French delegation forward-looking: looking forward to replicating the PyeongChang results The ice dance project is the most stable gold point

Live Bar February 4, 2019 Thanks to the natural environment and climatic conditions, France has an enviable innate advantage in winter sports. In 1924, the first Winter Olympics were held in France, and since then the Winter Olympics have been held twice in 1968 and 1992.

In the Winter Olympics, although the performance of the French team is not as good as that of the Nordic ice and snow powers such as Norway, it has also maintained the level of the top ten medal table for many years. In the past two Winter Olympics, the French delegation has won 15 medals on both occasions, and even the medal distribution is not much different - in 2014 in Sochi, the French delegation won a total of six major events, including alpine skiing, Nordic biathlon, cross-country skiing, freestyle skiing, snowboarding and ski jumping; four years later, Pyeongchang only replaced ski jumping with ice dance in figure skating.

It can be seen that the performance of the French team in the snow sports is far better than the ice sports, which is also related to the popularity and popularity of skiing in France.

At the Beijing Winter Olympics, the French team sent 86 athletes to compete in 10 major events, including 50 male athletes and 36 female athletes. Peschara, head of the French delegation and president of the French Ice Sports Association, said in a video interview with Xinhua News Agency a few days ago that the advantages of the French delegation are still in the snow project, but this year there is a great hope of winning a gold medal in the ice dance event. The overall goal of the delegation was to match the number of medals at the last Winter Olympics.

"The combination of Papadagis and Caesaron is our favourite to win the title, and from the beginning of this Olympic cycle, they are the most competitive pair in the ice dance event. This season, they have also performed very well, winning a lot of championships," Pesara said, "they are very motivated now and I am very optimistic that they have won a gold medal in Beijing." ”

At the PyeongChang Winter Olympics four years ago, the only ice medal for the French delegation was from Papadaggis and Caesaron, who lost to canadian duo Voltu/Moyle by less than one point to win a silver medal.

Pesalla was also an ice dancer and has a deep affinity with China. As an athlete, she won three Figure Skating China Cup Grand Prix, two of which were in Beijing. In an interview, she also recalled the Beijing Zoo near the Capital Gymnasium, saying it was where she would go every time she went to China because she loved giant pandas. Pesalla was scheduled to fly to Beijing on Feb. 2, but unfortunately she was tested positive on a recent COVID-19 test and is currently in quarantine. According to the French Olympic Committee, she may set off again after the turn of the clouds, depending on the situation.

In addition to ice dancing, the French delegation is expected to hit medals and even gold medals in traditional strengths such as biathlon, cross-country skiing and alpine skiing. Especially in biathlon, although the retirement of legendary player and Winter Olympic "hardware king" Fulcard has reduced the overall strength of the French team, the team led by Olympic champions and world champions such as De Teier, Gigona and Bescon is extremely competitive in both men's and women's events.

At the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics, men's freestyle skier Roland and women's alpine skier Wally will "lead" the French delegation as standard-bearers. Wally, 32, has the ability to win in the Big Slalom event, but Roland, who is also 32, was chosen as the standard-bearer more out of respect for his legendary experience.

The Bronze Medalist in U-Shaped Field Skills at the Sochi Winter Olympics suffered a serious injury in 2019 when he fell off a platform of more than 10 meters in a training session and was in a coma for three days with multiple fractures. After a difficult recovery and training, Roland miraculously returned to the field and qualified for the Beijing Winter Olympics. It is this indomitable sportsmanship that makes Roland gain great respect in the French ski world. In the voting of the standard-bearers of the Winter Olympics, he was finally selected as the standard-bearer of the French delegation together with Wally.

(Xinhua News Agency)