On January 26, the International Olympic Committee released the key athletes of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, saying that Liu Jiayu, a Chinese snowboarder who created a historic silver medal at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, is fully preparing for the fourth Winter Olympics of his career, and the host of this Winter Olympics is Liu Jiayu's hometown.
Liu Jiayu's family and friends like to affectionately call her "Little Bird". Just as she led China's snowboarding to the sky, as a pioneer in Chinese snowboarding, her growth history has inspired the morale and morale of the younger generation of Chinese snowboarders.
The IOC commented that before she won the silver medal at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, China had only won a medal in the freestyle skiing aerial skills event. However, at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, she told the world by her own name: "China has veneers."
This project, which is almost dominated by European and American athletes, was once regarded as a "project that is difficult to integrate into eastern cultures".
In 2003, snowboarding was officially established in the mainland, and Liu Jiayu can be said to have grown up with Chinese snowboarding.
"Although she only switched from martial arts to snowboarding at the age of 11, she reached the top of the sport at an almost insane pace." The International Olympic Committee gave such an evaluation in the comments - Liu Jiayu represented all Chinese snowboard players and showed the posture of "Chinese birds". She won the gold medal in the World Cup twice, once ranked first in the world, and in the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, she created two histories at once: the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics women's snowboard U-pool final, with two sets of high-quality actions, Liu Jiayu got a high score of 89.75 points and won a silver medal. This is the first medal won by the Chinese delegation at the Winter Olympics, and it is also the "zero breakthrough" of China's snowboarding major in the history of the Winter Olympics.
Behind this huge honor is the growth history of Liu Jiayu all the way with the pain. Injuries have always been a problem that plagues Liu Jiayu. At the Vancouver Winter Olympics, Liu Jiayu was constantly affected by injuries, and eventually lost the medal and only won the fourth place. After the Sochi Winter Olympics, Liu Jiayu, who had completed her third shoulder surgery, once felt desperate, and her grades could not be broken, and she even had the idea of giving up snowboarding.
Liu Jiayu won a silver medal in the women's U-shaped pool competition in the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, wearing a national flag to celebrate. Courtesy of Visual China
"When you're facing a U-shaped pool, that fear is always there." Liu Jiayu previously said in an interview with the media: "I know that if I add some new skills to the game, it may be life-threatening, but participating in the game itself makes me full of joy." ”
In the upcoming Beijing Winter Olympics, Liu Jiayu is proud to be able to participate in the competition in her motherland, and she said that she will let go of the shadow of past failures, fully impact the gold medal, and achieve self-transcendence. Even though her shoulder has undergone multiple surgeries, even if she has missed some international events due to the impact of the epidemic. But Liu Jiayu took it lightly: "Just let everything go naturally." ”
Before preparing for the Beijing Winter Olympics, she did not achieve results in several international events that satisfies her: she finished 9th at the Snowboard world cup in December 2021 and 8th at the Snowboarding World Cup in Lex, Switzerland, in January 2022, but this did not affect the expectation of her performance at this Winter Olympics, and she has been proven countless times to be the hero who can stand up at key moments.
For Liu Jiayu, she also has a new mission to help her young teammates walk together to the medal table. "As an old senior, it is my responsibility to pass on my experience to my young teammates and to bring them together." As the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics are about to open, let us bless Liu Jiayu.
For more information, please pay attention to the Winter Olympics.
Source: Winter Olympics | Reporter Cheng Mingjie
Edited by: Kandian
Process Editor Tai Shaofeng