2007年的第一个周末，中国体操队资深教练、女队教练组组长陆善真应邀为浙江体操队作指导。他这次来到浙江比任何一次都来得激动，他说：“浙江姑娘何宁在十个月时间，亚锦赛、亚运会、世锦赛，一举夺取7枚金牌，创造了中国体操队历史上的奇迹！她进国家队时间最短，但创造了获世界冠军最快的纪录！”
　　
　　打头阵胆大心细
　　
　　时间回溯到2006年12月，多哈亚运会激战正酣。
　　北京时间3日凌晨，体操女子团体决赛正在进行，中国队打头阵的便是何宁。小姑娘毫不怯场，自始至终面带微笑，无论是自由体操还是平衡木，无一不完成得干脆、利落，最后，这块分量最重的体操金牌无可争议地归属中国队！
　　何宁扮演这样的“领军人物”已经不是第一次了。早在两个月之前，在丹麦阿胡斯举行的第39届世界体操锦标赛上，何宁也当“领军人物”第一个上场，她顶住了重重压力，凭借稳定的发挥和高昂的斗志，与队友收获了团体冠军。这是中国体操53年来第一个女子团体冠军，为祖国赢得了极大荣誉！
　　在夺取亚运会女子体操团体冠军后的次日，何宁再次以“稳”取胜，赢得女子个人全能金牌。此时此刻一直守在电视机前的爷爷奶奶，目睹此景此情，一个劲用宁波话说：“交关高兴、交关乐胃。”
　　几天后，中国体操队凯旋。在北京首都国际机场，陆善真指导不惜溢美之辞：“何宁凭借顽强、良好的竞赛作风，完成了不可能完成的任务！”
　　
　　“这丫头从不服输”
　　
　　陆善真指导为什么称何宁“完成了不可能完成的任务”？
　　原来，对体操运动而言，何宁的身材并不出挑，其他优势也不明显。浙江省体校教练汤昌言说：“我在省体校第一次见到小姑娘时，她一点也不起眼，最深的印象是手大、脚大，只会两个动作：一个是劈叉，另一个是双手撑地抬抬屁股。但手大、脚大也有好处，手大容易抓杠，脚大可以抓木。”因此勉强让她留了下来。省队的汪瀛士也坦言：小姑娘的身材属于“粗壮型”，练体操可能会影响动作质量、美观度，最主要的是难度增值能力不够。
　　但后来是什么能让省体校毅然决然留下何宁呢？正是这个宁波姑娘从不言败、从不服输的精神！早在1998年，因为伤病影响，何宁在浙江省第十二届运动会上成绩不够理想，长辈们也不想让她再练下去，情急之下当年才7岁的小何宁“扑通”一声跪了下来：“求求你们，让我留下来，再给一次机会吧。”
　　进省队后，何宁是“最好练的运动员”。汪瀛士说：“省队的孩子年龄都不大，难免会有些娇气，但何宁从来都不曾流露过半点娇和懒，每天她总是勤勤恳恳用心训练和加练。”
　　2004年何宁被送到国家队进行短期集训。这是全国体操新秀的舞台，人才济济，何宁没有给教练留下多少印象。2005年国家体操队又组织一次短期集训，浙江体校总教练汪瀛士总三番五次推荐：“何宁这小姑娘练得很苦，发挥也很稳定，再给她个机会吧。”尽管这样，也没能再次叩开国家队的大门。
　　这对何宁打击很大。她知道身材、天赋上的劣势固然很难改变，但如何扬长避短，这是何宁常常思考的问题，她开始用脑子练体操。
　　体操赛场上有难、稳、美、新四要素，除了“稳”，何宁很难在其他三要素上实现突破，因此她选择了在“稳”上下工夫。无论是在众目睽睽之下抑或大小比赛，何宁都自告奋勇要求第一个上场，藉此考验自己的心理素质和压力承受能力。
　　2005年10月，全国第十届运动会在江苏南京举行。何宁凭借“稳定”这一招数，夺得女子高低杠季军、女子个人全能第八名。在全能前八名选手中，只有何宁不是国家队队员。她从第一场到第四场，场场没有失误，陆善真指导看后的第一句话是：“心理素质真好。”
　　
　　也正是这次的精彩亮相，何宁再次进入国家队教练的视野。她把握了机会，国家队也给了她机会：2006年2月，何宁成为国家队正式队员。她在世锦赛上打头阵，夺冠军后陆善真对她又有褒奖：“何宁是永远都不会掉下高低杠的选手。”
　　
　　生活磨难是财富
　　
　　何宁从不服输的精神，来自她不同寻常的生活经历。
　　何宁的生身父母是浙江台州人，出生一个星期她就被送给宁波的陈金明夫妇。当年陈金明与妻子都已50多岁了，小何宁称他们为“爷爷”“奶奶”。
　　陈金明夫妇视其为己出，疼爱有加。跑供销的陈金明甚至出差到上海，都要把小何宁带在身边。
　　送小何宁学体操也是陈金明的主意：“我们年纪大了，没有太多精力照顾她，再加上孩子有这方面特长，所以托人找到了宁波体校的教练。”那年，何宁不过5岁多点。
　　送到体操队后陈金明夫妇也没少费心，尤其到杭州训练后，几乎每个星期老两口都要坐公交车再坐火车从宁波赶到杭州看望何宁、关爱何宁。
　　特殊的家庭背景使小何宁过早地成熟了。她是队员中最安静也是最沉默的一个，教练找她谈心，只要听到“要争气”之类的言语时，小何宁总是咬住嘴唇不停地点头。
　　也因为这个，何宁自理能力特强，还特独立。她在省队时小小年纪就是“大管家”了：安排值日、整理内务、训练管理队形等，小家伙都能出色完成。教练们说：“生活的磨难何尝不是一笔财富。”这种经历，是催促何宁更快、更好成长的原动力。
　　
　　目前，何宁最大的心愿就是进军北京奥运，并能够登上最高领奖台。
　　教练动情地说：2008年北京奥运，17岁的何宁正值当打之年。何宁虽然没有哪个单项特别突出，但她上场80%的成功率是所有国家队员望尘莫及的。其次，何宁的“独门武器”是对比赛节奏的控制。在团体赛事中，中国队少不了她这个打头炮的选手。
　　当然，目前中国体操女队竞争十分激烈，张楠、周卓如、韩冰、庞盼盼、程菲、范燕等都如日中天，进军奥运大名单决非轻而易举。“在跳马、平衡木项目上，还须再努力哦。”这是多位教练对何宁的点拨。不过不用扬鞭自奋蹄，16岁的何宁早在编织自己的梦想了，就连12月18日她的生日，她也是在赛场上度过的。
　　“何宁把握了第一次机遇，她还会把握第二、第三次机遇。她同时也会给我们带来更多的惊喜。”汪瀛士对爱徒满怀信心。
　　
　　新闻链接
　　何宁，女，1991年12月18日生于台州。她的体操成绩是：2005年全国十运会女子高低杠季军；2006年全国体操冠军赛女子全能冠军；2006年亚洲体操锦标赛女子自由体操、高低杠、平衡木金牌、团体冠军；2006年体操世界锦标赛女子团体冠军；2006年十五届亚运会女子体操团体冠军、个人全能冠军。
　　
　　The 16-Year-Old World Champion
　　By Huang Wei
　　
　　Lu Shanzhen, head coach of the Chinese women gymnastic team, came to Hangzhou in early January 2007 and hosted a training session for the Zhejiang women gymnasts during a weekend. The head coach came with an excitement his colleagues in the province had never seen before. The excitement was understandable: He Ning, a 16-year-old gymnastic starlet from Zhejiang, grabbed 7 gold medals at Asian Games, Asian Championships and World Championships within 11 months in 2006. She is a miracle in the history of the Chinese gymnastics, for no one on the national team has ever accomplished that much in the international arena within such a short time.
　　
