Curling originated in Scotland in the 14th century and is an ancient ice and snow sport. Compared with traditional sports such as skating and skiing, it entered China much later. At the beginning of 2001, China's first curling rink opened to the outside world settled in Beijing Ditan, and in just over a decade, this sport, known as "chess on ice", has achieved the progress from "Xiaobai" to world champion in Beijing.
China's first curling club was established
To say which ice sport tests the intelligence of the participants the most, it must be indispensable to curling, which is known as "ice chess".
A curling pot made of special stone and weighing about 20 kilograms, got its name from the shape that resembles a kettle. After the pitcher throws the curling from home base, the teammates will vigorously use the brush in front of the curling to wipe the ice surface, because the ice-polishing team members cannot judge the curling route, so the pitcher is required to "shout" and direct the ice-wiping action. So the sport is also very ornamental.
Curling "entered the Olympic Games" later, and it only became an official event at the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics, but its entry into China was 3 years earlier than "entering the Olympic Games".
In 1995, Harbin became the first city in China to introduce curling, and this ancient sport from Scotland took root in the ice city. At this time, the national fitness movement is in full swing in Beijing, and various sports are blooming in the folk, in addition to mainstream sports such as marathon, swimming, and three major balls, interesting and challenging sports such as flying marks, rock climbing, archery, and curling have also emerged.
At the beginning of 2001, China's first curling stadium opened to the outside world settled in the Zilongxiang Skating Hall of The Temple of Earth in Beijing, gathering a group of curling "enthusiasts", many of whom are authentic Beijingers. These curling enthusiasts were so enthusiastic that they formed China's first curling club registered with the State General Administration of Sport, the Zilongxiang Curling Club, and they did not expect that they would find a place in Harbin in the future.
In 2010, at an ice sports club in Dongcheng District, curling instructors demonstrated the essentials of movement for students. Photo by Rao Qiang, reporter of the Winter Olympics
Beijing curlers supported 5 detachments
On January 5, 2003, the men's curling competition of the 10th National Winter Games was held in Harbin. During the game between the Jilin team and the White Mountain team, there was a burst of cheers with a Beijing accent from the audience. The five enthusiastic spectators were all Beijing boys, namely Li Chen, Wu Rong, He Lin, Jin Yang and Gao Yong, who had just defeated Jixi City on behalf of the Forestry Sports Association 15 minutes ago. Dramatically, at this moment, the two teams that are playing on the field are the objects of their cheering, and the other audiences are confused, which side is their "own person"?
It turned out that 25 of the 12 participating teams from all over the country were from Beijing, and they were from the same door beijing purple dragon xiang curling club. The five teams include: men's team - Jilin, Baishan, Forestry Sports Association, women's team - Jilin and Forestry Sports Association.
Why didn't the Beijing players put on the beijing team's jersey? The reason is that Beijing has not yet formed a representative team for the Winter Games that year. "Of course I would love to be able to go out for Beijing, so I can feel a support behind me." Watching his apprentices compete on behalf of other regions, Zhang Peng, the club coach standing on the sidelines, sighed that no matter what, being able to participate in the Winter Games is an affirmation of the apprentices, and they can also get exercise.
For example, Li Chen, who represented the Forestry Sports Association at the Tenth Winter Conference this time, was only 16 years old, and was a senior student in the Ninety-second Middle School of Chongwen District at that time. Zhang Peng praised him: "This child has not been exposed to curling for a long time, and now he can play so well, which proves that he has great potential." ”
Beijing curlers have supported the 5 representative teams of the Ten Winter Games, which also shows from one side that curling projects are gradually becoming a climate in Beijing.
The World Championships won the curling circle countless fans
Although curling officially joined the Chinese sports circle, it was initially a niche sport, after all, the sport is unknown in terms of the contribution of Chinese audiences to the ratings of sports competitions. It wasn't until 2008 that curling really entered the public eye.
At the 2008 World Women's Curling Championships held in Canada, the Chinese team won silver in a dark horse. The runner-up result of the World Championships has created the best result in the history of China's winter sports collective event. The outstanding performance of the Chinese team has attracted widespread attention from various media, and some media even use the word "miracle" to describe it.
