Recently, the International Skating Federation announced the final quota allocation plan for the speed skating event of the Beijing Winter Olympics, and the number of places for the Chinese team was increased from the original 22 to 23, and the women's 1000 meters, 1500 meters, collective departure and men's 1500 meters were fully participated.
According to the information released by the International Skating Federation, a total of 166 people (87 men and 79 women) participated in the speed skating event of the Beijing Winter Olympics, the Dutch team had the largest number of participants, reaching 18 people (9 men and 9 women), and the Chinese speed skating team ranked fifth among all teams with 14 people (6 men and 8 women). According to the schedule, on the afternoon of February 5, the women's 3000 meters competition will be the first to be staged in the "Ice Ribbon" of the National Speed Skating Hall, and until February 19, the speed skating event will produce 14 gold medals.
Speed skating is a sport with a long history, as early as the eleventh and twelfth centuries in England, the Netherlands and other places appeared in its prototype, in the 1840s, began to spread rapidly to other european countries, skating clubs have also been established. In 1892, the International Skating Union, the most senior organization for speed skating, was established in the Netherlands, and men's and women's speed skating were listed as official competitions of the Winter Olympics in 1924 and 1960 respectively.
As one of the origins of modern speed skating, the Netherlands has a strong presence in this sport. In the Winter Olympic Games, the Dutch team has won 121 speed skating medals so far, including 42 gold medals, which is a well-deserved "speed skating kingdom". At the Winter Olympics, the Dutch speed skating team was the only team to qualify for 9 male and 9 female full athletes, and it held 34 seats. In addition to the Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Italy, Canada and the United States are competitive in different small events, and Japan and South Korea in Asia also have the strength to impact the gold medal in some small events. It is worth mentioning that Claudia Pechte, a 49-year-old german speed skater, will start her eighth Winter Olympic journey after successfully qualifying for the Competition, and she will also become the world's first female athlete to participate in the eight Winter Olympics.
Speed skating has also witnessed the development and growth of ice and snow sports in China. As early as 1963, Luo Zhihuan created the latest record of the world championships in the 1500 meters with an excellent time of 2 minutes 09 seconds 2 at the 57th World Men's Speed Skating Championships, becoming China's first speed skating world champion. At the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France, Ye Qiaobo won two silver medals in the women's 500 meters and 1000 meters, achieving a "zero breakthrough" for China to achieve a "zero breakthrough" in winter Olympic medals. At the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Zhang Hong won the first speed skating gold medal of the Chinese Winter Olympics in the women's 1000 meters. At the Beijing Winter Olympics, Ning Zhongyan and Gao Tingyu led the Chinese speed skating team to 14 people. Among them, 6 people have participated in the previous Winter Olympics, namely Gao Tingyu, Yang Tao, Li Qishi, Tian Ruining, Han Mei and Guo Dan, and the remaining 8 are participating for the first time.
On February 19, 2018, Gao Tingyu won the third place in the men's 500m speed skating competition at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.
As The "Twin Stars" of Chinese speed skating, Gao Tingyu and Ning Zhongyan are two Chinese players worth paying attention to in this event. Gao Tingyu made a breakthrough in Chinese speed skating four years ago in Pyeongchang, South Korea, when he won the bronze medal in the men's 500m race with a time of 34.65 seconds, becoming the first Chinese male athlete to win a medal in speed skating at the Winter Olympics. Ning Zhongyan, a rising star in the past two years, won the gold medal in the 1500 meters with a record-breaking field record in the 2019 Speed Skating World Cup in Kazakhstan, which is the first time that a Chinese athlete has won a gold medal in the World Cup event and achieved a historic breakthrough in China's men's speed skating performance. In the 2021-2022 season, Ning Zhongyan performed well in the World Cup, winning the 1500m championship in Norway, the 1000m championship in Canada, the 1500m runner-up in Poland, and the 1500m runner-up in the United States.
The Chinese women's team is looking forward to seeking a breakthrough in the team chase. In the 2021 Speed Skating World Cup in Calgary, Canada, Han Mei, Li Qishi and Ahanal Adak won a bronze medal in the women's team pursuit for the first time with a time of 2:58.428.
Li Yan, head coach and team leader of the Chinese speed skating national training team, said, "At the Beijing Winter Olympics, we are looking forward to creating excellent results, and everyone can expect something from us. ”
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