因为新冠肺炎疫情，国际赛事停摆，东京奥运会被推迟，中国女排自去年年初以来没有参加任何比赛。中国女排总教练郎平日前在接受专访时表示，这给队员和教练带来了前所未有的挑战。
在郎平的排球生涯中，国家队整整一年没有比赛的情况还是头一次出现。运动员和教练员都习惯了训练一段之后对照比赛去总结、调整。疫情之年全球赛事停摆之后，训练的针对性明显下降，中国女排的训练只能立足于自身的提高。
With the world hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, China's national women's volleyball team is going through a special period of time that head coach Lang Ping has never experienced before.
"I haven't undergone this," the iconic figure in China's sports history told Xinhua in an exclusive interview recently.
The sports world ground to a halt last year due to the ongoing pandemic, but Team China kept training behind closed doors even after the Tokyo Olympic Games was pushed back by 12 months.
In addition to the quadrennial gala, the world volleyball governing body FIVB also canceled the Volleyball Nations League (VNL) for the same reason.
"We prepared our Olympic campaign from January to September last year, then the players participated in the National Championships and the Super League, resume the training behind closed doors again," Lang disclosed.
Lang said she was pleased to see that every player displayed maximum passion during daily training, which was precious during this period, but she has her own concerns.
"It is difficult to train all the time without a competitive game, we haven't tried that for a long time, we did have the situations in the 1970s and 1980s, but no games in one year, it is the first time in my career," Lang recalled.
"We were used to finding weaknesses through games, but now it is hard to rectify without real tests. And we need the match reports of our opponents, our team can't make corresponding tactical changes just by the videos of 2019 in hand."
#热情
郎平尤其担心队里的30+队员。
“去年刚刚组队的时候，想着距离东京奥运会还有100多天了，大家都是只争朝夕，斗志昂扬。但是奥运会宣布推迟，一下子从100多天变成近500天，大家心里那股劲不可能继续再绷500天的。”
“特别是对于30岁以上的运动员来说，如果她伤病比较多，难免会有些茫然——我到底还能不能坚持到那个时候？怎样坚持？确实是一个特别大的问题。而且这么长时间没有比赛，如何安排老队员的训练，要迅速做出调整。当时看到她们情绪上出现一些起伏，我觉得很正常，也很理解她们。”
为了保持训练热情，教练组想了不少办法。
“对我们教练来说，这是一个学习机会，也是一次挑战。每天都在球场上重复同样的东西，而且每天训练好几个小时，是一件非常枯燥的事情。我们要想办法帮她们调整，比如说去打篮球、踢足球，把她们拉到田径场训练……我们还安排队员打羽毛球、乒乓球，运动员觉得很好玩。而且各种不同的球类项目，其中有共性的东西。”
Lang noted that the delayed Tokyo 2020 was also a sort of setback for the veterans in her squad that some players, including middle blocker Yan Ni and opposite Zeng Chunlei, have been in their 30s.
"Athletes were in a high spirit when starting the training campaign last year, but they couldn't always keep concentrated as the postponement prolonged the preparation for a year," Lang cautioned.
"It has been especially hard for the veterans," Lang said she needed to observe the veterans' conditions constantly and encouraged them to keep going.
"We need their experience, especially in crucial games such as the Olympic Games," Lang emphasized.
Lang admitted that long-term training is a problem for them, so the coaching group often came up with ideas to relieve some of the pressure off their shoulders.
"It will be boring to repeat the same thing every hour and every day, so we would like to try something different, such as playing football and basketball," she revealed.
