Nandu News Reporter Wang Yayun with the Chinese women's ice hockey team in the afternoon of the 3rd in the group stage defeated the Danish team, won the first victory in the 12 years of the Winter Olympics, the team goalkeeper Zhou Jiaying also because of the unique equipment "out of the circle" - this for the Chinese team town dragon gate girl really embroidered with double dragons on the knee pads, helmet also printed on the Great Wall, is now very powerful and domineering, and her heroic save figure has also left a deep impression on many fans, even the "People's Daily" Weibo called her "Chinese style goalkeeper".
Zhou Jiaying's Double Dragon leggings are impressive. Image source Shenzhen Kunlun Hongxing Club
Her helmet is also very distinctive. Image source Shenzhen Kunlun Hongxing Club
In fact, the 26-year-old goalkeeper once cast a shadow over her Winter Olympic prospects due to injury more than two months ago, and now she can represent the Chinese team on the Olympic stage, which is also her dream moment. The reporter also learned from the Shenzhen Kunlun Hongxing Ice Hockey Club that Zhou Jiaying has played for the Shenzhen team in the past four years, and Zhou Jiaying, who has not returned to Shenzhen for two years because of preparations, said that he very much hopes to return to Shenzhen after the Winter Olympics and meet the fans at home again.
From watching my brother train to scoring goals
Zhou Jiaying was born in Canada, her mother is from China, and her father is Canadian. Speaking of the origins with ice hockey, in fact, it is thanks to Zhou Jiaying's brother, when she was young, once waiting for her brother to finish his ice hockey training at the ice rink, there was a goalkeeper training camp there, "I just stood there looking at the goalkeeper and thought: It's so cool. She began begging her mother to take her to the store to buy goalkeeper protective gear. Mom later told her what was going on: "Mom, can your credit card afford to buy me a set of goalkeeper protective gear?" Mom replied, "No." ”
Eventually, of course, the parents gave in, and they bought the goalkeeper's protective gear. Zhou Jiaying recalled: "I was so happy that I finally became a goalkeeper. When the protective gear arrived, we went to the ice rink, but we realized that the other party had sent two left-legged protective gear, and we had to send it back. When I finally settled everything in place, I became the happiest child in the world. ”
Interestingly, Zhou Jiaying has always been a goalkeeper in her brother's men's team at the beginning, and because she is very hard and very hardworking, the bravery on the field is not weaker than that of the boys, so that the male teammates have been confident that the goal is handed over to this girl to guard, which is nearly 10 years, until Zhou Jiaying enters the university.
Famous school gold leader enemy but dream summoning
In 2012, zhou Jiaying, an outstanding student, entered the prestigious Ivy League university Princeton University, where he represented the varsity team in 111 games with an average save rate of 0.92 per game. He has been named "Goalkeeper of the Week" and "Goalkeeper of the Month" by the league many times, and has also won the U18 World Championship for the Canadian national team.
Zhou Jiaying graduated from the prestigious Princeton University and won many honors for the varsity team during his college years. Image source Shenzhen Kunlun Hongxing Club
However, after graduation, Zhou Jiaying did not continue his hockey career, but went to work on Wall Street and became an investment bank gold collar. But the ice hockey dream in her heart has always beckoned her, so when the Shenzhen Kunlun Hongxing Club issued an invitation to her in 2018, the Wall Street elite resolutely chose to join the Shenzhen women's ice team and chase the Olympic dream with the Shenzhen team. After representing Shenzhen Women's Ice in CWHL and WHL for 4 seasons, Zhou Jiaying won the Title of Russian Women's Ice Hockey League Champion and Best Goalkeeper.
"For the past 4 years, the Olympics have been like a dream: everyone will talk about it, but it exists in the distant future, and it is difficult to imagine that it will actually happen." She said, "Now that the Olympics are really coming, I will feel excited and nervous. It is a great honor to represent China at the Olympic Games, and I would like to thank the leaders and coaching team for giving me this amazing opportunity. I am very proud to represent the Chinese team in the Olympic Games. ”
"Chinese style" is an emotion carved into the blood
This time Zhou Jiaying fire out of the circle in addition to her excellent goalkeeping skills, but also because of her domineering Chinese style equipment, in fact, this is not the first time Zhou Jiaying has worn equipment with Chinese characteristics of culture, the Shenzhen player has also used similar equipment in previous games, for her Chinese culture is an emotion carved into the blood.
Zhou Jiaying's Chinese style equipment is very domineering. Image source Shenzhen Kunlun Hongxing Club
"We grew up saying Chinese not much, and our Chinese relatives live on the other side of the globe. We visited them a few times, but I was like an outsider. They were very hospitable, but I couldn't communicate and that really affected me. That also gave me the motivation to study Chinese in college. Zhou Jiaying said in an interview.
Beginning in her sophomore year, Zhou Jiaying studied Chinese at Princeton University for 3 years, even though that wasn't what she needed for her major. Even in her senior year, when the burden on the course is usually lighter, she still takes Mandarin classes, taking classes every Monday to Friday, and attending an hour of classes and an hour of quiz on Fridays. "I'm motivated to do that because I want to communicate with my grandfather, who can only speak Mandarin. This is also the way I connect with my Own Chinese ancestry. Looking back now, I am very happy that I learned Mandarin myself. By studying Chinese and living in China, I am now more connected to China and Chinese culture. ”
Before the outbreak of the new crown epidemic, Zhou Jiaying lived and played in Shenzhen in 2018-2020, so she also very much hopes to go back to Shenzhen to see the fans there. "I miss the fans in Shenzhen very much. It's been two years since I last lived in Shenzhen, but I still remember those scenes as if they happened yesterday. "I hope I can go back and have a look when the time is right." Living in China really made me feel the depth of Chinese culture. Chinese culture is very vast, and different regions have different traditions, dialects and ways of doing things. ”