After six years of preparation, the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics officially kicked off on February 4, and 176 Chinese athletes will complete the task of "participating in all 7 major events and 15 sub-events" of the Beijing Winter Olympics. In this Winter Olympic cycle, Chinese ice and snow athletes have trained instead of races under the epidemic and gone abroad to participate in various ice and snow events to obtain qualification for the Beijing Winter Olympics. In the short track speed skating and figure skating that Chinese audiences are most familiar with, the U-shaped track skills of the new popular sports, and the less familiar Nordic two events, Chinese ice and snow athletes strive to compete with foreign athletes for medals and even gold medals, and their performance is worth looking forward to.
U-shaped venue skills: Gu Ailing
Key events: February 8 Freestyle Ski Women's Grand Jump Final
Feb. 10 Snowboard Women's U-Shaped Track Skills Final
Venue: Shougang Ski Jumping Platform/Genting Ski Park
Because of her penchant for wearing conspicuous green ski helmets, Gu Ailing is known as the "Frog Princess" by her fans. Agence France-Presse believes that the 18-year-old Gu Ailing will be one of the most watched athletes at the Beijing Winter Olympics.
In the second final of the Freestyle Ski U-Field World Cup in Calgary, Canada, in January, Gu Ailing won her fifth title of the season, which was also her first title of 2022. Agence France-Presse said that Gu Ailing not only achieved well in the arena, she also had the labels of model and bully. At the Beijing Winter Olympics, Gu Ailing will participate in three events: U-shaped venue skills, slope obstacle skills and big jumping platforms.
In the final leg of the U-shaped venue World Cup, Gu Ailing achieved four consecutive titles of the season, and she also won the best performance award of the season, and for the first time, she lifted the "Crystal Ball" trophy that symbolized the overall championship of the season. At that time, the official website of the International Snow Federation praised, "This is the best slide in the history of the freestyle skiing U-shaped field, and Gu Ailing has rapidly risen to the supremacy of the freestyle skiing event." Gu Ailing's young career is just one Winter Olympic medal away, and she has the opportunity to achieve this wish next month."
Of course, Gu Ailing's road to the Winter Olympics is not equal to a smooth road - the 2019 World Championship U-shaped venue champion, Estonia's famous Hildaru, Pyeongchang Winter Olympics bronze medalist, the United States' Signoni all have the strength to stand on the podium.
During the preparation for the Winter Olympics, Gu Ailing also had a good performance in slope obstacle courses and big jumping events, and the South China Morning Post previously said that Gu Ailing continued the record of winning streaks in the main freestyle skiing events. British media "Arena Insider" said that Gu Ailing, who has the hope of playing the Beijing Winter Olympics in the "full attendance" of the triathlon, "looks in good shape" before the Winter Olympics.
Overall, the U-shaped field project China team won 4 women and 3 men a total of 7 places, in addition to Gu Ailing, Zhang Kexin, Li Fanghui both broke into the top eight in every game of this season's World Cup, and also have the strength to impact medals.
Aerial skills: Xu Mengtao
Highlights: February 14 Freestyle Skiing Women's Aerial Skills Final
Freestyle skiing aerial techniques are highly ornamental, with athletes demonstrating techniques similar to trampolines in the air. Shan Ge, an official of the Chinese freestyle ski team, once said: "China's freestyle skiing aerial skills project has now developed to the world's leading level, and it is one of the more powerful countries in the world. "The only gold medal won by the Chinese delegation in the snow sports at the Winter Olympics came from aerial skills.
Xu Mengtao, a 31-year-old Chinese player, has put his name in the history of the sport, and in the Air Skills World Cup in Ruka, Finland, Xu Mengtao won his 26th World Cup title, thus becoming the first person in the history of the World Cup. In the subsequent mixed men's and women's team competitions, the Chinese team won the championship, and Xu Mengtao raised the championship record to 27.
As early as 2009, Xu Mengtao won her first World Cup title at the Moscow World Cup, and also won the World Cup championship for two consecutive years in the 2011 and 2012 seasons. During the Sochi Winter Olympics cycle, Xu Mengtao reached the peak of sports and achievements. She won her first world championship gold medal, won 14 World Cup titles in four years, and also had the world's first difficult move.
However, the previous Winter Olympics seem to have become a hurdle for Xu Mengtao: in 2010, Xu Mengtao participated in the Vancouver Winter Olympics for the first time and won the sixth place; in the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, Xu Mengtao missed the gold medal as the favorite to win the championship and won the silver medal; in the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in South Korea, the second round of the game fell by mistake and was out early...
Now Xu Mengtao has the opportunity to realize her wish at the doorstep: "I will rely on my previous accumulation to show a better Xu Mengtao." I hope to show my best performance at the Beijing Winter Olympics and then bloom at the Beijing Winter Olympics with perfect movements! ”
According to the official website of the International Snow Federation, the Chinese team won a total of 7 Winter Olympic places in the air skills event of 4 men and 3 women, and there are not only Xu Mengtao, but also veterans such as Qi Guangpu in the team. Young players, including Sun Jiaxu and Yang Longxiao, also won 1 gold, 2 silver and 1 bronze in the previous World Cup competition.
