Mother shooter wins at National Games

By sportswriter Zhou Jie

JINAN, East China, Oct. 20 -- Five months after giving birth to a baby girl, Beijing Olympian Chen Ying shot down the gold medal in the women's 25m pistol at the 11th National Games Tuesday.

Chen Ying, from Beijing, accumulated 790.6 points in the event, beating Fei Fengji from Shanghai by 1.2 points. Zhao Xu from Heibei was third at 787.8.

The victory made Chen Ying the first Olympic gold medalist win in individual event on the National Games shooting range.

Prior to Chen Ying's victory, her national teammates and Beijing Olympics gold medal winners Du Li, Guo Wenjun and Pang Wei failed to move further en route to the highest podium at the Nationals.

GOLD MEDAL FROM TOUGH TRAINING

When looking back to the past two months, what Chen Ying could remember is tough training.

After the Beijing Olympics, Chen Ying devoted all her life to the family and on May 20, 2009, she gave a birth to a baby girl.

"I had to fight against myself when I got a call from Beijing shooting team, asking me to take part in the National Games," said Chen Ying.

"To take part or not was really a tough question for me," she said. "I chose to pick up pistol at last."

To make the decision could be a little bit easy for her, but only when she began her training can she find how hard the time could be.

"The past two months was really hard for me. When I had my training at daytime, I always hoped the night time could come soon so that I can have the time with my baby. When the night fell down, I would think about the training next day," she said.

Step by step and day after day, Chen Ying came to Jinan and shot down the gold, a gold for her husband and daughter.

GOLD MEDAL FOR MY FAMILY

Whenever she talked about her family, her husband and daughter, Chen Ying turned from a cool shooter to a happy mother.

Chen Ying arrived in Jinan days before the games started and stayed in the National Games village with her teammates.

"During the days in Jinan, my husband sent my daughter's photo to me through email everyday," said Chen Ying. "My husband and my daughter are the power behind me in shooting. Without their support, I don't think I can survive in the past several months."

"I will keep the gold medal for my family, especially for my daughter," she said.

When talking about her family, Chen Ying is full of happiness. "I will spend the time with my family after the National Games," said she.