February 5 is the first day of the official competition of the Beijing Winter Olympics. The Chinese sports delegation put the gold medal on the short track speed skating mixed relay race.
Short track speed skating has always been a strong sport in Ice and Snow Sports in China. In the Winter Olympics, the Chinese sports delegation won a total of 13 gold medals, of which short track speed skating accounted for 10, accounting for 76.9%.
The short track speed skating mixed relay is a new event at the Beijing Winter Olympics, with two athletes of men and two men participating in a total of 2,000 meters of skating. Fan Kexin, Qu Chunyu, Ren Ziwei and Wu Dajing represented the Chinese team and won the first gold medal of the Chinese delegation at the Winter Olympics with a time of 2:37.348. It is also the first gold medal in the short track speed skating event of the Winter Olympics.
The gold medal of the Chinese team did not come easily. The project is divided into three phases. The first is the preliminary round, where 12 teams are divided into three groups, with the top two of each group advancing directly, and the two third places with good results also advancing. In the first stage, the Chinese team competed in the same group as the South Korean team, Italy and Poland. The Chinese team successfully advanced to the first place in the group.
The eight teams that advanced to the finals played in the semi-finals. In the semifinals, the Chinese team performed poorly, only ranking third. Fortunately, the top two teams, the United States and the Russian Olympic Committee team, were directly cancelled for fouls in the competition. The Chinese team was lucky enough to advance to the final.
In the final, the top three sticks of the Chinese team performed very well and occupied a high advantage. Wu Dajing, who was the last stick, could not keep up with his physical strength due to participating in too many games, and was chased a lot by the Italian team. Fortunately, Wu Dajing was still the first to cross the finish line. The Chinese team skated a time of 2:37.348. Since the short track speed skating mixed relay is the first time to enter the Winter Olympics, this result is a new record for the Winter Olympics. The Chinese delegation won the first gold medal at the Beijing Winter Olympics.
At the moment of winning the championship, the players celebrated wildly, and the coaching staff on the sidelines was also excited. The players and coaches hugged and celebrated. The players were interviewed after the game.
Ren Ziwei didn't know what to say at once, he was really excited. He said: "I have fantasized countless times that I stand here and say something, say a lot, but in fact, there is nothing to say here, just happiness." ”
Fan Kexin was very excited: "I have waited too long for this gold medal. "Because he just finished the game, his mood was very excited, and he was wearing a mask, Fan Kexin couldn't breathe. Wu Dajing intimately helped her pull the mask open. Fan Kexin took a deep breath. Wu Dajing put it on her again.
Fan Kexin continued: "I always believe in our team and thank the country, so at that moment I felt that everything was worth it. We did it! Because he was too excited, Fan Kexin choked up many times, and his eyes were red. Veteran Fan Kexin has been in the national team for 12 years and has deep feelings for the national team. She believed in the national team, believed in her teammates, and years of hard work finally paid off.
Wu Dajing was actually a little choked up when he was interviewed. He said excitedly, "It's also very relieved." These four years have been too much, and today's first day has come true. As he spoke, Wu Dajing actually cried out, and he quickly covered his eyes with his hands. Fan Kexin stroked him next to him, controlling his excitement. Ren Ziwei laughed at the side: "Why am I happy?" Abominable. ”
After the Chinese short track speed skating team won the gold medal in the mixed relay, the coaches were also excited. They lay on the table and high-fived the team members in celebration. Some coaches even knelt on the table, just to hug and celebrate with the players at the first time.
There are two more special people in the coaching staff. They are the head coach of the Chinese short track speed skating team, Kim Sun-tae, and the technical coach Ahn Hyun-so. Both were Koreans, but Ahn Hyun-so later changed his nationality and could only be counted as a Korean coach. Both have brilliant resumes.
In the two cycles of 2004-2006 and 2010-2014, Korean Kim Sun-tae twice coached in Changchun, China, training famous players such as Zhou Yang, Han Tianyu and Liang Wenhao. Kim Sun-tae is familiar with Chinese, speaks fluent Chinese, and can write Chinese. In 2014, Kim Sun-tae was recalled by the Korea Ice Association as the head coach of the short track team. At the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, Kim Sun-tae led the South Korean team to a good result of 3 gold, 1 silver and 2 bronze.
In June 2019, the former coaching team leader Wang Meng faded out of the national team, and Jin Shantai began to take charge of the daily training of the Chinese short track team, and later became the head coach.
Technical coach Ahn Hyun-so has a lot of experience. Ahn Hyun-so was born in 1985. In 2006 he won 3 gold and 1 bronze at the Turin Winter Olympics. Due to injuries and other reasons, Ahn Hyun-so was unable to participate in the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. Later, he was estranged from the South Korean team, and at the invitation of Russia, he was naturalized in Russia in December 2011 and changed his name to Victor Ann. He competed as a Russian athlete at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, winning three golds and one bronze. He won 6 gold and 2 bronze in two Winter Olympics, which is really great.
In April 2020, Ahn Hyun-so announced his retirement and later took up the role of technical coach for short track speed skating in China.
These two coaches have helped China's short-track speed skating a lot.