Short Track Speed Skating: Wu Dajing
Highlights: Short Track Speed Skating Mixed Team Relay Final on 5 February
Feb. 7 Short Track Speed Skating Men's 1000m Final
February 13 Short Track Speed Skating Men's 500m Final
Venue: Capital Gymnasium
Short-track speed skating has always been the dominant event of the Chinese delegation at the Winter Olympics, not only the first Winter Olympic gold medal came from this project, but also won 33 medals in the short track speed skating event so far, including 10 gold, 15 silver and 8 bronze, far surpassing other Winter Olympic sports, ranking second only to South Korea in the national rankings.
Wu Dajing is one of China's most influential athletes in short track speed skating in recent years. At the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, Wu Daijing won the only gold medal for the Chinese delegation with underperforming overall, and he also won the men's 500m event with two world records. In that year's short track speed skating World Cup salt lake city station, Wu Dajing broke the record again with 39.505 seconds, completing the feat of breaking three world records in one year, and currently holds the world record and Olympic record in this event.
In the four-stop competition of the short track speed skating World Cup that ended at the end of last year, the Chinese team scored 7 gold, 3 silver and 6 bronze, and Wu Dajing and Ren Ziwei stood on the highest podium of individual events. The Chinese short track speed skating team has won a full quota of 5 men and 5 women, and will still serve as the vanguard of the Chinese delegation's winter Olympic gold rush trip.
Wu Dajing won his first individual title of the season in the men's 500m final of the short track speed skating World Cup in the Netherlands, rising to second place in the world ranking of the event. In the competition, Wu Dajing advanced all the way to the first place, and maintained the lead throughout the final, which showed that he was ready to defend his title at the Beijing Winter Olympics.
"At any time I don't think of myself as an Olympic champion, I have to pay 120% of my efforts to fight," Mr. Wu said of preparing for the game, "For me, I'm not going to defend, but to fight for the championship, because there are too many people who can win the championship." ”
In the previous short track speed skating World Cup, Ren Ziwei also performed well, with gold medals in each station, including two times on the highest podium in the 1500 meters. The Chinese team has also entered the top three in the mixed team 2000m relay, a new event added to the Beijing Winter Olympics, and the current project points are also ranked first in the world, which is expected to bring the first gold of the Beijing Winter Olympics to the Chinese delegation.
Figure Skating: Sui Wenjing/Han Cong
Key Event February 19 Figure Skating Pair Skating Free Skating
"Figure skating pair skating has always been a very popular ice and snow sport in China." According to the BBC, the banner of Chinese pair skating at the Beijing Winter Olympics fell on Sui Wenjing and Han Cong, the runner-up of the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics and the world championships with 2 gold and 3 silver.
Sui Wenjing, 26, and Han Cong, 29, are both from harbin, an ice city in northeastern China. Since their time in 2007, the duo has won numerous accolades from the youth to the adult category in 14 years, including three consecutive Junior World Championships, six four-continent championships and several figure skating Grand Prix medals, and is currently the world record holder for the pairs short program.
Unlike the "Golden Boy jade girl" combination commonly found in figure skating doubles projects, Sui Wenjing and Han Cong often impress people with their lively interactions with elves, known as the "onion barrel combination". In fact, the two have been hit by injuries and failures: Sui Wenjing was injured several times between 2012 and 2018, during which time he underwent multiple ankle and foot surgeries, and Han Cong also underwent hip surgery in 2020. At the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, they missed the gold medal with a narrow margin of 0.43 points.
However, in the Beijing Winter Olympic cycle, the duo are in hot form, and have won the 2021 Asian Figure Skating Open, the Figure Skating Grand Prix Canada and Italy.
In the chinese figure skating team's entry list, there is no suspense in the ownership of the men's singles quota, which has long been "booked" by Jin Boyang, after all, whether from past records or competition experience, he is the leader of domestic players. The 24-year-old Jin Boyang is also facing a lot of pressure, the epidemic has made his number of competitions significantly reduced, psychological pressure continues to increase, at the end of last year, Jin Boyang, who reappeared on the field, performed steadily, and finally ensured the winter Olympic quota.
In women's singles, 19-year-old Zhu Yi surpassed himself in 20 days of preparation, striving to show better form at the Beijing Winter Olympics and accumulating valuable experience for the "climbing" of figure skating women's singles.
Snowboarding: Su Yiming
Key events: The men's big jump final on snowboarding on February 15
"I am fortunate to be born in this era, as long as I devote myself to my love, hard work will definitely be rewarded... There are many more world records waiting for us to create in the future. Su Yiming, who was certified by the Guinness World Records last month for completing the ultra-difficulty action of the 1980-degree grasping board with internal rotation, said so.
