Xu Shiyan, learns, absorbs like a sponge ahead of bid for Olympic gold

Xu Shiyan, 27, is the captain of the Chinese judo women's national team. After finishing in fifth place in the women's +78-kilogram event at the Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021, she was in tears but announced in front of camera: "I will come back."

Back then, in many people's eyes, Xu was the Chinese national team's rising star who started as a sparring partner. Her failure at the Olympics was a real blow to her confidence and caused her to doubt herself.

"The national team went to train overseas in 2022," Xu told China Media Group (CMG). "We spent a long time in other countries, but didn't achieve many good results. Maybe I ran into the bottleneck at that time. I doubted myself."

The Chinese national team has been through some changes in recent years, including switching from Chinese coaches to French ones and to Georgian ones today. Xu benefitted a lot from these changes. Her biggest advantage was stamina, which enabled her to always move quickly in the fight. One of her major shortcomings was the lack of enough methods to score.

Xu's coaches provided solutions for her to fix her problems by learning new skills, but also suggested that she remain patient. It was difficult for Xu to change a style that she was used to for many years, but the tons of time and efforts she spent on practice paid off. In 2023, Xu participated in a series of international competitions and won two gold, three silver and three bronze medals.

Though Xu has been inconsistent in recent months, such setbacks don't get her down anymore. She realized that she relied on her form more than others to make good performance. Therefore, she's been doing everything she can to stay in a good form, both physically and mentally.

"Last time in Tokyo, I was like 'yeah, I can compete at the Olympics.' This time in Paris, I have a much clearer target," Xu told CMG. "I want nothing but the gold. If I'm given the chance, my goal is always the top on the podium."