China-Singapore Times: Fireworks take off, reflecting the vision of a sports power

(Beijing Winter Olympics) China-Singapore Times: Fireworks take off, reflecting the vision of a sports power

China News Service, Beijing, February 4 Title: Fireworks take off, reflecting the vision of a sports power

China News Service reporter Xing Chong

Tonight, fireworks will bloom over the Nest of the National Stadium, and the vast night sky of the ancient city of Beijing will once again be lit up by the Glory of the Olympic Games.

The moment the fireworks are lit, many people will recall the opening of the "unparalleled" Beijing Olympic Games 14 years ago, China's century-old Olympic dream is fulfilled, and the world perceives an open and inclusive China through the Beijing Olympic Games.

At this moment, this oriental country and the Olympic Games meet again, and another grand event is about to begin. The fireworks that rise in the air reflect the development vision of a sports powerhouse.

Data chart: On February 2, the torch of the Beijing Winter Olympics was passed in Shougang Park. The picture shows the second torchbearer Han Qing (right) and the third torchbearer Han Liping passing the torch. China News Service reporter Han Haidan photographed

The Chinese sports delegation sent the largest participation in history. 176 athletes, 104 minor events, 194 seats, this is an unprecedented number in the history of the Chinese Winter Olympics.

Building a sports power is not a sudden rise in a certain field or group. Placed in the blueprint for the development of Chinese sports, the bid to host the Beijing Winter Olympics is to break the long-standing competitive pattern of "strong summer and weak winter" and make up for a short board of sports power.

Cross-border cross-border selection of talents, the introduction of foreign teachers in the open Olympic Games, overseas training instead of training... One pragmatic move after another landed in the Beijing Winter Olympic cycle, and in just a few years, many ice and snow projects in China have been realized from scratch, or even from scratch to excellent.

It should be known that in Pyeongchang four years ago, Chinese athletes only participated in 5 major events, 12 sub-events and 53 sub-events; at the Beijing Winter Olympics, only China, Russia, the United States and the Czech Republic achieved 15 sub-events of "full-event participation".

From a broader perspective, building a sports power not only contains the requirements for the strength of competitive sports, but also includes multi-dimensional considerations such as people's physical fitness and health level, of which the development of mass sports is undoubtedly an important indicator.

As soon as the Beijing Olympic Games ended, China proposed to "move from a sports power to a sports power." Since 2009, August 8 has been designated as "National Fitness Day" every year, and mass sports have become popular on the basis of the rich tangible and intangible heritage left by the Beijing Olympic Games.

In recent years, China's national fitness has risen to an unprecedented height. In 2012, "extensive national fitness campaign" was written into the report of the Eighteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China, in 2014, national fitness officially became a national strategy, and in 2017, the mass competition debuted for the first time in the National Games... The blockbuster initiatives are released, reflecting the people-centered sports development thinking.

Because of the Winter Olympics, the sports concept of the Chinese people has been enriched. Ice and snow sports no longer belong only to the cold and distant winter mountain forest, but are truly shared by the public. According to the data, as of October last year, the number of participants in ice and snow sports in China reached 346 million.

Building a sports power also means that China must continue to contribute to the world through its own development, and the Beijing Winter Olympics is an important opportunity to promote the development of international sports and promote exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations.

From the steady advancement of various preparations under the epidemic situation to the opening of the grand event as scheduled today, China has always kept and fulfilled its commitment to the Olympic Games. When the international Olympic movement encounters the uncertainty brought about by the epidemic, China's cigna is even more vocal, which helps to promote the stability and long-term development of global sports governance.

The balanced development of summer and winter projects, the national fitness is more accessible, more convenient and more popular, and the foreign exchanges of sports are more active, more comprehensive and more coordinated, which is the goal set by China's "Outline for the Construction of a Sports Power" for 2035. The Beijing Winter Olympics, held at an important historical juncture, will undoubtedly be a major landmark milestone for China to become a sports powerhouse.

From a "sports power" to a "sports power", although it is a word difference, it is an important embodiment of the improvement of comprehensive national strength and the progress of social civilization. More than a hundred years ago, the Chinese educator Zhang Boling predicted that "the day the Olympic Games are held will be the time when China will take off." Tonight, the "City of The Two Olympics" shines in the glory of the Olympic Games, and the construction of a sports power is being injected with new vitality. (End)