Who broke Russia's 46-year monopoly on pair skating?
Who is born again after falling to the bottom and winning glory for the country?
Who was thrown 7 meters away and accidentally smashed to the ground and stood up, using the blade under his feet to engrave the Olympic spirit in the hearts of billions of people?
BAZAAR witnessed the resurgence of figure skating stars such as Chen Lu, Zhang Hao, Pang Qing, Tong Jian and Li Chengjiang at the "Legend of China's Ice and Snow" to reminisce about those historic moments that will never fade.
As a competitive sport with both beauty and strength, figure skating has always been regarded as the "pearl in the crown of ice and snow". Over the past 40 years, generations of Chinese figure skaters have interpreted a brilliant dream-like story with tenacious will and indestructible ideals, and written the next ice legend.
Step back in time. Before the Nagano Winter Olympics, figure skater Chen Lu must lose at least 20 pounds of weight; in order to prevent Chen Lu from being "weak-willed" in front of the fragrant braised pork ribs, his friend Yang Yang always preemptively eats the meat, and Chen Lu can already be very happy to be able to eat a bone. Tong Jian and Pang Qing, a well-known figure skating group and loving couple, once "looked at each other like enemies" in the early days of the partnership, and even "did not say a word for a week". Those interesting or bitter wonderful past, let us see these figure skating celebrities behind the honor, more vivid personality and tenacious fighting spirit.
Chen Lu
China's first figure skating women's singles world champion,
Figure skating finished third at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer
She finished third in women's figure skating at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano
"The game is to force yourself to the end of the road, you can insist that others can not persist, is to win."
In 1994, Chen Lu won the first (and second in Asia) Figure Skating Winter Olympic medal for China at the Winter Olympics in Lillehammer. Subsequently, in 1995, at the Birmingham World Championships in the United Kingdom, Chen Lu won the first women's figure skating world championship for China, becoming a pioneer in China's figure skating industry for more than ten years. This is also the first World Championship champion in Chen Lu's career: "It can be said that we have finally realized the dream of figure skaters, so we are still very excited." ”
In 1994, Chen Lu's leg injury was incurable, and she often needed to use anesthetics and muscle memory of her calf to complete the action after years of living with pain. At that time, under the attention of the media and the world, while enduring the severe pain under her feet, she bloomed a confident smile, because every expedition represented her own motherland; every time she went to a competition venue, Chen Lu would look for the Chinese flag for the first time, and she had to see the five-star red flag to be able to settle down.
The 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano was a grand return for Chen Lu. In those years, her competitive state once fell to the bottom, and what pained her more than the downturn was the devastating blow to her self-confidence. During those lonely and depressed days, Chen Lu constantly asked for extra training for herself. "It's painful to go back [from the slump]. The most difficult thing was rebuilding my self-confidence, so I pushed myself too hard at that time. ”
Finally, in the final of the Nagano Winter Olympics, Chen Lu stomped on the "butterfly" in the music of "Liang Zhu", and played on the spot for another three weeks during the last three weeks of jumping action, "sliding crazy"!
So far, Chen Lu has won two consecutive bronze medals for Chinese women's figure skating, and after the game, she cried and paid tribute to her coach with the highest etiquette of figure skating, the action of bending the knees and kneeling on the ice. "At that moment, all the language was so pale."
For Chen Lu, who started her figure skating career at the age of 4, the bronze medal of the Nagano Winter Olympics is the glory of Chinese sports, the peak of Chen Lu's life, and her affectionate and long self-reconciliation with herself. "I just don't believe it. It was so painful, the breath I was holding back at that moment finally came out, and I was finally relieved. ”
Pang Qing, Tong Jian
Runner-up in double figure skating at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics
At the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo won the first Olympic gold medal for Chinese figure skating with their impeccable performance, and Pang Qing and Tong Jian won the second place with their amazing performance, realizing the legend of China's figure skating gold and silver medals. In 30 years, Chinese figure skating has gone from a blank piece of paper to the top of the world.
The race broke Russia's 46-year monopoly on pair skating and became a night of Chinese's eyebrows. "It was a sleepless night", Tong Jian and Pang Qingbai had mixed feelings after the game.
At that time, Tong Jian, who rushed to the national team, dragged two boxes and envisioned Tiananmen Square on the TV; Pang Qing carried the "huge amount of money" of 200 yuan that the whole family saved money and saved money to sleep on the train, ushering in the morning sun of Beijing. Pang Qing and Tong Jian, who are not only tacit partners but also loving couples, were not satisfied with each other in the initial stage of the combination. At that time, Pang Qing weighed 76 pounds, while his male partner Tong Jian weighed only more than 110 pounds, "Even my mother said, can he move you?" On the other hand, Tong Jian's opinion is not small, regretting that he chose Pang Qing's partner: "As soon as I cooperated with her, I felt too rough, always saying that this is not good, that is not good." ”
Most of the excellent athletes have unique personalities, and after 5 years of running-in and tempering, Pang Qing and Tong Jian have gradually integrated their personalities, recognized each other, and fully understood what team spirit is: "One person will run fast, but two people can go far." "Of course, it also left a body of pain.
