Olympic bicycle test competition gold medal winners podium flashing head

Before the London Olympics, at the awards ceremony of the Olympic Test Match and the 2012 Women's Individual Pursuit at the International Self-European Space Bike World Cup London, Joanna Russell, who won the gold medal, was surrounded by a photojournalist.

The reason for obtaining such a "courtesy" is not only because Joanna has just broken the world record, but also because she is on the podium, she has no hair on her head.

Taking off the wig on the top of the head and boarding the podium with a bald head. This is not a well-planned action or a position. This is the temporary decision of Joanna who is suffering from alopecia. Maybe she needs such a high-light moment, bursting with resentment and pressure within ten years.

The teammates and opponents around me presented a special compliment. The British Association of Alopecia Patients immediately commented that Joanna is the "cover girl" proud of all alopecia patients. Today, the 23-year-old bicycle hope star will be unveiled at the Olympics. She wants to prove to the world that sports has given her the courage to succumb to fate.

9-year-old sudden alopecia

Courage, in fact, is not always with Joanna. When the exciting moment of the award was over, the British journalist followed his hometown for an in-depth interview, and the chestnut wig that accompanied him for many years was still worn on her head.

Alopecia is accustomed to be called "ghost shaving" in China. Medicine believes that the disease is caused by abnormalities in the human immune system. Excessive stress, pregnancy, and chemotherapy may also cause alopecia. When she was a child, Joanna actually had a beautiful long auburn hair, but unfortunately, when she was 9 years old, she suddenly developed baldness. First, the eyebrows began to fall off. At the most serious time, even the eyelashes would fall down. When she was 11 years old, she was long. The hair has been completely stripped. Hats and wigs have since become Joanna’s companions.

Joanna’s father, Rogge, works at the bank. His mother, Amanda, is the finance director of a school. They took their daughters to all the hospitals in Britain and the United Kingdom. The result was that baldness could not be cured. Little Joanna had cried in front of them many times, asking why she would lose her hair , and her parents could only comfort her with the phrase "hair will definitely come back."

In the UK, one out of every 100 people suffer from alopecia, and there are currently 600,000 alopecia patients in the UK. This condition can occur in any person, without specific age characteristics, and there is no particularly effective treatment.

The bicycle let her find her confidence

Therefore, little Joanna, like most alopecia patients, quietly hides in her own small world, afraid to be in contact with the outside world. In school, because she was shy of her bald head, she was desperately studying at home after class, and as a result, all her homework grades were A+. Recalling the difficult teenage years, Joanna revealed, “The doctor told me that the youthful years of a bald girl are very difficult. So I started not to make up because I didn’t want to think about my appearance.” In the early days of hair loss, Joanna had some self-destruction, and felt that since she had no hair, then the appearance of a beautiful bald head was ugly.

But the appearance of the bicycle made her regain her confidence.

At the age of 15, Joanna, who was studying at the school, was picked up by a coach of the British Cycling Association Youth Talent Selection Team and began professional training. Bicycles have always been a traditional strength in the UK. At the Beijing Olympics, the UK won only eight gold medals on bicycles. The British watched the bike race in full swing, and the bicycle star won the respect in the UK as much as the football superstar. However, initially Joanna was not interested in the bicycle sport, but her parents quickly realized that her daughter had some talent in sports, so she urged her to persist in training.

But the strange thing is that after starting to practice the bike for 1 year, Joanna started to grow her hair again. She owes this to the merits of practicing her bicycle, which is something that no medicine can achieve. However, after 6 months, the illness hit again, and the hair disappeared quietly in a short time. Joanna only trained hard to temporarily escape the panic of future life.

Joanna said: "If there is no alopecia, I can't imagine what my life will be like. I don't know what kind of road I will choose. Now when I think of life without a bicycle, I will be scared to death."

Greedy girl wig with dress

In the end, she will be rewarded. In just 2 years, she won the 3km Chase Championship for the All-American Youth Women. Joanna’s first individual championship was defeated by former New World Champion Alison Sachs from New Zealand, when she excitedly rushed to the podium and even forgot to wear a wig. "At the time, I really only had time to wipe the sweat, otherwise I would wear a wig. Because everyone wants everyone to see their good side." Joanna said.

For Joanna, it takes a lot of courage to stand up on the highest podium. Even after the Olympic test broke the world record and won the championship, she continued to think. Struggle, consider whether to return to the locker room and wear your own maroon wig to enjoy the victory in a familiar way. But in the end, she decided to take off her wig and stand proudly on the podium.

However, if he can really win the next Olympics, Joanna still hopes that she can choose a favorite wig to appear. As a girl, she cares about her appearance. In 2008, 20-year-old Joanna won the World Championship with the team. In that year, she first walked into the wig shop and picked a wig. She realized that she grew up and should have a perfect appearance. When I go out to play at night, it can also be a beautiful girl who attracts the attention of boys. That time Joanna had a black wavy wig, and she also bought gold and maroon wigs for herself. Every time she went out, she would match the wigs according to her own costumes.

Also at the age of 20, Joanna had experienced the third birth, but it only lasted for one month. At that time she just met her first and current boyfriend. "I am so nervous that I am afraid that the loss of hair will make him no longer like me, but he does not care at all."

The Olympic gold medal is the goal

When she was a child, Joanna once envied the hair of others. Now she will comfort herself. Only alopecia patients can try different wigs so freely, as if they are experiencing different life. So Joanna said she was actually very lucky. After she had a bicycle, her life had a turn. "Fortunately, the bicycle appeared in my life. I also tried to start training and found myself starting to stop worrying about my hair, but devoted myself to the bicycle. It made me the one I am today."

In the future, alopecia will still make Joanna feel uneasy because she still believes that the most tragic thing in the world is to lose her hair. But now she can't care about being alone and sad, the first big thing is to get the London Olympic gold medal. She said: "There will be many bad things happening in life, far more than the pain caused by hair loss. I am very happy and healthy now. I want to concentrate all my attention on what I really care about - like at the Olympics. I got a gold medal." And she also believes that she can get the courage to look at alopecia from exercise.