At the age of 14, Su Yiming entered the training team of China's snowboard slope obstacle course and big jump, and has improved rapidly in the past two years. In March 2020, Su Yiming completed a three-week flip of 1620 degrees, becoming the first Chinese snowboarder to complete this action. At the beginning of 2021, he unlocked the difficult action of 1800 degrees for five weeks of reverse foot rotation, once again writing himself into the history of Chinese snowboarding and entering the ranks of world-class players.
At the Snowboard world cup in the United States At the end of last year, Su Yiming won the men's snowboard championship, which was the first World Cup title of his career and the first time that a Chinese player had reached the World Cup podium in the project. Helping Su Yiming win the championship was Japanese coach Yasuhiro Sato, who has coached several of Japan's top players. Sato is very optimistic about Su Yiming, "Su Yiming trained with the children of the Japanese national team, and the level was improved. At the Beijing Winter Olympics, it is expected to compete for a medal."
Su Yiming's teammate Cai Xuetong also showed good competitive status in the previous season, she won the championship at the Tongshan Station in the United States, the second place in the Mammoth Mountain Station in the United States, although Cai Xuetong ranked seventh at the Swiss Lex Station, she still won the World Cup championship this season with the first place in the total points, which is also the seventh time in Cai Xuetong's career to win the season championship.
Speed Skating: Ning Zhongyan
Key event: February 8 Speed skating men's 1500 meters
Feb. 12 Speed Skating Men's 500m
Feb. 17 Speed Skating Women's 1000m
Feb. 18 Speed Skating Men's 1000m
Venue: National Speed Skating Hall
"Watching the national flag rise, I feel a sense of mission. Beijing Winter Olympics, here I come! Some members of the Chinese Winter Olympic delegation came to Tiananmen Square on the 25th of last month to participate in the flag-raising ceremony and take the oath, and Ning Zhongyan, a member of the Chinese speed skating team, also participated, expressing his excitement on social platforms.
Ning Zhongyan won the four races of the Speed Skating World Cup before the Beijing Winter Olympics three times, and the total number of medals rose to 3 gold and 2 silver. On the Stavanger station in Norway, Ning Zhongyan won the gold medal in the men's 1500 meters of the main event, and also won the gold medal in the men's team sprint (non-Olympic event) with the team.
For the prospect of winning the medal at the Beijing Winter Olympics, the official website of the International Skating Federation believes that Ning Zhongyan is a master of China's middle distance sports, and the 23-year-old's new season revolves more around the Beijing Winter Olympics than other athletes.
Zhang Hong, an IOC member and Champion of the Sochi Winter Olympics, previously said that the United States, the Netherlands, Russia and Nordic athletes including Norway have all won gold medals in the men's 1500 meters, and the competition in this event is very fierce. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought many challenges to the preparation of domestic and foreign players. Judging from the recent competitions, Ning Zhongyan is already among the world's leading athletes in the men's 1500 meters event, so he is particularly looking forward to his performance at the Beijing Winter Olympics.
As another player in the Chinese speed skating team "Gemini", Ning Zhongyan's teammate Gao Tingyu has also played well this season. In the first leg of the World Cup race in Poland, the men's speed skating 500m Group A final, Gao Tingyu broke the field record and won the gold medal, which was Gao Tingyu's first world cup championship.
Nordic two: Zhao Jiawen
Key event: February 9 Men's individual cross-country skiing 10 km
Race location: National Cross-Country SkiIng Center
The Nordic biathlon, consisting of ski jumping and cross-country skiing, tests the overall ability of athletes, and has been listed as a competition since the first Winter Olympics in 1924, and is the only event at the Winter Olympics that only competes in the men's group. Chinese athletes have never qualified for the Winter Olympics before, and Zhao Jiawen will represent China's Nordic biathlon team for the first time at the Beijing Winter Olympics. Zhao Jiawen said that his endurance needs to be improved, to reserve good physical fitness for cross-country skiing, and the jumping technique still needs to be constantly honed, and strive to break into the top 30 at the doorstep.
At the Beijing Winter Olympics, there are 3 sub-events in the Nordic biathlon, namely men's individual standard platform + 10 km cross-country skiing, men's individual big jump + 10 km cross-country skiing, men's team big jump + 4×5 km cross-country skiing. There are a total of 55 seats in the competition, and each team can send up to 5 players to participate.
Nordic biathlon developed late in China, and in 2009, Chinese athletes competed in the Nordic biathlon at the Winter Universiade. China's Nordic biathlon national training team was established in June 2018, and most of the selected athletes have a certain foundation in cross-country skiing, but the level of ski jumping is relatively weak, and the team immediately went to Japan, Finland and other places to carry out external training after the establishment of the team.
In December 2020, the Laiyuan National Ski Jumping Training and Scientific Research Base, which was officially put into use, created better preparation conditions for the Nordic two training teams. On November 26, 2021, Zhao Jiawen won the 22nd place in the Intercontinental Cup men's individual standard platform + 10 km cross-country skiing event held in Nizhny Tagil, Russia, locking in a Beijing Winter Olympics host position, and the Nordic biathlon will appear for the first time in the Chinese athletes.