DROPPING THE BEAT

In the world of hip-hop, gold chains have long been a symbol of success, cultural pride and personal expression.

Such bold accessories add to a rapper's presence, both on and off stage.

In July, a hip-hop artist going by the stage name Dragon One released an original track, boasting in his lyrics, "I'll wear the gold medal like a gold chain".

It seemed like a typical case of bravado — the kind the genre is known for — until Dragon One put his money where his mouth is.

Less than a month later in Paris, performing under his real name, Long Daoyi, the 21-year-old Olympic debutant claimed gold in the men's synchronized 3m springboard diving event alongside his teammate Wang Zongyuan.

After turning his lyrical swagger into reality, Long began writing another hip-hop track titled Champion, describing the bond between him and his partner Wang, as well as his emotions after achieving their dream in Paris.

The lyrics — "Just woke up from a dream, with a gold medal in my left hand; Just woke up from a dream, with a mic in my right hand" — illustrate his dual identity as both diver and hip-hop artist.

Throughout the grueling and monotonous hours of training far from home, "music has provided me with great spiritual support," Long confided.

He starts his day with soothing melodies and turns to more energetic tracks during intense training.

"Before my Olympic debut in Paris, I listened to a particularly energizing track called Cute Pinch to ignite my fierce spirit," he recalled.

Long's path to Olympic glory from the springboard began in 2010, when, as a seven-year-old, he was spotted running about in a sports stadium in Rongjiang county, Qiandongnan Miao and Dong autonomous prefecture of Southwest China's Guizhou province.

He caught the eye of Cao Liye, a coach for the Hebei provincial diving team, who offered a direction in which the child could focus his boundless energy.

"From a tender age, he fearlessly imitated fellow athletes on the one-meter board, daring to attempt somersaults and rotations, despite his lack of foundational diving skills. Although his execution was imperfect, his exceptional ability for self-control in the air impressed me," Cao said.

Among his fellow divers, Long often insisted on being the first to jump.

"Back then, I found diving to be exciting and thrilling," Long recalled.

"I was considered one of the better trainees among my peers, which boosted my confidence," he said.

As he began to win some prizes at competitions, he felt a strong desire to become a better diver.

"I started dreaming of one day competing alongside the top divers in the national team," he said.

Seizing the opportunity

In 2016, 13-year-old Long was selected from Hebei's provincial diving team to join in training with the national diving team.

However, after three months, while the three female teammates who went with him stayed, Long was sent back.

"Back then, I felt young and unburdened, still confident in continuing my training," he recalled. However, the same frustrating situation recurred in 2019, 2020 and 2022.

In March 2023, after Long won third place in the men's individual 3m springboard at a national diving championships held in Shanghai, he received a fifth invitation from the national diving training team.

Despite feeling somewhat disheartened, he was determined to "seize the chance".

He was paired with Wang, who was an Olympic medalist at Tokyo 2020.

The duo trained together for less than a month and went on to win the gold in the men's synchronized 3m springboard event at the World Aquatics Diving World Cup 2023 Super Final in Xi'an, Shaanxi province, in April last year.

Subsequently, at the 2024 World Aquatics Championships, World Aquatics Diving World Cup 2024 and other international events, the pair was consistently climbing to the top step of the medal podium.

Long describes Wang as a "great" person who helped him better understand his responsibilities.

"My skills are inferior to his, but over a year of training and competition, he continued to believe in me, leading me forward. There is much for me to learn from him," said Long.

Long's knack for seizing opportunities is also evident in his passion for music.

As he was constantly listening to music, an idea sprouted in his mind: "One day, I want to write my own song."

In 2020, at the age of 17, he had a crush on a girl. "I wanted to express my feelings with a song I had written myself," Long explained.

Melodies popped into his head, prompting him to hum and record each melody using voice messages on WeChat. He then started writing lyrics.

"It was quite challenging at first. I didn't know how to use lyrics to describe 'wind' and 'rain', or how to express the emotions of liking someone."

Despite enduring intense training during the day, his musical creation kept him awake for two days and nights.

With the help of some simple editing and synthesizer software, he completed a song titled Good Night and uploaded it onto the Netease Cloud Music platform.

Two years later, he purchased some proper music recording equipment and set it up in his dorm at the diving training center.

"I really wanted to meet friends in the music industry who could help me create better songs. I wanted to learn the songwriting process."

One night, in August 2022, he attended a gig at a live house in Qinhuangdao featuring local rappers. "As I stood in the audience, I thought, 'if I were to perform, what kind of music style would I choose?'"

After the show, again, he seized his opportunity, approaching the performers, expressing his desire to learn music creation from them. They added him on WeChat and invited him to join a group chat for music lovers.

"One day, one of the members in the group shared a demo of a song she had written, hoping to get some feedback. When I listened to it, I thought her singing was great. I was surprised to discover that there were people in the group who were seriously involved in making and singing songs," Long said.

Consequently, he began to meet more musically inclined friends, collaborating with them on recordings, or seeking help with developing musical arrangements.

So far, he has six songs uploaded on Netease Cloud Music.

In late August, Long returned to his hometown in Rongjiang county to perform an original hip-hop track and participate in China's hugely popular Village Super League soccer tournament, an event with its roots in his home county.

Then, on Sept 22, he performed at the Greater Bay Area Film Concert in Macao, alongside popular Chinese actor and singer Huang Zihongfan.

"In the future, I hope to have more opportunities to perform and to interact with everyone through music," he said.