Beijing, 27 Jan (Xinhua) -- The Beijing Winter Olympics speed skating competition will be held from February 5 to 19 at the National Speed Skating Hall "Ice Ribbon", which will produce 14 gold medals, which is the most gold medal produced in this Year's Winter Olympics. As one of the oldest events of the Winter Olympics, speed skating was included in the official competition at the first Winter Olympics in 1924, and has never been absent since then.
On November 14, 2021, China's Guo Dan (former) competed in the semi-finals of the women's group at the FIU Speed Skating World Cup in Poland. Xinhua News Agency
Can the Chinese team make a new breakthrough?
At the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, Chinese athlete Zhang Hong won the women's 1000m competition, achieving a breakthrough of zero gold medals for the Chinese team in the event. At the last Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, youngster Gao Tingyu won the bronze medal in the men's 500 meters competition, achieving a breakthrough of zero medals for Chinese men's men's speed skaters at the Winter Olympics.
Two consecutive breakthroughs have been made, and this year's Beijing Winter Olympics, the more mature Gao Tingyu will continue to attack the medal and even the gold medal together with Ning Zhongyan.
In the previous four speed skating World Cup competitions, Gao Tingyu won a total of 1 gold and 1 silver in the men's 500 meters, and skated the best result of all the participating athletes in the B group final. Ning Zhongyan won 1 gold and 2 silver in the main 1500 meters, and won a championship in the sub-event 1000 meters, and both showed a good competitive state.
On November 12, 2021, in the final of the MEN's 500m Group A of the FISU Speed Skating World Cup in Tomashuv, Mazovshe Region, Poland, China's Gao Tingyu won the championship with a time of 34.26 seconds. Xinhua News Agency (Photo by Rafael)
In terms of women, the short distance events of 500 meters and 1000 meters were once the dominant events of continental speed skating, from Ye Qiaobo and Wang Manli to Yu Jing, Wang Beixing, Zhang Hong and other famous players from these two events. The 500 meters is the dominant event for Chinese women, who have achieved excellent results in the World Cup and world championships many times, and in recent years, many famous players have faded out of the field, and the women's short distance has performed mediocrely in the Olympic games. This Winter Olympics, it is expected that the Chinese women's team will strive to make a breakthrough in the short distance event.
In addition, in the women's team pursuit event, the Chinese team has also stood on the podium in this season's World Cup sub-station, and the Winter Olympics are also expected to hit the medals.
Can the Plains Ice Rink produce a new world record?
Many world records for speed skating were born in the "Highland Ice Rink". Two "Highland Ice Rinks" in Salt Lake City, USA, and Calgary, Canada, have witnessed the birth of the world record for speed skating many times. At the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, a number of speed skating world records were broken, which is rare in Olympic history.
Sweden's Van der Poul set a new men's 5,000m world record in Salt Lake City with a time of 6:01.566 in this season's Speed Skating World Cup. Many other players have also created their personal bests in the "Highland Ice Rink" many times.
Interior view of the National Speed Skating Hall. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Cheng Tingting
Although the Beijing Winter Olympics will be held in the "Plain Ice Rink", in order to make the "Ice Ribbon" witness a new miracle, the staff of the National Speed Skating Hall is committed to creating the "fastest ice" on the plain. With the support of scientific and technological research, "Ice Ribbon" adopts advanced and environmentally friendly carbon dioxide ice making technology to create a piece of ice with extremely uniform temperature conduction, flat and smooth, and is equipped with the air conditioning dehumidification system of the venue, sports lighting system, etc., providing an excellent stage for global athletes to fully display the power and elegance of speed skating.
The crowd is chasing deer, and the "Orange Army" continues its hegemony?
Known as the "Kingdom of Speed Skating", the Netherlands is one of the strongest teams in the project. In the 14 events of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, the Dutch team won a total of 7 gold, 4 silver and 5 bronze, and the number of medals they won exceeded one-third of the total number of medals in the project, defending their supremacy in the Winter Olympics.
On October 10, 2021, Dutch athletes compete in the women's 1500m race of the "Meet in Beijing" series of winter sports events, speed skating, China Open. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhang Chenlin
In addition, the Japanese and Korean teams are also strongly competitive in a number of events. Pyeongchang Winter Olympics women's 500m champion and Japan's Nao Kodaira will once again attack the gold medal. Another Japanese star, Miho Takagi, is also competitive, as the current women's 1500m world record holder, she won three consecutive world championships in four World Cups, and also won 1 gold and 2 silver in the 1000 meters.
The South Korean team also scored 1 gold, 4 silver and 2 bronze in the last Winter Olympics, and the total number of medals was second only to the Netherlands. Although the strength of the South Korean team has declined slightly after the retirement of the famous Lee Sang-hwa, there are also many players who have the strength to impact the podium in this season's competition.
In addition, players from many countries, including the United States, Canada, Norway, Italy and other countries, have strong competitiveness in some events, and will compete for the deer, or will jointly launch an impact on the "Orange Army".
Who spent the 14 gold medals? Who will be the biggest winner of this Winter Olympics? Let's look forward to the competition in the "Ice Ribbon" arena of the Beijing Winter Olympics.
Editors: Liu Ning, Huang Xuguo, Zhou Xin, Feng Yue (Intern)