As the protagonists of the Winter Olympics, the athletes of various delegations shone with stars on the field and created many "bests" in history. Among them, some are respectful, some are heartfeltly admirable, some are emotional, and some are unbearable...
15-year-old "Ice Queen"
Born in Oslo, Norway, Sonia Haynee has shown a high talent for dancing from an early age. At the age of 6, her parents bought her her her first pair of skates, and then she began formal figure skating training. In order to allow her to truly enter the halls of sports, her father hired the best coach in the world to guide her. At the age of 10, Sonia Hennie won the Norwegian National Championship.
In 1924, at the age of 11, Sonia Hayne competed in the first Winter Olympics in Chamonix, France, and to this day, at this age, the youngest of the Winter Olympic athletes. At the inaugural Winter Olympics, Sonia Hayne only finished eighth in the women's singles skating, but such a big event was a good exercise opportunity for her. After that, she studied ballet at the Dance School in London, laying a solid foundation for figure skating in the future.
In 1928, at the age of 15, Sonia Hayne competed in the second Winter Olympics of St. Moritz and won the women's figure skating championship, becoming the youngest Olympic gold medalist among women skaters at that time, known as the "Queen of Ice". Her record for the youngest Winter Olympic champion has been held for 74 years.
In 1932, when Sonia Hayne attended the third Lake Placid Winter Olympics, the audience crowded the stands to catch a glimpse of her beauty and ice dancing. In order to facilitate the audience to take pictures, the Organizing Committee of the Winter Olympics specially arranged the figure skating competition to be held during the day. And Sonia Hayne lived up to expectations, winning the championship, and all 7 referees gave her the highest score. At that time, the "Heinie fans" who asked for signatures were everywhere, causing traffic jams for a while, and Heinie's father had to come out to help his daughter break the siege.
In 1936, at the fourth Winter Olympics of Garmisch Partenkirchen, Sonia Hennie successfully defended her title. At that time, no female figure skater could compete with her, and her dance steps and dance style became the standard of the sport.
Throughout her figure skating career, Sonia Henney won 3 Olympic gold medals and 10 World Championships. Later, she moved to the United States to develop and became a professional athlete. In addition to participating in the competition, she also performed figure skating and starred in 12 films, making a positive contribution to the promotion of figure skating.
In 1928, 15-year-old Norwegian athlete Sonia Hayne won the figure skating championship at the St. Moritz Winter Olympics, the youngest Olympic record held for 74 years.
An example of establishing a spirit of friendship
In 1964, the Ninth Winter Olympics in Innsbruck were held. Although italian bobsleigh athlete Eugenio Monti won only two bronze medals, he was praised as "the most righteous athlete".
In this Winter Olympics double bobsleigh competition, the British team is helmsman by Tony Nash. After the first round, they came in second. However, when they returned to the top of the mountain, they suddenly found that the screws on the rear axle of the sled were broken, which meant that they had to give up the race. Eugenio Monti, who was at the foot of the mountain at the foot of the mountain, heard about it and did not hesitate to give the British team spare screws for the rear axle of his sleigh. The move made Tony Nash sigh: "This is really an incredible example of sportsmanship and the spirit of friendship. ”
In that game, the British team won the gold medal. Eugenio Monti's Italian team only finished third. However, Eugenio Monti became the first recipient of the Coubertin Medal, a symbol of sportsmanship, for this selfless act. Afterwards he said: "I feel like what I do, Tony Nash will do for me, or for anyone else in the game. Tony Nash didn't win because I gave them spare screws, but because he was the best helmsman and they deserved to win. ”
At the 1932 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, American athlete Edward Egan (the second person on the bobsleigh) won the four-man bobsleigh event. He is the only athlete in Olympic history to win gold medals in both the Winter Olympics and the Summer Olympics.
