In 1992, speed skater Ye Qiaobo achieved a "breakthrough of zero" for Chinese Winter Olympic medals. In 2014, Zhang Hong reached the top of the Winter Olympics in Sochi, and won the first gold for the Speed Skating Winter Olympics for China.
This article was first published in Southern People Weekly
Text / Southern People Weekly reporter Xu Mei
At the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, China's Zhang Hong won the first speed skating Olympic gold medal for China with a time of 1 minute 14.02 seconds in the final of the speed skating 1000 meters.
Taking off her tight race uniform and windshield, she wore a yellow medal-winning dress with a stunningly beautiful face, and for many ordinary spectators who can't even distinguish between short track speed skating and speed skating, such a high-value Olympic champion has greatly helped to improve the influence of the project.
▲ 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics speed skating women's 1000 meters final, Zhang Hong in the competition Photo / Visual China
"Speed skating is a sport that competes with time," Zhang Hong's explanation gradually made the audience understand: speed skating is for the purpose of racing, similar to the race on the ice, athletes participate in every two groups, each from its own way, when crossing lanes inside and outside, you can not interfere with each other, and finally rank by performance; and short track speed skating can be multi-person participation, supplemented by tactics and cooperation in the gallop, who arrives first in the same group wins. Compared with the characteristics of short track speed skating curves, the speed skating track is also known as the "avenue", and the race track is a standard 400-meter track.
In 2008, Zhang Hong switched from short track speed skating to speed skating, and her height of 1 meter 74 gave her a large stride advantage when racing, but in the eyes of outsiders, there are many exquisite differences in special training. There are many players who have switched from short track speed skating to speed skating, but very few can be trained, and Zhang Honggang's first two years of turning the event have not been very good.
The peaceful mentality and the training method of obtaining the Fa made Zhang Hong go more and more smoothly, and go farther and farther. Before the Sochi Winter Olympics, the coaching team had seen Zhang Hong's gold-winning strength from the stopwatch of daily training, but in order to eliminate interference, they "kept this information as the most core secret", and finally Zhang Hong successfully rushed to the front as a dark horse.
Speed skating is the first olympic medal breakthrough of the Chinese Winter Olympic delegation, and Ye Qiaobo, who is well known to the audience, is a speed skating all-rounder. In 1992, at the 16th Winter Olympic Games in Albertville, France, Ye Qiaobo won two silver medals in speed skating in the 1000 meters and 500 meters, achieving a breakthrough of zero medals in the Winter Olympics for China. More than 30 years later, Zhang Hong finally reached the top and won the first gold for the Winter Olympics of Speed Skating for China.
▲ At the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, Zhang Hong won the final in the women's 1000m of speed skating Photo/Visual China
In 2018, 30-year-old Zhang Hong participated in the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics as an athlete, and she struggled with a knee injury and could not regain her glory. But the nomination of IOC President Bach brought Zhang Hong into a new track, and she became a member of the IOC Athletes' Committee.
The comprehensive quality of top athletes is called "champion spirit" by former Olympic Committee President Rogge, who encourages outstanding athletes not only to win on the field, but also to "migrate" this quality into daily life and work. After taking off her skates, Zhang Hong became a member of the Sports Committee of the International Olympic Committee, studied for a doctorate, and actively exerted her professional influence in international organizations, allowing people to see the powerful role of the "champion spirit".
In order to better represent China and represent athletes, she just removed her skates and began to catch up at full speed.
"I found myself no longer working with my previous experiences. Working in the Olympic Committee, facing not only the pressure of language, but also the knowledge of the Olympic Games, how to put forward their own suggestions, proposals, put forward their own ideas, how to serve athletes and so on in the committee. At the beginning of 2020, she looked calm and wise, and frankly told the Beijing Youth Daily reporter who interviewed her, "You don't know what I went through, in the first year and a half, in northeast dialect, I was completely confused." ”
▲ On February 23, 2019, In Harbin, Heilongjiang, in order to popularize speed skating and drive more people into the ice rink, Winter Olympic speed skating champion Zhang Hong taught children skating at the ice rink Picture/Visual China
She has been updated inside and out, and the huge breakthrough in spoken English is the most intuitive change. Before the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, she had struggled to learn English for a while, but she was barely able to speak. Today, her pronunciation is very standard and her expression is calm. After the PyeongChang Olympics, she soaked in the language school every day. At the beginning of joining the International Olympic Committee, she could not even read an email, the first time she went abroad for a meeting, transferred three flights, and was alone in Switzerland for a week, French and English bombed in turn, completely collapsed. Watching the committee members put forward so many suggestions and opinions, while they were stupid on the side, "An athlete, there will be a strong psychology, I will secretly shed tears in the room alone." ”
It is unimaginable for an athlete to use her studies, her English reading is practiced by nibbling on the IOC briefing, and in order to grind her ears, she repeatedly watches the video of the IOC meeting at home.
Language is only a tool, but it is so important that people need to use it to unleash ideas and influence. After the work was gradually put on track, Zhang Hong began to offer suggestions and suggestions, using her professional experience and experience to better serve the active athletes.
Zhang Hong is the image spokesperson of Beijing's bid for the Winter Olympics, and with the approaching of the Winter Olympic Games, how to run the Olympic Games at the doorstep of the family has come up with wisdom and countermeasures in all aspects. As a speed skating Olympic champion who once stood on the ice rink and raced against time every second, Zhang Hong was very specific, and her proposal focused on traffic and ice quality — sending athletes to the field at the fastest speed, creating the best quality ice surface to help break and create world records.
"Whether the ice surface is fast or not involves the temperature of the ice surface, the temperature of the room, the thin thickness of the ice and the quality and purity of the water. These factors can affect the speed at which athletes can glide. Known as the "Ice Ribbon", the National Speed Skating Hall adopts an all-ice design with an ice surface area of 12,000 square meters, which is currently the largest ice surface in Asia. It is also the world's first CO2-cooled Winter Olympic venue, which is not only environmentally friendly, but also the most advanced ice technology.
As a member of the Athletes Committee of the Beijing Winter Olympics Organizing Committee, Zhang Hong looks forward to athletes from all over the world to create good results in this carefully crafted arena for them.