From the long jump to the steel frame snowmobile, she is fully committed to challenging every track of her life
Before the opening of recent Olympic Games, speculation about the flag bearer of the opening ceremony of the Chinese delegation was the usual practice. As a result, it is close to the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing
At the meeting, everyone wrote out more well-known and more topical names such as Gu Ailing, Fan Kexin, and Sui Wenjing in the list of "hot female standard-bearers".
On January 30, five days before the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games, the dust of the female flag bearer of the Chinese delegation settled: Zhao Dan! She will enter with speed skating star Gao Tingyu holding a flag and shining at the National Stadium , the Bird's Nest.
Why Zhao Dan? How did she win?
After reading her story, I found that the delegation now chooses the "standard bearer" and no longer takes achievement and popularity as the primary criterion. It can be said that being elected as the standard-bearer is not only an affirmation of Zhao Dan, but also an affirmation of those young athletes who bravely made choices and went forward for their own choices. Walk into the "Bird's Nest" and let the world remember your smile.
She loves roller coasters, she is Geng Wenqiang's sister with a veritable snowmobile gene
Steel frame snowmobile athlete Zhao Dan
Zhao Dan came from the vast inner Mongolia. With a slender body, she entered bayannaoer Sports School, focusing on the triple jump, and won the long jump and triple jump championships in the women's U18 group of the 14th Games of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.
After Pyeongchang in 2018, "cross-border material selection" came to Inner Mongolia. The autonomous region sent a "top-notch" lineup to participate in the selection. Zhao Dan was among them.
After testing the outdoor 30-meter sprint, vertical vertical jump, and vertical long jump, the foreign coach of the steel frame snowmobile gave a high evaluation to the 15-year-old Zhao Dan who participated in the selection at that time - "she has a veritable snowmobile gene".
But for this brand new project, Zhao Dan was ignorant and unfamiliar, "I have not been exposed to ice and snow sports, and the steel frame snowmobile has only listened to the introduction of the master brother." The brother in her mouth is Geng Wenqiang, who also left home from the long jump halfway and won the 13th place in the steel frame snowmobile of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.
There have also been hesitations and difficulties in choosing. Zhao Dan felt that he had a three-year practice foundation in the long jump and triple jump, so he gave up and was slightly unwilling. What's more, she had never been exposed to ice and snow, which made her feel a little dazed about the future.
After several wanderings, Zhao Dan still chose to start again - becoming an athlete of the national team's steel frame snowmobile. Since then, she has loved roller coasters and accelerated her take-off.
The transition from the St. Moritz WinterGreen Olympics was transformed from 60% to 100% perfect
Zhao Dan, a fledgling during the Youth Olympic Games
Entering the national team, the first time on the steel frame snowmobile, Zhao Dan described: "I feel that the steel frame snowmobile is a board, and then people lie down and slide down at such a high place." ”
Scared? "Of course, to be afraid is to be afraid, but the moment you slide to the end, it's so comfortable." When he said this, Zhao Dan smiled. She knew that she was in love with her choice.
Zhao Dan was listed as a key training object in the team. Expatriate coach Patrick Shannon is very bullish on her: "She has good physical condition and clear mind, and her skating skills have always been stable, which has helped her a lot to adapt to different tracks. ”
The moment Zhao Dan set off in the game
From October 2018, when he joined the team and was sent to train abroad, to January 2020, Zhao Dan, who had been practicing for less than a year and a half, was given the opportunity to participate in the Winter Youth Olympic Games in St. Moritz, Switzerland. Before standing on the Youth Olympic games, she only trained 9 times.
Coach Shannon set a goal for Zhao Dan: the top six. But after two rounds of sliding, Zhao Dan finished seventh with a total time of 2 minutes 24.33 seconds. Although she didn't achieve her pre-match goals, Shannon was satisfied with her debut in the international competition, "This is only her first season, the first year will always be difficult, and she has improved a lot." ”
St. Moritz is the birthplace of the steel frame snowmobile, after personally experiencing the only pure natural snow track in the world, Zhao Dan felt that this trip opened his own door, "Through this race, you can let me go to a better place." ”
Standing on the field of St. Moritz, Zhao Dan looked forward to his possibility of participating in the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics: "60%, I am still young, and I don't have much time. Although she was smiling when she said this, there was an incomparable desire in her eyes.
2021 is a crucial year for olympic qualification. Zhao Dan opened up the six veins, and the progress was rapid. As the youngest member of the team, Zhao Dan won the Intercontinental Cup in Innsbruck, Austria, and in the domestic selection competition, Zhao Dan was shortlisted for the Beijing Winter Olympics with a total score of 1st.
What was once a "60%" hope has now been realized 100%.
Not only that, Zhao Dan also shined the "Bird's Nest" as the flag bearer of the Chinese delegation, a post-00s young general who is less than 20 years old, not only fulfilling his dream of the Olympics, but also leaving such a special glorious memory in his initial Olympic journey.