports Institute in 1971 and was a professional volleyball player.

Zhang Ping’s mother, Dou Yongxie, was also born in Tianjin in 1954. She is 1.70 meters tall. She was a table tennis player and worked in the Jinnan Chemical Factory after retiring.

Zhang Jinggang’s biggest dream was to join the national men’s volleyball team and represent the country in the Olympics. However, during a training session, he injured his left leg and was forced to leave the volleyball court. After retiring, he became a professional coach.

Failure to enter the national team was Zhang Jinggang's biggest regret. Therefore, after the birth of his daughter Zhang Ping, he pinned his dreams on her.

Zhang Ping inherited the excellent physical fitness from her parents. She is much taller than children of the same age, and her strength and body coordination are also better than those of children of the same age.

When she was still in kindergarten, Zhang Jinggang introduced Zhang Ping to volleyball and cultivated her interest in volleyball. Zhang Ping entered Tianjin Hexi District Primary School when she was 6 years old, and teacher Wang Guiying became her second volleyball coach.

However, until she graduated from elementary school, Zhang Ping was only 1.62 meters tall. Zhang Jinggang felt that her daughter was too short and had no development in volleyball, and was very disappointed.

When Zhang Ping was in junior high school in Tianjin No. 42 Middle School, her teacher asked her to practice javelin instead. Yang Jingang and Yang Yuanmei were her coaches.

In the second grade of junior high school, Zhang Ping's height increased to 1.68 meters. This gave Zhang Jinggang hope again and continued to let his daughter practice volleyball.

Soon, the National Youth Volleyball Hope Team of Beijing Sport University was selecting young talents from all over the country, and Zhang Ping was chosen by coach Li Ange. In this way, 13-year-old Zhang Ping left Tianjin alone to train in Beijing.

At that time, Zhang Ping was growing like crazy, growing more than 10 centimeters in a month. Zhang Jinggang often comes to Beijing to visit his daughter, bringing her food and buying her clothes and shoes.

Not long after joining the team, Zhang Ping unfortunately fell during training and fractured her left ankle. As a result, she had to terminate her training and was taken back to Tianjin by her father to recuperate.

The foot injury at that time also cast a shadow on Zhang Ping's psychology, and she had negative thoughts. Zhang Jinggang and his wife specially bought 500 pieces of briquettes. They put all the coal in the yard and asked Zhang Ping to move the 500 pieces of coal from the first floor to the fifth floor.

Zhang Ping was scared and her father forced her to move. Zhang Ping moved five pieces of briquettes at a time, moving up from the first floor with tears in her eyes.

A few days later, Zhang Ping moved all 500 pieces of briquettes to the fifth floor. Her parents forced her to move the briquettes from upstairs to downstairs, and then forced her to move from the first floor to the fifth floor.

A month later, Zhang Ping's leg injury was basically healed, but she often fell and couldn't get up from sitting on the ground. Her parents were hard-hearted and refused to help her, leaving Zhang Ping to struggle to get up on her own.

His father also took Zhang Ping to the woods behind his home to practice stepping on small tree stumps. Two months later, Zhang Ping's foot injury was completely healed and she returned to the training ground.

In 1995, Zhang Ping entered Tianjin Sports School. She has outstanding physical fitness, good jumping and powerful smashing, and she quickly stood out in the sports school.

In 1998, Zhang Ping was selected for the Tianjin Women's Volleyball Team. The following year, Zhang Ping became the team's main secondary attacker.

Zhang Jinggang and his wife took out a loan of 7,000 yuan to buy back a video camera. Every time Zhang Ping plays, her father will rush to the stadium and record the entire game.

When Zhang Ping goes home to rest on Sundays, her father will watch game videos with her, affirming Zhang Ping's strengths and pointing out her shortcomings.

In the National Women's Volleyball League A from 2001 to 2002, Zhang Ping started every game as the main assistant offensive player of the Tianjin Women's Volleyball Team. Not only can she play short and fast at the 3rd position, she is also skilled in the back-flying and back-sliding tactics at the 2nd position, and she can also attack from behind.

The back attack is a tactic used only for the main attack and support. There is rarely a secondary attack for the back attack. Zhang Ping's outstanding performance impressed the fans and also attracted the attention of Chen Zhonghe, the head coach of the national women's volleyball team at the time.

