Xia Yuyu, a 25-year-old student from Tsinghua University, has become a big winner at the FISU World University Games in Chengdu as she pocketed a gold, silver and bronze medal in the women's 10,000 meters, 5,000 meters and women's team half marathon respectively.

In an exclusive interview with Cao Zhenshui, Xia's coach, he dedicated her success to the spirit of Tsinghua University.

"There is s slogan in Tsinghua called 'No sports, No Tsinghua'. The university has a long tradition of putting emphasis on physical education since its establishment," Cao said.

Cao met Xia in 2014. "Xia is from a mountainous region in Guizhou Province. Her junior school teacher contacted me to recommend her. I chatted with her, finding that she is a girl with perseverance, which is an important character for a professional runner," said Cao.

After that, Xia was admitted into Tsinghua University High School to train under the guidance of Cao.

"Xia is at average level at high school, but she is keeping making progress. Even after the National Games, she did not rest. Her strong willpower made her excel herself in the competition," Cao said.

For a student athlete, another difficulty Xia has to overcome is to balance training and study. "Xia's schedule was very occupied in high school. She only had time to train after 3 p.m. At that time, she normally trained for two hours a day," Cao said. "So she did not have leisure time during summer and winter holiday. Usually, we went to Inner Mongolia in summer and South China's Yunan Province in winter for the training camp."

"Xia never hesitated, even amid the pandemic. Actually, the university is more inclusive than professional running teams. She could have chosen other paths, but she did not. She always sticks to her original dream."

As a university teacher and an athletics coach, Cao believes that sports and education are always integrated together. "For example, I have a student called An Hu who competed in the Universiade in Spain in 1999 and went to the United States after graduation. He sent me a text message for congratulation after our victory. I remembered when the media interviewed him at that time, they were astonished that he can read English newspapers," he said.

"Sports is an important part of education, which teaches students to face failure and helps them build a sound personality," he added.

Editor: Guo Lili