As the Beijing Winter Olympics approach, the world's ice and snow athletes have arrived in Beijing, and what will be staged on the ice and snow field is not only a competition of athletes' strength, but also a visual feast for the audience. In the ice sports conducted in 5 venues in Beijing, the masters gathered and the stars shone, and the Chinese ice and snow athletes will spell the words and show their style.
Speed Skating: "Gemini" looks forward to highlighting the siege
Gao Tingyu and Ning Zhongyan are the "twin stars" in the speed skating team composed of 14 "post-90s". Four years ago, 20-year-old Gao Tingyu won the 500-meter bronze medal at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, creating the best result of Chinese speed skating in the Winter Olympics and achieving a breakthrough in medals. He won gold in the event in Poland, the first leg of the World Cup of the season, and in the United States, he also skated better than all Group A players in Group B, taking a solid step towards his goal of "changing the color for medals". But his performance is also fluctuating and unstable. In the second race of the 500 meters in Poland, his performance slipped to 8th, and in Canada, he was sent off for two starting fouls. At the same time, he also has extremely strong opponents such as Canada's Debriel, Japan's three-member shigeharu Mori, Ritsuya Shinhama, and Murakami Yuma. At the Beijing Winter Olympics, Gao Tingyu will only focus on this one competition, and on February 12, the "Ice Ribbon" will stage the highlight of the speed skating men's 500 meters.
Gao Tingyu (Photo/Personal Social Media)
Ning Zhongyan, who is participating in the Winter Olympics for the first time, is the highlight of the Chinese team in the men's 1000 meters and 1500 meters, and he will also participate in the men's group departure competition. As a rare world-class player in the men's middle distance in the mainland, Ning Zhongyan's performance this season is amazing, especially in the main event of 1500 meters, which already has the strength to impact medals and even gold medals. Ning Zhongyan's advantage lies in his strong physical reserves, and his shortcomings lie in the fact that he has not experienced such a big competition as the Olympic Games before, and it is still unknown whether he can show the highest level at his doorstep. In addition, as the "hegemon" of the 1500-meter event for many years, the Dutch celebrities Nuis and Kroll have not performed well in the World Cup this season, but it cannot be ruled out that they can recover their state at the Winter Olympics, and once they return to courage, it will be the biggest obstacle to Ning Zhongyan's progress. Participating in the men's 1500 meters on February 8, the men's 1000 meters on February 18, and the men's collective departure on February 19, the three-front battle is also a challenge for Ning Zhongyan. However, the 22-year-old Ning Zhongyan is ready, "I will focus on the first 1500 meters of my own comparison, and if the first is better, I will be more confident in the future." Playing my best at the Beijing Winter Olympics is my biggest goal. ”
In the two events of men's collective departure and team pursuit, the mainland has made a huge breakthrough in obtaining tickets for the Winter Olympic Games, and will play a steady and normal level at the Beijing Winter Olympics.
Compared with the men's team that won 5 sub-events, the women's team gained the right to participate in all 7 sub-events, and the number of participants up to 8 people was second only to the only Dutch team that was licensed to participate with up to 9 people, highlighting the overall competitiveness as a world power team. In terms of strength, the Chinese women's team is competitive in many projects, but the biggest problem is the lack of "leaders". Tian Ruining, a 25-year-old Xinjiang girl, has progressed from 20th in the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics to a "strong contender for medals" in the women's 500m event, but compared with her predecessors Ye Qiaobo, Wang Manli, Wang Beixing and other celebrities, she still lacks leadership domineering.
Women's 1000 meters, 1500 meters, the mainland's best state this season is Li Qishi, Han Mei, the latter is in the 1500 meters, 3000 meters, 5000 meters, team chase and other four small events to help China win the Olympic rights, but also in these events have a certain competitiveness.
Judging from the points of the Winter Olympics, the highest-ranked sub-event of the Chinese speed skating women's team is a collective start: as the roller skating world champion, Guo Dan has successfully participated in the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, and now he has become one of the first-class strong players. Just facing Canada's Browning and Italy's Lolo Brigitte, Guo Dan, who ranks third in Olympic points, is not difficult to achieve a breakthrough, but is expected to compete for the next medal.
