On the mirror-like ice, three pairs of pair skaters Sui Wenjing/Han Cong, Peng Cheng/Jin Yang and Wang Yuchen/Huang Yihang are training on ice. For the training content, the team members have long been familiar with the heart, twisting, throwing jump, single jump, lifting, spiral... These technical movements are practiced one by one. After several times of intensive training for one movement, we move on to the training of the next movement. With each highly completed twist, throw or single jump, applause from the coaching staff will be heard on the sidelines.
Peng Cheng/Jin Yang
In the face of nearly a hundred reporters' long guns and short cannons, the team members trained as usual, except for occasionally sliding to the sideline to talk to the coach and drink water, more than an hour of ice training almost did not stop. This is a training open class at the Figure Skating Training Hall in Shougang Park on January 5, which has attracted the attention of dozens of Chinese and foreign media. "Precise blade, beautiful and smooth, stable axis, breakthrough difficulty, courage to innovate, meticulous craftsmanship, distinctive style, superior strength", the newly posted slogan on the sidelines aptly expresses the training guiding ideology and content of the Chinese figure skating training team in the sprint stage of the last month from the opening of the Beijing Winter Olympics.
Three times a day on the ice training, but also in the evening to practice, the team's training plan is posted on the bulletin board on the sidelines. The training of the Chinese figure skating training team has been carried out in full accordance with the cycle pattern of the Winter Olympic Games. Zhao Hongbo, coach of the duo, said that this is just a normal training, and there is no increase in training content or intensity in front of the media, "As the Winter Olympics approach, in the last month, our weekly plan is very meticulous. These athletes have overcome a lot of difficulties, are constantly working hard, and all want to have a very good performance at the doorstep. Zhao Hongbo said.
Sui Wenjing/Han Cong
Sui Wenjing/Han Cong's previously unused twisting week reached level three in the test, and the extra points for execution points were also very good. The two have been affected by injuries in the past few years, and the technical difficulty has been affected, and now the two have basically recovered from the injury, and their physical condition has also been adjusted well, and Han Cong's lift has also increased the difficulty, "After entering the final year of preparation, what we are doing is to upgrade the program, the difficulty of lifting and the novelty of creation, especially in the lift, there are many difficult, challenging, and innovations that can make everyone shine." Han Cong said.
Although this season still uses the previous music "Golden Bridge on the River of Sorrows", Sui Wenjing said: "We and the choreographer Laurie made a new choreography of the show, added new elements, and spent a lot of thought on lifting, spirals and many other details, and the period of choreography basically ended every day until two or three in the morning, but during that time everyone was very happy." We look forward to bringing new highlights to the 'old show'." ”
The biggest competition the Sui/Han and Peng/Jin duo faces at the Winter Olympics comes from three pairs of players from Russia, all in the top five of the world. For the understanding of the difficulty of the program, Zhao Hongbo believes that stability should still be the first element at the Winter Olympics. "Our opponents are strong, they have ruled the history of the Winter Olympics for 46 years. We're also watching their team tests, where two pairs of young players are full of momentum. But I think every player in the Winter Olympics is comparing themselves, and we still have to practice more steadily and with higher quality. We have always emphasized the quality of the action with the team members, and in the Winter Olympic Games, we have focused on stability and done our best to play the two sets of programs with the highest quality actions. At the same time, as long as we have the conditions, we will go to our highest difficulty. ”
Peng Cheng/Jin Yang focused on strengthening the training of single jump. Single jump is Peng Cheng's weak point, and the final stage of training is to strengthen muscle memory and gradually stabilize the movement through repeated exercises. Zhao Hongbo also made special training arrangements for the weak links of the disciples, and the training of single jump has been increased to the maximum. At the same time, the coaching team also has a clear training plan for the athletes' physical training, including targeted explosive training.
"We've been problem-oriented throughout the season, solving problems found in the game. In today's training, the success rate of the players' individual actions is more than 90% to 95%, and each pair of players still has some shortcomings, but the overall success rate is still relatively high. Approaching the Winter Olympics, especially in the competition atmosphere of the Winter Olympics, athletes will have more or less changes in mentality, and how to make the mentality more stable depends on the quality of training. Zhao Hongbo said.
Image source Chinese sports pictures Zhang Xin photo