As a basic sport on ice, speed skating is known as "ice track and field", and the speed skating event of the Beijing Winter Olympics will produce 14 gold medals, which is the largest number of gold medals, and the importance of speed skating can be seen.
Competition schedule
From endurance to outbursts from individual to collective
There are 14 sub-events in speed skating at the Beijing Winter Olympics, of which the men's events are 500 meters, 1000 meters, 1500 meters, 5000 meters, 10000 meters, group chase, group departure, and women's events are 500 meters, 1000 meters, 1500 meters, 3000 meters, 5000 meters, group chase, group departure. The rules of the individual project are well understood, and those who skate the same distance in a relatively short period of time are at the top of the list. In the group chase event, the two teams set off on the opposite track at the same time, each team of 3 players, men's 8 laps, women's 6 laps after the competition, the last player of each team crossed the line to determine the result. The collective departure is the joint departure of the runners, and the 4th, 8th, 12th and finish points are set in the 16th lap race, and the top three athletes who complete the sprint receive corresponding points, and finally rank according to the sprint points, finish time and number of completed laps.
From the perspective of the schedule, the speed skating competition of the Beijing Winter Olympics first started from the long-distance endurance event. The first is the women's 3,000m competition held on February 5, with North American and European athletes having stronger competitiveness and a large gap between mainland players. This was followed by the men's 5,000m race, which mainland has yet to qualify for. On February 7 and 8, the women's and men's 1500 meters competition whistled, the speed skating field will usher in a climax, the mainland players have a certain competitiveness, especially Ning Zhongyan ranked second in the men's 1500 meters of the speed skating World Cup this season, and has the strength to impact the good results. The next stage will be alternating between long and short distances, with the final of the team chase taking place on February 15 and the final race on February 15.
Development pattern
Europe and the United States are strong Japan and South Korea are gaining momentum
European and American countries are traditional powerhouses of speed skating, especially the Netherlands, as of the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, the Dutch team has won a total of 121 Winter Olympic speed skating medals, including 42 gold medals. However, in the process of preparing for the Beijing Winter Olympics, the Dutch speed skating team is in a general state, although it has obtained 9 men and 9 women to qualify for the full quota, but many players, including 3-time Winter Olympic champion Kramer and 5 Winter Olympic gold medalists Worcester, have not achieved satisfactory results in this season's World Cup. But as demi Ray Witt, technical director of the Dutch Skating Association, said, no one in the speed skating arena of the Winter Olympics can take the Dutch team lightly.
In addition to the Dutch team, Norway, Russia, Italy, Canada and the United States are quite competitive in different sub-events. Due to its long duration and high popularity, speed skating is bound to be one of the most competitive events in the Winter Olympic Games.
In recent years, many Asian teams have also made great progress, the Japanese team has gradually grown into a world speed skating power after the Nagano Winter Olympics, Nao Kodaira has the ability to rush gold in the women's 500 meters and 1000 meters, and Ritsuya Shinhama, Murakami Yuma and Mori Shigeharu have formed a "group advantage" in the men's 500 meters event. In addition, the Takagi Miho and Takagi Sisters are also strong in the women's 1000 meters, 1500 meters, collective departure and other events.
The South Korean team continued its good form after the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, with Kim Joon-ho being a strong contender for medals in the men's 500m and Kim Min-sun in the women's 500m.
The current situation in China
Looking forward to "Gemini" shining "Ice Ribbon"
In 1963, Luo Zhihuan won china's first gold medal in ice and snow events was speed skating. Mainland China's first Winter Olympic medal was Ye Qiaobo's silver medal in the women's 500 meters of speed skating at the 1992 Winter Olympics, and Zhang Hong won the gold medal in the women's 1000 meters in 2010, achieving a "breakthrough of zero" in the winter olympics of the continental speed skating event. At the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics four years ago, Gao Tingyu won the bronze medal in the men's 500 meters and won the first medal in the speed skating event of the mainland male athletes. So far, Chinese athletes have achieved a total of 1 gold, 3 silver and 4 bronze in the speed skating event of the Winter Olympics.
During the Beijing Winter Olympics cycle, the Chinese speed skating training team overcame the difficulty of not having an international competition for more than two years, strengthened its physical fitness and made up for shortcomings in daily training, and made progress in many projects. In the previously concluded 4-stop speed skating World Cup, the Chinese team won a total of 4 gold, 3 silver and 2 bronze, 35 people created personal bests, and 4 people broke the national record.
Among them, the most outstanding performance is Ning Zhongyan and Gao Tingyu, a pair of speed skating "twin stars". Although there is still a certain gap between the two and foreign high-level players, they are full of confidence in the face of the young people of the Winter Olympics, and Gao Tingyu said at the recent media open day: "Playing iron still needs to be hard, and I look forward to changing the medals for color at the Beijing Winter Olympics." Ning Zhongyan said: "I look forward to showing my best self at the Beijing Winter Olympics." ”
The men's and women's team pursuit events also have a certain strength, the women's team ranked fifth in the last Winter Olympics, and this season's World Cup results have steadily improved compared with 4 years ago. The men's team chase has made great progress under the leadership of Ning Zhongyan, qualifying for the Winter Olympics for the first time, and the Chinese men's team ranked fifth in the World Cup standings.
Guo Dan, the world champion who transferred from roller skating, was in excellent shape in the women's group starting event, and she was third after 6 matches of the 4 World Cups.
At present, Chinese athletes have won a total of 22 beijing winter olympics speed skating events to participate, Gao Tingyu and Ning Zhongyan have ensured the right to participate in the Winter Olympics because of their outstanding performance in the World Cup, and other participants must be determined through internal selection.
Photo from Xinhua News Agency