The era of curling that belonged to China thus began. At the 2009 Curling World Championships, under the guidance of Canadian coaches, the Chinese team played by Wang Bingyu, Yue Qingshuang, Liu Yin and Zhou Yan won the gold medal. Then, at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, the Chinese women's team won the bronze medal. Since the formation of the national team in 2003, Chinese curling has become one of the world's top players in just 6 years, and the speed of progress is amazing.
The popular knowledge of curling has also appeared in the major mainstream media and has gained a large number of "ice powder". At the beginning of 2010, our reporter visited the ice and snow activity venues in Beijing and found that curling was favored by sports enthusiasts, and many people went to "taste the early".
At that time, there were only 3 curling clubs in the country, and Beijing accounted for two, one was the Beijing Purple Dragon Xiang Curling Club, and the other was the Beijing Zhongtiao Curling Center in Huairou.
A speed skating straight, a circle and three lines on the ice, curling ready, a race can begin. Previously, the curling hall's 400 yuan per hour fee made many people prohibitive, but with the world championships, Winter Olympic curling competition Chinese team achieved good results, purple dragon xiang curling club coach Li Xin received more calls, often people consult how to join the club. "Now on Tuesday and Thursday nights, the museum is full of curling and hockey. We already have a bunch of 'hardcore curling fans'. Li Xin said.
As China's earliest amateur in the curling project, Li Xin told reporters that at that time, there were more than 1 million people around the world playing curling, of which about 700,000 were in Canada. Canada is a veritable curling powerhouse, so it is precious that Chinese girls can win the World Championship. With more and more curling enthusiasts in China, I believe that the competitiveness of the Chinese team will become stronger and stronger.
In 2018, students at Guangqumen Middle School experienced curling. Photo by Deng Wei, reporter of the Winter Olympics
Teen Curling joins the "First Group"
During the winter vacation of 2016, Han Yu, a junior high school student at Huairou No. 5 Middle School, was particularly busy. Not long ago, she was officially selected for the Curling Team of the Chinese Sports Delegation at the World Youth Olympics and went to Norway to compete. Only four players were selected for the Chinese national team, and Han Yu was the only Beijing player to pass the rigorous selection.
In February 2017, General Secretary Xi Jinping inspected the preparations for the Winter Olympics in Beijing. Han Yu, who is already a member of the Beijing women's curling team, had the honor of meeting the general secretary at the Capital Gymnasium. "The general secretary asked me what kind of project I was practicing, I said curling, he laughed and said, practicing curling requires a smart mind! Then he turned to his entourage and said that Chinese curling is now developing well and has done well. The words of the general secretary made Han Yu very encouraged.
From his first exposure to curling at the age of 12 to his entry into the world championships at the age of 21, Han Yu has grown from a curling enthusiast to the captain of the Chinese women's curling national team. "My biggest goal is to wear the national team shirt at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics and win glory for the country at my doorstep." Han Yu said.
In recent years, youth ice and snow sports in Beijing have developed rapidly, and the number of participants has increased geometrically.
In October 2020, the Beijing Junior U Series Short Track Speed Skating Championships and Curling Championships were held in Beijing. Su Jun, director of the Youth Sports Department of the Beijing Municipal Sports Bureau, once lamented: "In 2017, the Sports Bureau organized amateur training for youth ice and snow projects for the first time, and only more than 70 people signed up. By this summer, there were 7,565 registered young athletes in the city, and 126 district-level sports teams. ”
Compared with the earlier ice hockey, figure skating and skiing, short track speed skating and curling were once the "backward" projects of Beijing youth ice and snow sports. But this is not the past, the deputy referee of this event Du Wei introduced that curling is relatively safer and easier to start, and it is increasingly favored by children in schools. "Curling is a combination of intellect and body, and there are currently more than 30 schools in the city that carry out curling, and some schools use campus space to promote land curling." He said that Beijing youth curling jumped out of the traditional professional training system, with the campus, market-oriented model, the current level of competition has been in the "first group".
For more information, please pay attention to the Winter Olympics.
Source Client The Winter Olympics | Reporter Wang Dan
Edited by Kang Dian
Process Editor Wu Yue