　　He Ning is not just another world champion on the national team. The golden girl is literally the leader of the champion team: in Doha, Qatar and Aarhus, Denmark, she was always chosen to be the first of the team to compete for her peerless consistent performance. She helped women’s Team China win the first world title in 53 years. “He Ning accomplished the mission impossible,?enthused Lu Shenzhen at the airport when the team was back to Beijing from Denmark.
　　The head coach was not the only one overjoyed. He Ning learned to repeat her glory. At home in Ningbo her grandparents were overjoyed to watch her grab the all-round championship at the 15th Asian Games in Doha.
　　Her coaches both on the national team and the provincial team agree unanimously that consistence is the teenager’s hallmark. Tang Changyan, a coach with the Zhejiang Sports Academy, was not impressed at the first sight of the little He Ning years ago. In the eyes of the coaches, she did not have promising physical potentials. At that time she could only perform two simple basic moves. Moreover, she had big hands and feet. That means, for gymnastics, she would not win for her physical beauty and in all probability there might be problems for her to display finest quality and conquer world-class technical difficulties in her future performances as an international gymnast. But, her big feet and hands could be a superb advantage on apparatuses. After all, you need to keep yourself on the apparatuses before you can show anything of beauty, technical difficulty and quality.
　　So coaches decided to give the young girl a chance. Pretty soon, a hidden potential in He Ning began to shine: she trained hard and learned fast. Her coaches agreed she was the most diligent girl in training on the team. The national team organized two short-term training camps in 2004 and 2005 to screen budding talents nationwide. He Ning failed to attract the attention.
　　Her coaches on the provincial team knew she had to be consistent to be competitive in the national arena. They developed her consistency and she always volunteered to be the first to compete in any team events.
　　
　　The national championships held in October 2005 became a turning point for the girl who never gave up. She was in the eighth place in the all-round competition and she was the only one of the eight who was not on the national team. Top coaches watched her closely and were deeply impressed by her consistent performance. This time they recognized her unique talent in making no mistakes under big pressure. In February 2006, she joined the national team. Her career took off. In 2006, she became the national all-round champion and she was chosen to compete for international championships.
　　If He Ning partly owes her success on apparatuses to her big hands and feet, her never-say-die spirit came partly from her unusual life experience. A week after her birth, she was adopted as a granddaughter by Chen Jinming and his wife in their fifties. They lived in Ningbo, hundreds of kilometers from her birthplace. He Ning began practicing gymnastics at the age of five. After she was on the provincial team, her grandparents would come all the way from Ningbo to visit her in Hangzhou almost every weekend. He Ning showed her leadership capability when she was on the provincial team: she worked out weekly duty lists, supervised daily routine housekeeping tasks in dorms, and led the training team.
　　He Ning will be 17 years old in 2008. She hopes that she’ll be good enough to be on the team for the Olympics. Competition within the national team is fierce when other girls are nice and brilliant. She now looks forward to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
　　(Translated by David)