Unlike soccer balls that wear armbands, on hockey rinks, the identity of the captain is printed directly on the uniform, a big "C", which represents responsibility and persistence. The same is true for Yu Baiwei of the Chinese women's ice hockey team.
In the women's ice hockey group stage of the Beijing Winter Olympics that ended this afternoon, china lost 1-3 to the Czech Republic, and Miller helped China score a goal in the second quarter, but still could not help the team win.
But this is the Chinese women's ice skaters on the stage of the Winter Olympics after a gap of 12 years, and in these more than 4,000 days, only Yu Baiwei, Liu Zhixin and Zhang Mengying are still in the team. In 1998, Chinese women's ice skaters reached the final four at the Nagano Winter Olympics, and it was also the year that Yu Baiwei began practicing ice hockey.
Unfortunately, Chinese women's ice did not continue to climb after the Nagano Winter Olympics. In 2010, the veteran retired and the talent was cut off, so that the Chinese female ice once reached the point of "no one available". Since then, Chinese women's ice has fallen into a trough, missing three of the five Winter Olympics, and the last time they won was on February 22, 2010, when China defeated Slovakia 3-1 in qualifying for 7 or 8.
February 22, 2010 China 3-1 Slovakia
In 2013, the team was massively adjusted, and the 25-year-old Yu Baiwei has become the oldest player in the team. Her former teammates left one by one, and her love of ice hockey kept her going. Yu Baiwei on the field is brave and tenacious, constantly proving her value, and she is confident and courageous in life, and gradually assumes the responsibility of a veteran in the team. "Hockey has allowed me to see myself better and find the direction of my efforts." Until the success of Beijing's bid to host the Winter Olympics, women's ice hockey ushered in a turnaround, and Yu Baiwei regained her Winter Olympic dream, as an experienced veteran, she had a new opportunity.
From joining the national team in 2005 when Chinese ice hockey was in the doldrums, to now stepping on the field of the Beijing Winter Olympics, Yu Baiwei has been gone for 17 years. The sixth place at the 2007 ISA World Championships, the silver medal at the 2009 Winter Games, the seventh place at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, the 2014 Asian Cup champion, and the silver medal at the 2017 Asian Winter Games are also Yu Baiwei's achievements.
Among the 176 participating athletes in the Chinese delegation at the Beijing Winter Olympics, most of them are post-90s and post-00s, and only 5 are post-80s, and 34-year-old Yu Baiwei is also the oldest of them, and the only female athlete after 80.
"I was here 12 years ago, and I'm still here today. 12 years ago I was a young player in the team, and now my responsibility is heavier, I have to hold on, that's what a captain should do. This is a female ice complex that I have always had, and I want to go back to the best with the Chinese team. This is a passage left by Yu Baiwei after today's game, and it is also a belief that must be in the heart of a captain.
The Chinese women's ice team will face the Danish team tomorrow, and according to the format, the Chinese team in Group B needs to be in the top 3 after the group stage to enter the final knockout round with Group A. Five Star Sports' major platforms will also bring you the latest news, so stay tuned.