Written by 丨Hao Ku Editor 丨 Jin Hyuk Produced 丨 Tencent News Gu Yu Studio
At the Beijing Winter Olympics, Zhang Jiahao was the guest of honor to explain the men's snowboard slope obstacle skills. On February 6, China's Su Yiming entered the final with the first place result. Zhang Jiahao sent a Weibo congratulatory message, briefly writing about the experience of the two people who have known each other for 9 years, and finally, he said, "Before you said that you would take my dream to stand on the starting stage of the Winter Olympics, I hope you can stand on the podium tomorrow." Cheers to the final tomorrow, I am still with you on the commentary booth to witness history! In the end, Su Yiming completed the highest difficulty action "1800 degree turn" in the competition, won the silver medal and created history. This is the first time that the Chinese team has won an Olympic medal in this event.
Compared with Su Yiming, Zhang Jiahao's "one-man Winter Olympics" ended two months ago. Zhang Jiahao, a 26-year-old baker and a ski enthusiast from Yeluzi, has braved the epidemic in the past two years to travel around the world alone to participate in competitions, saving points, brushing rankings, and dreaming of standing on the starting stage of the Beijing Winter Olympics with national teams from all over the world.
Zhang Jiahao Monday
On November 19, 2021, at the Randhlaf Ski Resort in Limburg, the Netherlands, he completed an internal turn of 720 degrees and then fell down next to the slopes. The story about the Winter Olympics is over, but it's not a lament. Regret and regret are the brain supplements of bystanders, and Zhang Jiahao has never been. One of the most common phrases he said was, "I did it, the result doesn't matter, what matters is that I did it".
In 2015, Beijing won the right to host the 2022 Winter Olympics. At that time, Zhang Jiahao was just 20 years old, playing skiing for three years, and never thought about what would happen to him and the Olympics. But a year later, he finished 16th at the World Ski Championships in New Zealand, the best result for a Chinese athlete at the time. The Olympics naturally became a goal. For amateur athletes, there is only one way to participate in the Olympic Games, which is to get a "privileged" place that only the host country has. The conditions he needs to meet are to get a top 30 in a World Cup match and the highest ranking points in his country.
In fact, for Zhang Jiahao, failure is foreseeable. Even in his most confident moments — he won a race in Chile — he just thought "maybe a little bit of a play". So, the story is, what does it mean for a person to embark on a journey that is doomed to failure?
At the age of 17, when he first came into contact with skiing, Zhang Jiahao paid 100% of his efforts for it. At that time, he was also a baker on the night shift at Kempinski Hotel Beijing, working at 10 p.m. and 7:30 a.m. every day. After work, chase the bus, get off the bus and chase the snowfield bus. As long as he enters the snow field, he will not eat, drink or go to the toilet, and if he can slide more, he will slide more than one trip, and slide until the snow field closes. Everyone said "this brother is crazy", Zhang Jiahao also thought about this problem, but he did not pay attention to it, so "he can keep sliding".
He had suffered many injuries, with broken hands, broken feet, concussions or broken lungs. The emergency department doctors near his home all knew him. Injuries are no big deal, and sometimes it's a good reason to take a leave of absence from a hotel. Serious injuries when minor injuries are recovered, minor injuries do not fall under the line of fire, and the time saved is still soaked in the ski slopes. One had broken hands and was still in a cast, and he begged his friend to take him to the snow. Say yes and slide twice, my friend wears a snowboard, and he is gone. After a while, my friend heard someone say, "There's a guy over there with a plaster cast and flips his hand back."
Starting in 2020, Zhang Jiahao embarked on a journey to impact the Olympic Games. He carried two boards alone and competed all over the world, saving points and traveling all over Europe, Australia and South America. Along the way, he faced the lockdown of the pandemic, uncontrollable visas, and the complete lack of logistical support. It doesn't matter what you eat, instant noodles can be eaten, you can eat it or not; not to mention the clothes you wear, almost no clothes have been washed. During the Chilean competition, someone went to interview him and found that the small broken house where he lived did not even have heating, and "it felt out of the ordinary".
It's all for that distant dream, to be precise, for the moment of jumping high, for giving an account of your life. And now, he has failed for sure, and a teenage comic-like journey is over. But it doesn't matter. Importantly, he did.
The following is Zhang Jiahao's dictation:
I don't know what regret means
The final match in the Netherlands was my last chance to reach the World Cup and the Olympic Games. This game is going to be in the top four and five, and I have 150 points, and I'm almost in the top 100 in the world ranking, so I can enter the World Cup, and when I get the qualification, I will go to the United States (to participate in the World Cup). If you don't get enough, you won't qualify for the Intercontinental Cup and you won't be able to get into [the Olympics], so that's the last chance.
Because I didn't stand on the first few trips of the game (I didn't get points), when I started the last trip, I said maybe this was the last taxi of my journey. Look back at my journey and wow, close your eyes. There have been too many (ups and downs) along the way, jingles, clanging, this heart... Exercise! Go, don't think about anything - didn't stand still, fell far away, turned faster - "poof", landed on the ground, "ah", ended.