In February 2002, Zhang Ping was selected for the national women's volleyball team. At that time, the Chinese women's volleyball team had two strong players on the offensive line, one was Zhao Ruirui and the other was Liu Yanan.

Zhang Ping is 1.87 meters tall, which puts her at a height disadvantage compared to Zhao Ruirui, who is 1.96 meters tall. Liu Yanan, who is 1.85 meters tall, has comprehensive skills. She takes the lead in receiving passes in the team. Her comprehensiveness is better than Zhang Ping.

Zhang Ping has strong offensive ability, but it does not conform to Chen Zhonghe's tactical system, so she can only serve as a substitute in the team.

Zhang Jinggang is worried about his daughter’s negative emotions, and often enlightens her on the phone: “There are so many volleyball players in the country, and being able to enter the national team is a victory in itself. You have to train hard, and opportunities are left to you. Those who are prepared."

Zhang Ping told her father: "Dad, you are worrying too much, I will cherish every day."

Chen Zhonghe is a devil coach who always trains. Known for its large quantity. Although Zhang Ping stands on the substitute side and trains with the main players, she is meticulous and trains for up to 10 hours a day.

In September 2003, the Chinese women's volleyball team participated in the World Cup in Japan and won the championship with an outstanding result of winning 11 games. As a substitute in the team, Zhang Ping didn't have many opportunities to play, and she still felt a little regretful.

In March 2004, the Chinese women's volleyball team prepared for the Athens Olympics in Zhangzhou, Fujian. One day when the team members were doing leg training, the steel wire broke and a heavy metal plate hit Zhao Ruirui's left leg, causing her tibia and fibula to be fractured.

The fans were very distressed and called Zhao Ruirui a "glass beauty." This nickname is hurtful to coach Chen Zhonghe and all women's volleyball players.

At that time, it was only five months before the Athens Olympics. Zhao Ruirui had two surgeries and worked overtime every day to recover.

The doctor told coach Chen Zhonghe that it would be difficult for Zhao Ruirui to fully recover in a short period of time and that she might not be able to participate in the Olympics.

So Director Chen began to make two preparations, asking Zhang Ping to replace Zhao Ruirui as the main and secondary attacker.

Over the years, Zhang Ping has always wanted to be the main and secondary attacker, and she also has the ability. Now that the opportunity has come, she feels very complicated and doesn't want to play the main role in this way.

Moreover, she usually trains on the substitute side and does not cooperate well with Feng Kun and Zhou Suhong. Therefore, after training every day, Director Chen often asked Zhang Ping to stay and practice more, training her to spike, block, and serve.

Due to the intensity of training, Zhang Ping's old left knee injury recurred, so she trained in a closed manner. Moreover, criticism from the outside world also put pressure on Zhang Ping. Some media said she had zero experience in the World Series, saying she was short and had loopholes in her blocking.

Zhang Ping, who is stubborn at heart, refuses to admit defeat and is determined to do her best. During the preparations for the Olympics, Zhang Jinggang often called his daughter to provide her with psychological counseling and point out her shortcomings.

When the Athens Olympics opened on August 13, 2004, Zhao Ruirui still started in the first game against the United States team. There was a thick bandage on her leg, which was very distressing to see.

Three minutes into the game, Zhao Ruirui was injured again and fell to the ground while flying with his back, and was carried away on a stretcher by medical staff. Zhang Ping was ordered to replace Zhao Ruirui as the main secondary attacker of the Chinese women's volleyball team.

Zhang Ping thought that Zhao Ruirui would still play after being bandaged, so she looked at the coaching bench after playing a ball. During the timeout, team doctor Dr. Wei said to her: "Don't look, it's you."

Assistant coach Lai Yawen also said: "If you look again, it's my turn to play." Zhang Ping's heart It was just settled.

During the entire Athens Olympics, Zhang Ping played in all eight games and scored a total of 114 points, which is very rare in secondary offense.

Zhang Ping used "violent secondary attack" to the fullest, using various tactics alternately such as close body speed, short level speed, back flying, back slip, and rear attack, making it difficult for opponents to defend themselves.

On August 29, the Chinese women’s volleyball team launched a peak showdown with the Russian team. In the first three games, the Chinese team fell behind by a big score of 1 to 2. In the fourth game, the Chinese team fell behind 22 to 23 and was pushed to the edge of the cliff.

Even guest commentator Lang Ping lacked confidence. The Russian girls thought victory was in sight and jumped up and down like swallows with excitement.

