Alpine skiing is known as the "jewel in the crown of the Winter Olympics" and is one of the basic sports in snow. The rules of this project "who is fast and who wins" are simple and easy to understand, and the high-speed gliding screen is thrilling, which is a friendly event for novice audiences. Beijing Winter Olympics masters gathered, the new National Alpine Ski Center "Xuefeiyan" will usher in a number of wonderful duels.
The production of icy snow for all the ski trails of "Snow Flying Swallow" was completed on the 28th. The Chinese delegation will have women's players Kong Fanying and Ni Yueming and men's Zhang Yangming and Xu Mingfu participating. If only from the perspective of qualifications, the Chinese team has completed a breakthrough in this Winter Olympic Games.
On 28 January, staff worked on the pistes of the National Alpine Ski Center. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Chen Bin
Since the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, China has only participated in the alpine skiing competitions of the Six Winter Olympics, and only one man and one woman have participated in each time. A record of four places has been won this year.
In terms of participating in small projects, China has also achieved a breakthrough. The Winter Olympics have 11 sub-events for men' and women's downhill, super big slalom, big slalom, slalom, all-around, and mixed teams. Among them, downhill and super giant slalom are called speed items, and large slaloms and slaloms are called technical items. After Beijing's successful bid for the Winter Olympics, China began training in speed sports. In this Winter Olympics, Chinese athletes have qualified for all 11 sub-events, including men's and women's downhill, super giant slalom, all-around and mixed teams, all of which will participate for the first time.
Participation is a breakthrough, and if you can finish the game, you will win. So far, the best result of Chinese athletes at the Winter Olympics is still the 18th place achieved by Wang Guizhen in the women's slalom in 1980. In the past three Winter Olympic Games, Chinese players have not finished in the women's slalom, the women's big slalom ranking is 50 outside, and the men's two events are also outside the 40th. In the speed event, which has a low completion rate, the Chinese athletes participating for the first time will face the ice-like snow track with a maximum drop of 900 meters in the "Xuefeiyan", which is not a small challenge.
Although there is still a big gap between China and the world's strong players, this Winter Olympic cycle, the Chinese team has tried to be bold, and has gone to Europe for training and competition many times, although it rarely appears on the stage of the World Cup sub-station competition, but it has been steadily participating in other levels of the International Snow Federation. Perhaps it can be expected that Chinese players can create the best results at home.
The picture shows the National Alpine Ski Center. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhang Chenlin
Alpine skiing is a high-risk sport, and falls or even injuries are common in competition. Some of the top players were injured near the Winter Olympics, adding variables to the gold medal. Italy women's speed star and 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics women's downhill gold medalist Sofia Gogia fell in the World Cup race in Cortina dʼAmpezzo on the 23rd, injuring a ligament in her left knee and a slight fibular fracture. She will no longer serve as the standard-bearer for the opening ceremony of the Italian delegation, absent from the Women's Grand Slalom and Super Slalom scheduled for February 7 and 11, respectively. Gogia has now begun rehabilitation, hoping to catch up with the women's downhill event to take place on Feb. 15.
One of Gogia's contenders, American Bridge Johnson, was also injured in recent days and is sure to miss the Beijing Winter Olympics. The women's speed event may be a chaotic battle, Switzerland's Corinne Sutter and Lara Gute Behrami have a chance to win, and the one-time winning and losing match will be particularly good.
The women's technical event could be a contest between American Mikaela Shivlin and Slovakia's Petra Flova. Shiffrin is a sought-after star in the alpine skiing women's event, with numerous accolades: the youngest Alpine Skiing Olympic Champion, six World Championships, the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics Women's All-Around Gold Medal... She has even begun to expand her footprint to speed projects. But in 2020, her father died in an accident, which affected her greatly, but this season she has regained her form.
American Michaela Shivlin Xinhua news agency
Flova, on the other hand, is the women's overall champion of the 2020-2021 World Cup and has won several times this season in Shiffrin's strong slaloms.
Slovakia's Petra Flova xinhua news agency
On the men's side, men's downhill is considered the most watched event in alpine skiing due to its largest track drop and longest length. The strong team Austria is led by the famous Matthias Meier. He is the men's downhill champion at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics and the men's super slalom champion at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. His teammates, Vincent Klitchmeier, the 2021 World Championships men's downhill and super slalom double champion, will pose a threat to him in both.
And Norway's Alexander Hilde, who has returned from injury this season, has recently been invincible in the World Cup races. This season, he has won three downhill titles and three super big slalom titles, and leads the standings in both events.
Norwegian star Alexander Hilde Xinhua news agency
Interestingly, Hilde and Shivlin announced their relationship last year, and their love has been shown frequently recently. Whether the two "big god" level players on the snow track can work together to win gold in the "Snow Flying Swallow" is also a thing worth looking forward to. After all, the Beijing Winter Olympics season not only covers the Spring Festival holiday, but also covers the traditional Valentine's Day in the West.
The mixed team competition is expected to be the venue for the "fairy fight" of Austria, Switzerland, the United States, Norway, France, Italy and other strong teams. But it should be noted that one of the charms of alpine skiing is that it is extremely variable. Differences in weather conditions, snow conditions on the track, and handling of the details of the players on the spot will all lead to different results. In the history of the Winter Olympics, only five athletes have successfully defended their titles in this event, and even the strongest players cannot guarantee that they will be sure of victory.
Therefore, it is almost impossible to list all the athletes who may win gold in one manuscript. In kitzbühel, just a week ago, Briton Dave Reading won the men's slalom title. Previously, the 35-year-old veteran, and even all british alpine skiers, had never won any World Cup races.
So, who dares to pack a ticket, there will be no unpopularity and miracles in Beijing?
Written by Xinhua News Agency