Yang Wei: "I'm Not Ready to Give Up Gymnastics Yet"

About a month ago, Yang Wei and his long-time girlfriend, 2000 Olympian Yang Yun, got married on Hainan Island. They got a lot of flak for their lavish ceremony, and had to give a press conference and do some explaining on Yang Wei's blog afterward to explain the situation and justify their choices and behavior. Since then, they've led a quietish life.



According to Yang Wei, his life hasn't changed much since he and Yang Yun got married, mostly because they'd been together for 8 years before tying the knot. "Really, our life together is no different now from what it was before we got married. The only thing that has changed is our names. We no longer call each other by our names. Instead we call each other 'hubby' and 'wifey.'"

The only other changes to the Yangs' post-marital life consist in the fact that they've bought new curtains for their home and that Yang Yun seems to have become a more enthusiastic cook. Said Yang Wei: "Yang Yun is more willing to go to the kitchen now. I can have home-cooked food 3 times a day now, which is great."

One thing Yang Wei has discovered over the last few months is that he's not quite ready yet to rest on his laurels.

"After the Olympic Games, every athlete wants to rest and recover, especially athletes who have actually won. Once such competitions are over, you really feel drained, both physically and mentally. I'm not the only one who feels that way. After the Olympics, I did what is important in life [i.e. he got married], but while I was enjoying not having to train anymore, while I was at home with Yang Yun all day, I realized I kept missing something. I missed the time when we all used to play soccer and warm up together before getting started on our workouts, as we did each time we trained," Yang Wei said. "I discovered that without gymnastics, I didn't have any concrete new goals, I didn't know what to do. So I can tell you from the bottom of my heart that I'm not ready to give up gymnastics yet."


(photo: Xinhua)

Yang went on to say, "I'll arrive at the gym on time every day, and I'm going to train just like I used to. I can tell everyone with certainty that I'm not going to retire just yet. I'll definitely take part in next year's National Games."

As for the 2012 Olympics, he's not ready to commit to that yet. "I think I'll let nature take its course." 　　

Somehow we don't think that's the answer Huang Yubin wanted to hear, Mr. Yang.

The above quotes were taken from 3 Sina articles which can be found here, here, and here.