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“This was the first time in my life I had attended such a big and formal meeting,” she said.
“I tried to understand the proceedings but found them too difficult. But it’s a good way to learn politics and get to know people. Some of them may be helpful to me in my future career.”
Feng, who filed a report to the legislative session on the status of retired athletes, said she is seriously thinking of starting a foundation to help China’s many retired athletes, who are frequently forgotten and marginalized by the gold-medal-hungry sports system.
“I certainly hope I can make something happen in the next few years, one way or another. I really believe retired athletes need help and need skills to make a living,” said the 31-year-old former captain of the Chinese women’s volleyball team.
Ranked as one of China’s greatest female volleyball players of all time, Feng led the Chinese team to medals at two consecutive Olympics: gold at Athens in 2004, where Feng also won the Most Valuable Player award, and bronze at the 2008 Beijing Games.
She still plays National League, but believes it is now time to make a change.
“For the time being, I want to stay in Beijing and complete my masters degree, before I come to a decision about my future,” she said.
“I still want to continue my career in volleyball, but maybe not as a full-time athlete,”
She said she has several options in mind, including running her own business, an organization that helps retired athletes, or getting married. All of these will take time and patience, she said.
If she finishes her courses and graduation papers in
time, Feng will receive a master of arts degree in sports journalism, a niche program opened by the prestigious Peking University to attract retiring athletes.
Former gymnasts Liu Xuan and Mo Huilan, who also studied journalism in Beijing’s top institutions, have become hosts of top-rated
TV programs for national networks. Other retired female athletes have also been hired to become sports commentators.
But Feng said the degree does not mean she will definitely become a journalist. “I don’t necessarily plan to become a newswoman discussing sports,” she said.
The former captain has spent more time on her personal life and her family in recent years, not because her passion for volleyball has lessened, but because of the pain in her left knee.
Two decades of practice have taken their toll on Feng’s knee. The injury almost made her give up her career after the 2004 Olympics, but a short overseas season in Italy and successful surgery in Chicago in 2007 gave her a lift.
A refreshed Feng decided to try one more Olympics in front of her hometown fans.
Feng finished her most recent season in Guangdong, partnering with former national team teammates and one of China’s most successful players and coaches, Lang Ping.
The team won all its games last season and entered League A of China’s professional league.
Coach Lang Ping has encouraged Feng to continue her career and said publicly, “I wish you would try to stay in volleyball”, on Feng’s 31st birthday last December,
Feng jokingly replied: “Don’t they say wishes are not supposed to be spoken?”
A Beijinger through and through, Feng has continued to live with her parents in the city.
“There is no place else that I would rather be than with my family,” Feng said. “I will stay here as long as I feel comfortable”
But Feng admits she is also on the lookout for a lifelong companion. The national celebrity has kept a low key about her personal life, but said she would like to get married when the right man appears.
“It’s serendipity that makes it work. I firmly believe it. There’s no way you can force something to happen when it comes to romance and marriage,” she said.
