Cross-country skiing men's double chase
Liu Rongsheng set the best record for mainland players
On February 6, athletes from Hebei Province, Liu Rongsheng and Chen Degen, made their debut at the Winter Olympics in the men's doubles pursuit (15 km traditional technique + 15 km free technique) event at the Beijing Winter Olympics. In the chase of 70 athletes, Liu Rongsheng finished 38th in 1 hour, 24 minutes and 59 seconds 6, which is the best position of the Chinese team in the Winter Olympics event.
Competitors compete in the men's doubles chase in cross-country skiing on Feb. 6. On the same day, the final of the men's double chase (15 km traditional technology + 15 km free technology) of cross-country skiing at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics was held at the National Cross-Country Skiing Center. Hebei Daily reporter Geng Hui photographed
Standing on the field, you make history
38th place, it sounds very unremarkable, but for the continental cross-country skiing project, it is already a big breakthrough.
The Winter Olympics cross-country skiing men's double pursuit (15 km traditional technique + 15 km free technology) competition, the mainland has participated in seven times, the previous best result was at the 2006 Turin Winter Olympics, by Chevan 50th place.
For the continental cross-country skiing project, the late start and weak foundation are unavoidable realities. Even before the Winter Olympics, the mainland had never competed in all events in cross-country skiing.
Therefore, for mainland cross-country skiers, it is remarkable to be able to stand on the track of the Winter Olympics. What is particularly valuable is that in this Winter Olympics, the mainland cross-country ski team sent 6 athletes to participate in the men's event, achieving full-event participation for the first time. In the cross-country skiing men's doubles event, which was played by four athletes, Chen Degen, Liu Rongsheng, Shang Jincai and Hades Badri Khan, the mainland also won four full seats for the first time, and the four people who played were all participating in the Winter Olympics for the first time.
Liu Rongsheng and Chen Degen are both post-zero runners, both of whom have switched to cross-country skiing through cross-border cross-country selection of middle-distance runners. From 2019 to now, they have only trained for three years.
Because Liu Rongsheng and Chen Degen, this is also the first time that athletes in our province have stood on the field of cross-country skiing in the Winter Olympics, and two athletes have participated in one time, which in itself has created the history of cross-country skiing projects in our province and even the entire snow sports project.
On February 6, No. 59 Hebei's Liu Rongsheng (left) crossed the finish line. Hebei Daily reporter Geng Hui photographed
Constantly surpassing, Liu Rongsheng became a "dark horse"
Before the game, among the four participating athletes in the mainland, Liu Rongsheng was not optimistic. Therefore, his performance today, like a dark horse, surprised many people.
Judging from the previous competition results, Chen Degen, who is also good at long-distance events with Liu Rongsheng, has more outstanding results. He won the men's 50km free technical championship at the 2020-2021 National Cross-Country Skiing Championships and won a first place three times at last year's ISB Series China. Although Liu Rongsheng has a good performance in the national cross-country skiing event, the results are not eye-catching.
Liu Rongsheng even almost passed by the Beijing Winter Olympics. In the selection process of athletes participating in the Beijing Winter Olympic Games, although his results reached the A standard of cross-country skiing in the Winter Olympics, he only ranked fifth in the team, while at the beginning the Chinese cross-country skiing team only had 4 men's quotas for the Winter Olympics, and later the number of participants increased to 6, and Liu Rongsheng was able to enter the list of participants through the selection.
But from the perspective of overall strength, Liu Rongsheng is actually not inferior. He is one of the highest performers in the same period who participated in the cross-border cross-discipline selection. The national team coach also has a high evaluation of him, in their eyes, Liu Rongsheng is a down-to-earth and willing to learn, is a material that can be made.
On February 6, No. 45 Hebei's Chen Degen competed in the men's double pursuit of cross-country skiing. Hebei Daily reporter Geng Hui photographed
The cross-country skiing men's double chase competition takes a collective start, the starting position is determined according to the athletes' points ranking in the International Snow Federation, the top ranking is Chen Degen, an athlete from our province, followed by Shang Jincai, and Liu Rongsheng is only ranked 59th.
But from the beginning of the race, Liu Rongsheng showed his advantages of strong endurance and excellent technology in long-distance events, constantly surpassing, gradually rushing from 59 to the top 50, and maintaining the advantage. In the second half, he continued to surpass, and finally finished 38th, achieving a historic breakthrough in the continental cross-country skiing event.
Chen Degen was forced to eliminate because he was trapped.
Next, the two will participate in the men's individual sprint (free technology), men's 15 km (traditional technology), men's 4× 10 km relay (traditional technology/free technology), and men's 50 km group departure (free technology). (Hebei Daily reporter Zhao Ruixue)