Opening Ceremony Pacesetter Volunteer Gao Chang: Fourteen years of waiting to finally realize the dream of the Winter Olympics

"When I stood in the middle of the nest and saw the audience cheering and clapping and praising us, I felt that everything was worth it. After fourteen years of waiting, my dream has finally come true! The girl with the ponytail and the light in her eyes is Gao Chang, a junior majoring in business administration at the Capital University of Economics and Business, and a pacesetter volunteer for the opening ceremonies of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games.

On the night of the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games on August 8, 2008, 7-year-old Gao Chang was lying in front of the glass window of her home, looking at the brilliant fireworks blooming in the distant sky, and a beautiful wish was quietly planted in her heart - "I want to personally participate in a major national event and contribute my own strength in it."

The 2009 National Day 60th Anniversary Military Parade, the 2019 National Day 70th Anniversary Military Parade, the 2021 Centenary Celebration Of the Founding of the Party... Gao Changdu regretted missing it due to academic and family reasons. And dreams will eventually blossom, and opportunities will be left to those who are prepared. Finally, in the recruitment of volunteers for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, she learned dance from a young age and stood out from countless candidates with her excellent skills and became a pacesetter volunteer for the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympic Games.

"Our task is to welcome athletes from all over the world when they enter and show the fullest enthusiasm of Chinese youth." Gao Chang said that at the opening ceremony, which lasted about 100 minutes, the pacesetter volunteers would perform on the field for nearly an hour, one of the longest performing positions, "waving their arms, jumping left and right, clapping in circles... Dancing almost non-stop made me a little overwhelmed. ”

However, with fourteen years of waiting for the opportunity to perform, how could she allow herself to slack off? From October last year to the opening of the Winter Olympics, almost every weekend, Gao Chang was rehearsing, "training until more than 11 o'clock at night, wearing a star and returning to the dormitory has become a routine." "As the Winter Olympics approached, the density and intensity of rehearsals were increasing," and there were times when I felt tired, but I never thought about giving up. ”

Now, after several months of hard work, the pacesetter "Xiao Bai", who could not keep up with the action at first and had to stop for a while to jump for a while, has perfectly transformed and stood at the core of the performance team. "The body has formed a muscular memory, and with your eyes closed and just listening to the song, you can accurately make the next action." Fourteen years of waiting for the final dream of the Winter Olympics, at the opening ceremony on the evening of the 4th, Gao Chang showed the youth vitality of Chinese college students to the world with the fullest enthusiasm.