Short Track: The Chinese team strives to fight for "opening red"
The glory of the Chinese sports delegation in short track speed skating has always carried the ardent hope of the broad masses of the people. The speed of the race, the excitement of the instant alternating rankings, and the suspense that it is difficult to reveal the ranking until the last moment are even more exciting to watch. At the Winter Olympics, the Chinese short track speed skating team can always win gold and silver, living up to expectations.
After deriving from speed skating and becoming an independent project, the mainland started faster, Li Yan won 1 gold and 2 bronze at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, and was called "Dragon Take-off" by host Canada. Subsequently, at the 1992, 1994 and 1998 Winter Olympics, China's short track speed skating had medals in the account. At the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, Yang Yang won two gold medals, a breakthrough for China to achieve zero gold medals in the history of the Winter Olympics. In 2006, Wang Meng came out and won the gold medal in the women's 500 meters of short track speed skating at the Turin Winter Olympics for the Chinese team. At the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, the Chinese short track speed skating team won all four gold medals in the women's event; at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, Li Jianrou won the gold medal in the women's 500 meters, Zhou Yang won the gold medal in the women's 1500 meters, and wu Dajing, Han Tianyu and other male players stepped on the stage of the Winter Olympics and won the medal; at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, Wu Dajing became the only gold medalist in the Chinese delegation and won the gold medal in the men's 500 meters of short track speed skating.
After entering the Cycle of the Beijing Winter Olympics, this "Gold Medal Division" forged ahead, strengthened its physical strength to make up for shortcomings, spelled first, steadily improved its performance, and obtained the qualification for all the projects of the Beijing Winter Olympic Games. Wu Dajing and Ren Ziwei performed well in the 4 World Cups this season, taking the lead in locking the quota for the Beijing Winter Olympics; subsequently, the Chinese short track speed skating team determined the 3 men and 5 women of Li Wenlong, Sun Long, Zhang Tianyi, Fan Kexin, Qu Chunyu, Han Yutong, Zhang Yuting, Zhang Chutong through the team selection competition, this team led by the "three elders" Wu Dajing has 5 athletes with Winter Olympic experience, and the other 5 players are 4 "post-00s", Zhang Yuting was born in 1999, all of which are participating in the Winter Olympics for the first time.
Ren Ziwei (Photo/Wei Zheng)
A combination of old and new teams will defend the honour at the Capital Stadium. The first mixed 2000-meter relay of the winter Olympics was contested on the first competition day of short track speed skating on February 5, and the Chinese short track team will inevitably fight for the gold medal to strive for the "opening red". In the 4 World Cups this season, the Chinese team fully practiced the lineup, the men's 2 tried Ren Ziwei and Wu Dajing, Ren Ziwei and Sun Long two combinations, the women's 2 tried Fan Kexin and Qu Chunyu, Fan Kexin and Zhang Yuting, Fan Kexin and Zhang Chutong three combinations, 4 races 4 lineups, achieved 2 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze good results, firmly grasp the world's first ranking in the project. But this project is not a unique Chinese team, the Netherlands team, Hungary team have a strong strength, although the South Korean team ranked 6th, but they in the first leg of the World Cup on the first stage of the Winter Olympic ice set a world record of 2 minutes 35 seconds 951 seconds. Whether this record can be broken at the Beijing Winter Olympics is also a big attraction.
Ren Ziwei, who rose in the Beijing Winter Olympic cycle, boosted the morale of the Chinese short track team, and he and Wu Dajing are worth looking forward to in the individual event, while the men's 5,000m relay will also attract attention. At the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, the Chinese men's team lost to the Hungarian team led by Liu Shaolin and Liu Shaoang brothers by only 0.064 seconds, and now only Wu Dajing participated in the Beijing Winter Olympics in the last lineup, and the Chinese team that replenished fresh blood won 1 gold and 1 silver in the 4 World Cup events. The event will produce the final gold medal for short track speed skating at the Beijing Winter Olympics, and the Chinese short track team is looking forward to a perfect ending.
