49-year-old German veteran 8 Winter Olympics! Stepping into the field is the best time

On the afternoon of February 5, a "showdown between young and old" was staged in the "Ice Ribbon" of the National Speed Skating Hall. The first group of the speed skating women's 3,000m event was between Akhnar Adak, a 22-year-old Chinese who is competing in the Winter Olympics for the first time, and Claudia Peschstein, a 49-year-old from Germany, who has made eight trips to the Winter Olympics.

Claudia Peschstein is playing according to the figure

Such an age difference is equivalent to two generations. In 2002, when Pehistein set the Olympic record for the event at the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, Akhnar Adak was still an ignorant child. It is the magical power of sports that erases more than 20 years of time between them, bringing them thousands of kilometers closer together until they stand side by side on the starting line of the "ice ribbon". The starting gun sounded, they were two equal Olympians, working hard for the goal of "higher, faster and stronger" and making a glorious mark on their sports careers.

Peschstein, in particular, suddenly became the focus of reporters' attention. Thirty years ago, she competed for the first time at the Albertville Winter Olympics in France, where she was the youngest athlete in the German delegation; today, she has won five Olympic gold medals, making her the most frequent and oldest woman to participate in the Winter Olympics. In an interview with reporters, Peschstein told everyone in the audience, "I am very proud of this, which has never been achieved by women all over the world." For me, the key to this competition is not to win a medal, but to uphold the Olympic spirit of 'focus on participation'! ”

It was in this spirit that Peschstein and the snowmobile genius Francisco Friedrich became the standard-bearers of the German delegation at the opening ceremony. It is admirable that although her performance in the competition has lagged far behind those of the younger generation, when she crossed the line, Peschstein smiled, and she truly reached the realm of "enjoying the game, enjoying the Olympics, enjoying sports". Winning or losing is important, but affirming oneself and highlighting the spirit of a 49-year-old female athlete is even more glorious. After all, when she first won the bronze medal in the 5,000-meter speed skating competition at the Winter Olympics in 1992, many of her current opponents had not yet been born. To date, she has won five gold, two silver and two bronze medals at the Winter Olympics.

What is even more valuable is that she has never stopped, but has always maintained a good competitive state and maintained a courageous and enterprising spirit. Although she can indeed be regarded as a "grandma" player in terms of athletic age, there is no need to call Peshstein "big mom" or "grandma". At the age of 49, she has worked hard to stand on the top of her life, inspired her peers and set an example for future generations, no matter what age she is, all we have to do is applaud her and learn from her. Standing on the field, it's all good times.

Source Beijing Evening News | Reporter Zhang Li

Edited by Zhang Li

Process Editor Liu Weili