Winter Olympic and Summer Olympic double champion
Qualifying for the Olympics is no longer easy, let alone winning a medal. However, there is such a strange man in Olympic history, who won the men's lightweight boxing gold medal at the 1920 Antwerp Summer Olympics and the four-man snowmobile gold medal at the third Lake Placid Winter Olympics in 1932. He was the American athlete Edward Egan.
When the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp were held, he became a member of the U.S. Olympic team and won an Olympic gold medal in lightweight boxing. He then won amateur boxing titles in the United Kingdom and the United States.
Before the third Lake Placid Winter Olympics in 1932, Edward Egan, who had never touched a snowmobile before, joined a strong snow team. The helmsman of the team was 20-year-old Billy Fisk, a very adventurous man who won the gold medal at the second St. Moritz Winter Olympics in 1928 as the helmsman of a four-man snowmobile at the age of 16. The other two teammates are Joe O'Brien, chairman of the American Snowmobile Selection Committee, and Clift Gray, songwriter. Because of their like-mindedness, the four of them had only trained a few times and were already very tacit.
In the real race, the bobsleigh event has to be skied four times, but after the first three skates, their team leads with an advantage that cannot be surpassed, and the fourth skate is just to complete the number of races. So, they won the gold medal without any suspense. To this day, Edward Egan is still the only athlete in Olympic history to win gold medals in both the Winter Olympics and the Summer Olympics.
In 1952, 16-year-old American athlete Trenny Albright (first from left) won a silver medal in women's figure skating at the Oslo Winter Olympics. Suffering from polio, she has worked tirelessly to achieve excellent results in figure skating, and many people have been touched by her story.
Overcome fate to win the gold medal
1956 7th Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo: When 20-year-old American athlete Trenny Albright came on the field, the audience couldn't help but sing along to the accompaniment music "The Story of Hoffman." People were not deeply moved by the girl's courage not because they heard familiar opera music.
At the age of 11, Trenny Albright contracted polio and could not move her legs, back or neck. In order to help her recover, her father suggested that she practice skating, and unexpectedly opened up a new world for her. In 1952, at the age of 16, Terani Albright won a silver medal in women's figure skating at the sixth Oslo Winter Olympics in 1952.
In 1956, Trenny Albright participated in the Seventh Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo. Unexpectedly, in the weeks leading up to the competition, she fell down during training and her right leg was cut by the ice blade of her skates, hurting her bones. She endured the pain and still trained hard. On the day of the official competition, the audience was touched by her dedication to playing with her injuries, and when it was her turn to play, the audience sang along with the accompanying music. The sight also thrilled Terani Albright, who forgot her hurt and performed dazzling jumps and turns on the field before finally reaching the top podium.
In the men's 1000m final of the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, Australian athlete Steven Bradbury was lucky to win the championship because all four leading athletes fell.
The lucky ones on the field
At the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, there was an unexpected scene: four of the five short-track speed skating finalists in the 1000m final fell, and as a result, the only athlete who did not fall won the gold medal. The lucky man was Steven Bradbury, an athlete from Australia.
At the time, Steven Bradbury was traveling to Salt Lake City with the intention of "focusing on participation," and the expectations for the championship were completely out of him. In the semi-finals, two of his opponents slipped and he was lucky enough to advance. In the final, as soon as he started, he was behind all his opponents, and when he reached the final lap, he was almost half a lap behind the first place. Watching four other athletes slide to the last corner, they accidentally collided and fell, and the field was chaotic. At this point, the only person still standing, Steven Bradbury, came in, crossed the finish line, and won the gold medal dramatically.
After the game, Steven Bradbury publicly admitted that the gold medal came as a fluke. Since then, however, he has become a household name in Australia and was later awarded the Australian Medal of Fame and inducted into the Australian Sports Hall of Fame.
This edition is partially provided with a picture of Visual China
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Source Client The Winter Olympics | Reporter Jia Xiaoyan
Edited by Kang Dian
Process Editor Wu Yue