The Winter Olympics are a stage where masters gather, and the short track speed skating arena is even more star-studded. The Netherlands, Hungary, Russia, Canada, and South Korea are all opponents that the Chinese team should not underestimate, and the women's side of Shu erting, Kim Buting, Cui Minjing, and the men's side of the Liu brothers, Huang Daxian all have the strength to win gold.
Figure Skating: Pair Skating has "Double Insurance"
The Chinese figure skating team composed of Sui Wenjing/Han Cong, Peng Cheng/Jin Yang, Wang Shiyue/Liu Xinyu, Jin Boyang and Zhu Yi is ready to go, and the whole team is working together to achieve another good result at the Beijing Winter Olympics.
At the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, Sui Wenjing/Han Cong lost the gold medal by only 0.43 points and won a silver medal. Now that the two have recovered from injuries, the action arrangement has also increased the difficulty rating, on the basis of maintaining the advantages of difficulty and synchronization, the program arrangement has also made great adjustments, and the difficulty of lifting has been upgraded, although the music of the 2016-2017 season "Golden Bridge on the River of Sorrows" has been used, but the "Onion Barrel Combination" is ready to perform a new version of "Golden Bridge" at the Beijing Winter Olympics.
Peng Cheng/Jin Yang also has winter Olympic experience, although they failed to enter the free skating in Pyeongchang, but the two who started again in the Beijing cycle have been reborn and improved, especially after Peng Cheng strengthened the training of personal shortcomings and strived to break the "single jump curse", their "China story" is worth looking forward to.
Sui Wenjing/Han Cong (Photo/Zhang Xin)
The Peng/Jin combination and the Sui/Han combination form the "double insurance" of China's pair skating. But their opponents are also very strong, especially the Russian three-pair combination, all full of desire for gold medals. St. Nova world champions Misna/Gallamov are strong contenders for the gold medal in pair skating at the Beijing Winter Olympics, and after entering the senior group in 2020, their upward momentum is very rapid, and they beat Sui Wenjing/Han Cong to win the championship at the 2021 World Championships, when Misna was not yet 20 years old and Gallamov was 21 years old. According to the latest is the ISU world rankings, they are ranked first. Although the duo is young, their free skating program is majestic and expressive, and the programming is difficult. At the just past European Championships, Mishna/Galliamov performed perfectly, especially in the free skating, Sakhov shocked everyone with 3 weeks of jumping, 3 weeks of twisting, 3 weeks of throwing and level 4 lifting were done very cleanly, and finally the short program, free skating, and the total score of three brushes world records, took their first European championship. Another pair of young Russian pair skaters, Boykova/Kozlovsky, won the European Championships in 2019-2020 and made a splash, and at the 2021 World Championships, they finished first after the short show and finished third. The pair are younger, with Boykova just turning 20 and Kozlovsky only 22. "Veterans" Tarasova/Morozov finished 4th at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, and the tacit understanding between pace and breathing is their biggest advantage. In the current world rankings, Sui Wenjing/Han Cong and Peng Cheng/Jin Yang are ranked 3rd and 5th respectively, and the three pairs of Russian players are ranked 1st, 2nd and 4th. The gold medal will be awarded on February 19 and will be a feast for spectators who love figure skating.
Wang Shiyue/Liu Xinyu has made significant progress in the Beijing cycle and strives for a breakthrough. Jin Boyang made history at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, finishing fourth in the men's singles, but the Beijing Winter Olympic cycle fluctuated greatly, and he and 19-year-old Zhu Yi were selected for the Winter Olympic team through the team selection competition and will strive to show their best level at the Beijing Winter Olympics.
At the international level, Yu yu has many "fans" even in China, and whether he will challenge Aksai's Four-Way Jump (4A) in the Beijing Olympic Free Skating and succeed is a topic that has been a constant topic since the All-Japan Championships, and the answer will be revealed on February 10. He will face the challenge of players from the United States and Russia to jointly show different styles but all wonderful men's singles programs.
The women's single skater can admire the style of three beautiful russian girls. The 15-year-old new European champion Valyeva, the world champion Serbakova and the attention-grabbing Trusova, who attracted attention with difficulty, will sweep the podium without accident.