#挑战
东京奥运会计划于今年7月进行，中国女排将以卫冕冠军的身份出战。郎平认为，由于自己和对手的状态都有很多不确定性，这届奥运会的进程很难预测，很可能是一次遭遇战。
她认为，大约有五六支球队有争冠的可能。
“从美洲来讲，巴西、美国一直保持着非常高的水准。欧洲球队也在崛起，进步相当快。像意大利和塞尔维亚，在2016年的时候，她们还是比较年轻的队伍。经过这四五年的磨砺，现在已经非常成熟，这两年正是状态最好的时候。我觉得这届奥运会，大概五六支球队有拿冠军的可能，到底是怎么样一个排序，要看临场发挥。”
在郎平看来，这届奥运会对中国女排最大的挑战将是临场应变。
“因为对对手的了解特别少，不知道对手到时候是什么状况，有没有技战术上的变化，会不会突然出一两个新星，我们不了解她们的特点，所以必须要在场上迅速捕捉瞬间的变化，做出及时应变。”郎平说。
When talking about the upcoming Olympic Games that is set to kick off on July 23, Lang said it was hard to predict as the contest was wide open, naming five or six teams that have the quality to win the title.
"Brazil and the U.S. are still at a high level, with Italy and Serbia in Europe progressing rapidly, as to the final rankings, it depends on the performance on the spot which will be the biggest challenge for us, maybe one key point will make the difference. "
"We know little about our opponents," she repeated, "Actually, we have paid attention to the European leagues, but the club is still different from a national team, we have to assemble scattered information, it may emerge with two young talents out of nowhere."
#“天才”朱婷
刚刚过完60岁生日的郎平，于2013年重新执教中国女排。在过去的七年里，郎平带领中国女排重回巅峰，赢得了2016年里约奥运会金牌和两次世界杯冠军。她还培养了一批优秀的年轻球员，朱婷就是其中之一。
郎平坦言，在她执教过的中外球员中，朱婷是最有排球天赋的之一。
“我认为她是天才，虽然她自己不承认，她只说她是人才。朱婷动作协调，悟性非常高，技术动作没有什么缺点，再加上她的身材、高度，我觉得她太适合打排球了，她能迅速掌握一项新的技术，而且总能非常合理地处理球，我觉得这就是一种悟性、一种天分，这样一个非常全面的人才，真的非常难得。”
“这届奥运会对她来说会是一个挑战，因为大家太熟悉她了。她又在土超打过比赛，是人家的重点研究对象。在大家都熟悉的时候，还能够一锤定音，这给她提出了更高要求。当然，我们也希望她的队友也能够提高自己的能力，在朱婷遇到困难的时候，其他点可以爆发。”
Lang, who celebrated her 60th birthday last December, returned to the national coaching role in 2013. During the seven-year stint, Lang revived the traditional powerhouse and guided the team to the top of the podium in Rio 2016 and to win two consecutive World Cup titles, with captain Zhu Ting the pillar of the team, en route to the glories.
To Lang, Zhu was no longer the shy girl she had been when she got the first call-up to the national side, and outsiders also think Zhu has picked up Lang's attributes as a spiker.
"She never acknowledged she is a genius," Lang disclosed, "But I think her body coordination, her ability to read the games and her techniques all make her a volleyball talent."
"Tokyo 2020 is a challenge for Zhu, because every team is familiar with her and has specific tactics, but I still expect that she can manage to pursue excellence," Lang said.
#期待
作为运动员和教练员，郎平曾经4次登上夏季奥运会的赛场，而冬奥会她还一次没有去过。距离2022年北京冬奥会开幕还剩不到一年，郎平很期待这项即将在家门口举行的盛会。
“我特别高兴北京能够举办冬奥会，也为之自豪。夏季奥运会和冬奥会在同一个城市举办，非常了不起。我从来没去现场看过冬奥会，明年有机会在家门口看冬奥，我一定要去。”
Last Thursday Beijing marked the one-year countdown to the 2022 Olympic Winter Games, which will make the Chinese capital the world's first city to host both the Summer and Winter Olympics. Lang asserted that she felt proud that Beijing could have this honor, and she would watch the Games live.
"It is great to realize that our country is inspiring 300 million Chinese people to participate in winter sports, as a volleyball practitioner, I also hope one day in the future we could have 100 million people involved in volleyball, not only competitive volleyball but also achieve a balance between study and sports."
"My wish for the new year? Under the anti-pandemic protocols, I hope our team can play one or two international tournaments to have better preparations for the Olympics. Elsewhere, I hope to see our fans on the pitch as soon as possible!"