At the critical moment, Zhang Ping hit a half-high ball at position 3 and hit the opponent's second half to score, chasing the score to 23. In the end, the Chinese women's volleyball team achieved a shocking comeback and won the gold medal.

During the entire tournament, Zhang Ping spiked the ball 182 times, with a success rate of 40.66%, ranking first in the list.

After winning the Olympic gold medal, the relevant departments rewarded Zhang Ping with 1 million yuan. Zhang Ping used the money to buy her parents a house in Tianjin, and the family finally moved out of the cramped old house.

After the Athens Olympics, the Tianjin Sports Bureau asked Zhang Ping to go to Germany for knee surgery.

In 2005, Zhang Ping returned to China to recuperate in Tianjin. She spent more than a year recovering at home.

In order to take care of Zhang Ping, her mother Dou Yongxie asked for a long leave from her work unit and helped her daughter with rehabilitation training at home every day.

In November of this year, Zhang Jinggang was diagnosed with a heart disease and underwent surgery in the hospital. Zhang Ping dragged her injured leg to the hospital with her mother to take care of her father. The father and daughter healed and encouraged each other.

However, Zhang Ping missed the Beijing Olympics due to unsatisfactory recovery from her knee injury, which became a regret for her and her parents.

In 2009, Zhang Ping retired due to injury. With the help of the China Athletes Education Foundation, she went to the Chinese University of Hong Kong to study sports science.

The school uses all classes in English. Zhang Ping can’t keep up even when looking up a dictionary. She can’t understand Cantonese, so it’s very difficult for her to study. In the first test, after the teacher handed out the test paper, the students finished it in 5 minutes, but Zhang Ping could not do anything.

But it only took one semester for Zhang Ping to catch up. After graduating from college, she went on to pursue graduate studies at her alma mater.

In 2013, Zhang Ping had a classmate who was an extra on the set of "Blind Detective". One day she told Zhang Ping that the crew was looking for a 6-foot-tall girl to play the volleyball coach and asked Zhang Ping if she was interested.

Zhang Ping said she could give it a try, and her classmates recommended her to the casting director. When Zhang Ping went to audition, she was spotted by director Johnnie To.

When she was sitting on the sofa to rest, Andy Lau came over, touched Zhang Ping's head and said mischievously: "I am finally taller than you." Zhang Ping was amused by Andy Lau's cuteness

In "Blind Detective", Zhang Ping co-starred with Andy Lau and Sammi Cheng, and her good qualities were highly praised by them.

In 2014, Zhang Ping was 32 years old and has been single. Her parents began to worry about her personal problems.

Zhang Ping herself was also very troubled. A newspaper in Tianjin proposed a marriage proposal for her. Zhang Ping likes boys who are in good shape and taller than her. She does not have high requirements for the man's income and family background. It is best if he is an athlete.

When Zhang Jinggang and his wife talked about the criteria for their future son-in-law, they did not emphasize the man’s financial conditions and family background. What was important was that he and Zhang Ping could tolerate, respect and communicate with each other.

In 2016, Zhang Ping also participated in Jiangsu Satellite TV's dating program "If You Are the One" to show that she is single.

Zhang Ping has gone on blind dates over the years, but she has never met a boy who is right for her.

In February 2022, Zhang Ping has crossed the 40-year-old threshold and is still unmarried and single. Her marriage and love became a tangle between herself and her parents.

The biggest wish of Zhang Jinggang and his wife now is that their daughter can find a like-minded person of the opposite sex to get married, and then have a baby and become a mother. Zhang Ping also hopes that this day will come soon!

Comments on "A Closer Look at Celebrities":

Zhang Ping is carefree, cheerful, sincere, and very beautiful. Outsiders always think that she has high requirements for finding a boyfriend. In fact, Zhang Ping comes from an ordinary family and the conditions for finding a boyfriend are not demanding.

Nowadays, many young people are unwilling to get married. It is really a pity that such an outstanding girl as Zhang Ping is not pursued by the opposite sex.

Zhang Jinggang and his wife also have good personalities and do not have high demands on their future son-in-law. They hope that their daughter will end her single life as soon as possible.

Zhang Ping is one of the athletes who has made a relatively successful transition, and now has a stable career and income. She wears a long ponytail, light makeup, and a professional suit. She is a standard white-collar beauty.

I hope the outstanding Zhang Ping can find the man who loves her as soon as possible!

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