Introduction: After the men's 500m final of speed skating at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, Gao Tingyu excitedly waved his arms at the audience, and in 34.65 seconds, the Chinese team won a bronze medal, creating the best record in the history of Chinese men's speed skating in the event. This is not only a cry for achievement, but also a message to the world: China's speed skating sport is on the rise.
Speed skating is a typical cyclical endurance sport. If a 500-meter special athlete wants to have a high-speed gliding rhythm throughout the whole process, he must have a strong aerobic ability. Among the speed skating powers in Europe and the United States, especially in the speed skating kingdom of the Netherlands, the training concept of "promoting the short with the long" has always been emphasized. In the speed skating project, the mainland has always had the situation of "strong women and weak men", "short strong and long and weak" and "stronger than the future".
The emergence of Gao Tingyu has broken stereotypes about China's speed skating programs. Netizens have exclaimed that "rich and handsome" is coming!
"Gao" is not only a surname tall, but also a big 1 meter 8 tall; "rich" is too many medals in the competition; "Shuai" is really handsome, but also the focus of Chinese men's speed skating, is the grand marshal on the field. His frequent appearances and medals at world-class events are not accidental, but stem from the accumulation of training, which continues over and over again.
In the winter of 2005, 8-year-old Gao Tingyu began to contact skating in the school's small playground, at the age of 11 he was discovered by coach Liu Deguang and recruited to the Mudanjiang Winter Project Training Center, at the age of 14 was selected to the Heilongjiang Provincial Skating Training Center Speed Skating Team, in 2016 was selected for the National Speed Skating Team, when Gao Tingyu was only 19 years old. In the second year of the national team, at the Sapporo Asian Winter Games, Gao Tingyu had an amazing performance, winning the men's 500m speed skating gold medal and breaking the Asian record with a time of 34.69 seconds. After the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, Gao Tingyu continued to create a new history of Chinese men's speed skating. In February 2020, he skated a time of 34.282 seconds at the World Speed Skating Individual Championships, setting a personal best record. In the China Cup Speed Skating Elite League held in September last year, Gao Tingyu set a new world best in the 21-22 season of speed skating in the men's 500 meters with a time of 33.83 seconds. A little faster is the lingering thought in Gao Tingyu's mind every time he plays.
The gold medalist of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, Zheng Hong, once said of him, "XiaoGao has a particularly good mentality, will not put a lot of pressure on himself, and rarely makes mistakes in the competition." Among the top runners, only he started in 9.50 seconds, and his natural explosiveness and muscle elasticity are destined to be very good sprint runners."
However, the "ice" of the venue cannot cover the "fire" in Xiao Gao's heart, and in the face of injustice in the game, he is not timid, dares to be bold, dares to be angry, and dares to speak out.
In the 2021 ISU Speed Skating World Cup in Poland, Gao Tingyu and Russia's Mustakov appeared in eighth place. At the start, the referee awarded two consecutive fouls, one for Mustakov and once for the players preparing on the practice track, and the two penalties had a significant impact on Gao Tingyu. This caused Gao Tingyu to make a mistake in the first corner, and he almost fell on the ice in his hand, and finally tied for eighth place with the Netherlands' Otesper with a time of 34.93 seconds.
In an interview with reporters after the game, Gao Tingyu shook his head in chagrin: "I can't understand! The two of us are competing, why should we blow the practice path player foul? Both of these fouls had nothing to do with me, but they wasted the focus at the start, which had a big impact on me, and the first corner was wrong! This has rarely happened to me in any previous race! ”
The 500 meters are the event on the speed skating field that is most affected by accidental factors. In addition to making preparations before the game, Gao Tingyu also made a serious review of his performance after the game, using multiple technical links such as starting as a short board that needs to be strengthened.
In November last year, in the first men's speed skating Group A final at the 21-22 Speed Skating World Cup in Poland, Gao Tingyu broke the field record of 34.265 seconds to win the gold medal. This is the first championship won by the speed skating team in the new season after Gao Tingyu became the coaching whip of Li Yan. But Gao Tingyu is obviously not satisfied with this, this northeast guy is more looking forward to the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, hanging on his chest, witnessing the pride of the Chinese people, that golden medal. In Gao Tingyu's own words, "I am very excited about my first World Cup gold medal, but the main goal this season is to be on the podium at the Beijing Winter Olympics." ”