Tong Jian and Pang Qing's outstanding performance in the final shocked head coach Yao Bin, and the whole team shouted. Yao Bin knew that the gold medal had been locked by the Chinese team, "The task of the Chinese team has been completed, and all that remains is the difference in how well this task is completed." "When the two five-star red flags were raised simultaneously on the podium, the extraordinary performance of the Chinese team won a five-minute round of applause from more than 10,000 foreign audiences, which means that Chinese culture and oriental faces have truly gained recognition for figure skating."
When he reached the podium of the runner-up, Pang Qing, who had been chasing the Olympic dream all the way, was 30 years old, which was already "advanced age" for an athlete. "(So) I must realize my dream at the age of 30 and in this competition, even if I am no longer young, I must give myself an account for my struggle and dedication in sports, so that I have no regrets."
Zhang Hao
2006 Winter Olympics in Turin Double Figure Skating Runner-up (Zhang Hao/Zhang Dan)
The 4-week flip in the air is a globally recognized ultra-high difficulty coefficient action, and the figure skaters Zhang Hao and Zhang Dan, who are on a mission, have used 4 years of blood and sweat to make the success rate of this action reach 70-80%. But at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Zhang Dan, who was thrown 7 meters away by Zhang Hao and needed to complete a 4-week flip action, accidentally smashed the ground and torn his ligaments. When the petite girl resolutely stood up and continued to glide together with Zhang Hao's support, they had already won.
The moment Zhang Dan fell, Zhang Hao panicked, the game was the Chinese New Year, and more than a billion viewers across the country and even the world were guarding the TV set. In the crisis, he has participated in world-class competitions many times, and he quickly adjusted his psychological state. "Because the male partner plays a leading role, what if you are nervous about the female partner?"
After the mistake, Zhang Hao and Zhang Dan wanted to do this four-way jumping action again, but the coach kept waving his hand to them on the sidelines, signaling to them: no longer willing to give up this action. "If you start again, it doesn't matter; if you make another mistake, you won't be able to finish anything behind you."
"I cried sadly after that time," Zhang Hao said. Amid the applause of billions of viewers around the world, Zhang Hao and Zhang Dan eventually finished second. The audience's heartfelt recognition and encouragement of them were not affected by a fall.
Zhang Hao is convinced that he and Zhang Dan's "this silver medal is better than a gold medal". Although they were defeated, Zhang Hao and Zhang Dan won the respect of the whole world, and this respect stemmed from China's sportsmanship and tenacious character will in the face of setbacks.
"Maintain a good physical and mental state and continue to hone your tenacious character will." This is the Olympic spirit that Zhang Hao understands.
Li Chengjiang
Winner of the 2001 Four Continents Figure Skating Championships
9th place at the 2002 Winter Olympics
Li Chengjiang is a rising star in Chinese men's figure skating and a star of hope for Chinese men's figure skating, winning the 2001 Four Continents Figure Skating Championships. At the 2000-2006 World Championships, Li Chengjiang never finished in the top ten.
Around 2006 was the best period for Li Chengjiang to compete, "the state has always been an upward trend." Unfortunately, he only finished 16th at that Winter Olympics. Due to the excessive pressure on himself, he developed severe asthma. On the morning of the Turin Winter Olympics, Li Chengjiang even passed out in his room; he did not tell the coach at that time for fear of affecting the game.
It was precisely because "emotionally, mentally, and physically stressed himself too much" that he did not perform well at that Winter Olympics. Li Chengjiang's idol Chen Lu pointed out pointedly: "He just thinks too much. ”
"I think I'm still young and inexperienced; another is that at a very important stage of life, I didn't grasp my own opportunities, which is actually such a regret for my figure skating." Looking back now, Li Chengjiang believes that this is still a very important moment in his figure skating career, whether it is success or failure, this is a precious experience. He hopes to one day cultivate better players, which can also be regarded as fulfilling this Olympic dream for himself.
"What a great athlete ultimately needs to defeat is not his opponent, but himself." Li Chengjiang said.
(This article is based on CCTV4's "Legend of China's Ice and Snow")
Editor, Executive/ Li Jin
Visual Planning / Diao Jihan
Photography / Wei Wei
Rewrite / Tang Hua
Partial styling/ rain analysis
Styling Assistant / Jiang Yao, Lu Lu
Makeup / Mao Mao-Huang, Lu Pini Zoey, Zhang Beibei
Hairstyle / Liu Jing
Fine Arts / STAGEONE
Producer/Cathy
Typography/ Miffy, Yuer