Chinese sports have staged shocking pictures again and again on the world stage, and the five-star red flag has been raised in the arenas around the world. In 1992, Chinese athlete Ye Qiaobo achieved a "zero breakthrough" in Medals at the Winter Olympics, and the five-star red flag was raised for the first time in the field of the Winter Olympic Games. Today, she is a member of the Athletes Committee of the Beijing Winter Olympics Organizing Committee, and Ye Qiaobo said: "When I heard that the 24th Winter Olympic Games were hosted by Beijing, I was more excited than I won all the medals. ”
Winter Olympic Medal "Breakthrough of Zero"
In May 1992, the Central Military Commission issued an order awarding the honorary title of "Top Soldier in Sports" to 28-year-old speed skater Ye Qiaobo. Just three months earlier, the military athlete had won Chinese first medal at the Winter Olympics in Albertville, France.
In the first half of the 1960s, China's speed skating had a number of projects that ranked among the top in the world, but then the overall level declined. When Ye Qiaobo was selected for the Bayi team at the age of 12, it was the era when China's speed skating started again and caught up with the world. There were no indoor ice rinks at that time, and it was common for athletes to train on the ice at minus 20 degrees Celsius against the cold wind. In 1980, China participated in the Winter Olympics for the first time, but the results were the first to last.
In 1985, the 21-year-old Ye Qiaobo slid into the national team, and she recalled: "Ice and snow sports are really the efforts of many generations to go forward. Our generation of athletes is still a relatively happy generation throughout the articulation process. "In order to narrow the gap as soon as possible, the national team has taken out limited funds and sent several top players to Europe for short training, which has quickly improved their performance. In 1990, Wang Xiuli won the 1500m at the Women's Speed Skating All-Around World Championships, and China won the world championship after 27 years. Ye Qiaobo won the first World Cup gold medal for Chinese speed skating in the women's 500m event in March 1991.
At the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France, Ye Jobo was one of the top gold medalists in the women's 500m in speed skating. At the beginning of the final, Ye Qiaobo of the outer road quickly started, speeding forward, just caught up with the inner road players at the moment of changing lanes, the accident occurred, the inner road players did not let Ye Qiaobo change first according to the rules, the body collision affected the speed, Ye Qiaobo finished the race in 40.51 seconds, behind the other group of American Blair 0.18 seconds. Due to the interference in Ye Qiaobo's gliding, the Chinese team filed a complaint, but the American referee did not comment, and Ye Qiaobo could only accept the result of the silver medal, but that was already a great breakthrough in China's ice and snow sports.
Four days later, in the 1,000m final, where he wasn't the best, Ye Jobo won another silver medal, just 0.02 seconds behind champion Blair. Just because of the narrow gap of 0.02 seconds, Ye Qiaobo and the champion lost each other, and she was in pain, "At that moment, I swore that I must fight to the end and must participate in the next Winter Olympics!" A week after the Winter Olympics, Ye Qiaobo defeated Blair to become the first Chinese athlete to win the all-around championships at the speed skating sprint world championships.
"Play with your life and fight for your life"
After achieving the breakthrough of the Winter Olympic medals, Ye Qiaobo swept all eight gold medals in the women's 500 meters of the World Cup series in the 1992-93 season, becoming the first Chinese to win the World Cup championship "Golden Ice Knife" award. But injuries also struck quietly, in the summer of 1993 Ye Qiaobo underwent knee surgery and recovered well, but in the high-intensity preparations before the Winter Olympics, the injury reappeared, and Ye Qiaobo's patellar semi-dislocation.
Before walking to the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway, doctors tied her knees tightly with bandages to try to reset her patellars, and Ye Qiaobo, who came on the field with an injury, ranked 13th in the 500 meters. A few days later, at 1,000 meters, Ye Qiaobo knew that it was her last Winter Olympic game, and Ye Qiaobo said: "Play with your life and fight for your life." Recalling the scene of the competition at that time, Ye Qiaobo said: "I remember that in the last 30 meters, I limped, the left leg was supported, there was no ability to fight hard to pedal the ice, I wanted to restrain myself, don't fall, support slide over." In the end, Ye Qiaobo dragged his injured leg and slid hard to the finish line, and he had to fight for a bronze medal. After the game, Ye Qiaobo underwent surgery and removed eight broken bones from his knee, and the doctor could not believe that this situation could even spell out an Olympic medal.
Ye Qiaobo's firm belief, tenacious struggle and strong will are known as the "Qiaobo Spirit". After Ye Qiaobo retired, there were constantly latecomers who continued to impact. In Sochi in 2014, Zhang Hong achieved a breakthrough in the gold medal of the Chinese Winter Olympics in the women's 1000 meters event, and Ye Qiaobo, as the commentator, witnessed that golden moment at the scene.
The 2022 Winter Olympics will be held in Beijing, Ye Qiaobo said: "I especially hope that our outstanding athletes, our fearless young players can come up with the best state, fight their best results, constantly raise the national flag, and constantly play our national anthem!" ”
Reference sources: Lecture, a good lesson, sports morning newspaper