Curling: New faces or will create surprises
Chinese curling once had a highlight moment at the Winter Olympics, and at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, the Chinese women's team won the bronze medal in their debut at the Winter Olympics, and the year before they had just won the gold medal at the World Championships. The Chinese men's team also followed the top four at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, representing the level of curling in Asia. The mixed doubles event, which was once placed on a medal breakthrough, was accidentally broken at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, giving Chinese curling a heavy blow, and Chinese curling entered the iterative process.
Today's curling sport, along with the increase in confrontation, the requirements for physical fitness are more prominent. In the Beijing cycle, the Chinese curling team that started again increased the intensity of physical training and scientific training content, consolidated the physical foundation, and improved the training efficiency. In order to select the best athletes to go to the Beijing Winter Olympics, the best athletes in China were gathered, and the mode of team selection competition was adopted, and the mode of 1 station per week for 6 consecutive weeks was determined, simulating the schedule and atmosphere of the Winter Olympic Games, and through high-density, high intensity, and continuous adjustment of the combination of actual combat, each athlete's personal skills, field performance and teamwork ability were examined. The high-density team selection competition objectively makes up for the lack of international competition experience, builds a platform for practical exchanges, creates a competitive atmosphere and pressure, and helps athletes enter the Beijing Winter Olympics in advance. Finally, through the selection, 10 of the 12 athletes selected for the Beijing Winter Olympics lineup are new to the Winter Olympics, lightly armed, based on fighting, curling new army is expected to create surprises at the Beijing Winter Olympics.
Zou Qiang (Photo/Bai Yu)
Of the 20 teams participating in the Beijing Winter Olympics, European teams account for the majority. In addition to the host Team China, the other Teams of Canada, Switzerland, Sweden, the United States and the United Kingdom, which have won full quotas, are all veteran teams. The strength of Asian teams in the Beijing cycle has dropped significantly compared to the Pyeongchang cycle, Japan and South Korea have only qualified for the women's team, they are the silver and bronze medal teams of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, the World Championships failed to enter the top six directly to Beijing, and can only catch the last train of the Winter Olympics through the Winter Olympics.
In the men's team competition, the Canadian team has won 3 gold medals and 2 silver medals in the past 6 Winter Olympic Games, Switzerland has won 1 gold and 3 bronze, and Norway and the United States have also won 1 gold medal respectively. The women's side is also the world of European and American teams, Sweden led with 3 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze Winter Olympic medal, followed by Canada with 2 gold, 1 silver and 3 bronze. Compared with the previous Winter Olympics, the mixed doubles teams have changed greatly, and Australia, the Czech Republic, Italy, the United Kingdom and Sweden have appeared on the Winter Olympic stage for the first time.
Ice Hockey: Breaking the boat and playing with momentum
Chinese women's ice has returned to the Winter Olympics after 12 years, and the fourth place at the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics is the best record achieved by Chinese women's ice so far. He finished 7th both in 2002 and 2010.
Yu Baiwei (Photo/Personal Social Media)
If the Chinese women's team wants to be in the top eight, the group stage must go all out to treat every minute, the group stage opponent Japan team ranked highest in the latest team of the International Ice Federation, temporarily ranked 6th, they will also participate in the Olympic Games for the fourth time, the Japanese women's team recently announced the 23-man squad roster, the team has 39-year-old Hideaki Kubo, 29-year-old Masaho Osawa and other veterans, as well as the 20-year-old forward Shiga Hongyin who emerged at the 2021 Women's World Championships, 8 Olympic newcomers, their goal is to surpass 2018 Sixth place at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. The Czech Republic, Denmark and Sweden got tickets through the Beijing Winter Olympic Women's Ice Hockey Qualification Tournament, the Czech Republic and Denmark Women's Ice Hockey are participating in the Winter Olympics for the first time, the Czech Team is currently ranked 7th in the world, Sweden is 9th, and Denmark is 11th.
Chinese men's ice will stand on the stage of the Winter Olympics for the first time, facing the Canadian team at the top of the latest team ranking of the International Ice Federation, the Fourth Team of the United States, and the German team that is now ranked fifth in the silver medal of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, the Chinese team will be based on fighting, playing the style and momentum of Chinese athletes.