Let's be relieved when it's over. In fact, when I won the championship in Chile before, I was not very excited, my heart fell flat, and I couldn't move. I didn't regret that I didn't do it because I wanted to do it, and when I wanted to do it, it really couldn't be suppressed. I think "love" is only a very simple word, you don't know why, but you are willing to do it. So I'm particularly proud of myself now that I was able to work 100% towards my pure ideals.
Zhang Jiahao won the Chilean Championship at Xinhua News Agency
The first thought of participating in the Winter Olympics was in 2016, in fact, there was no concept of the Olympic Games at that time, and Beijing's bid for the Olympic Games was successful. But at that time, I participated in the Intercontinental Cup competition and won the best result in China, and I thought that this thing had something to do with me? Only to think about this matter.
An idea came up at that time, but you are still very far from that goal, step by step. Every year, the national competition can win the top six, in 2019 it won the championship, and in 2020 it was the fourth. From 2020 onwards, in fact, the children in our country have improved particularly fast, and at that time, they actually realized that my "fuel power conversion rate" is not as high as that of young athletes. Also add 50 yuan of oil, people can run farther than me, run faster, people will be more valuable than me. But maybe I am still unconvinced, and what others do not matter to me much. I want to try this car after the throttle to see how fast it can run, and it doesn't really matter where it can go.
I don't know what regret means. Not at all (sorry), not because everyone (because of this matter) paid attention to Zhang Jiahao, not because of this, but because I did. I don't know if this idea is more selfish, I have always done whatever I want, no regrets, no regrets, no twists. Along the way, I've done everything I want.
Zhang Jiahao's medal on Sunday Monday
In 2016, I was injured for the first time in Nanshan (ski resort), and my hands were completely broken. That time was the Nanshan Open, and I wanted to do a back flip for two weeks, and I was still unstable at the time, so I wanted to do it in this game. I didn't care what other people said, I thought about it at the time, I was going to do it. I myself know that it is not okay, unstable, can I not be afraid? Every day is to carry your head up to the waistband of your pants.
The last trip to warm up, try two and a half weeks, turned over, "Quack", both hands are broken, landing on the ground for a moment the head is not awake. Someone else held me, and then I heard him say to me, "The first thing you say when you come down is, 'I got it.'"
"I got it", I had a concussion at that time, I didn't know it, it was someone else who told me later.
Addicted
From a young age to growing up, I was always looking for what interested me, curious about everything, and wanted to try everything. When I was a child, my father always beat me, did not study well, loved to play, and stayed in the community. If I don't go home, I'll be afraid my dad won't let me go out when I get home. I didn't eat the food, so (when I was thirsty), I drank the water from the pipe that poured the lawn outside and continued to play. At the age of 17, he studied secondary school, learned a craft, and cooked Western food. (After becoming a baker) is pure work, going to work and looking forward to work, waiting for rest after work, resting and expecting to pay wages, paying salaries and looking forward to annual leave. It was an errand for me, so as not to let my dad say me.
The first time I skied in Nanshan (ski resort), I went with two classmates, I didn't know how to skate, I kept falling, and I never stood up. But at the time, I thought it was handsome, it was cool, and I wanted to learn it. The second time, when there is a sense of experience, you can slide in the mountains and drift the leaves.
Skiing is relatively free and unconstrained. It is not the same as traditional sports, you can slide on the slopes, you can ski on the jumping platform, you can slide on the ground, you can slide in the woods, you can slide in various places. It's more exciting, flying in the air and you can harness the speed. Then it kept sliding, it kept sliding, and it was addictive.
I went to the night shift and went skiing after work. Open the door in the morning and slide in until the afternoon closes the door. Don't rest, don't eat, don't go to the toilet, and slip as much as you can. At that time, everyone thought, this dude is crazy! Loved skiing so much! Go without sleeping. I really didn't sleep at that time, I didn't sleep day by day, and my face was yellow. Now that I haven't slept all night, I can't find the feeling of being sleepy at that moment. Sometimes I take a ride back, and I can squint a little bit in the car. [This life lasted) two or three years. It is to rely on faith to support, the attachment and love of this thing, can only be explained in this way.
Zhang Jiahao at the Nanshan Open Visual China
When you first start skiing, do difficult moves. At that time, I didn't know that I would be injured, it was really dry, my legs were injured, and my "bang" was completely broken. Until that time when my foot was broken, I hadn't skied for two and a half months and taught me a lesson. I realized that I couldn't fall anymore, and if I fell again, I might not be able to really slip.
Once a friend slid with me, I asked him to follow me a rhythm, and the slide did not slip for two months. He said no one should brag about X, he said rhythm, I don't believe anyone can keep up with you (laughs). I got up at 5 o'clock in the morning, I drove for more than an hour, and the second-hand car I bought, in New Zealand, didn't even have a hot wind, and I was cold every day and wore a big cotton jacket.
There are a lot of people telling you, how are you going to be, you can't ski all the time. I'll hear a lot of these voices, and I'll push myself to think about it. But then in retrospect, deep down in my heart is actually more unconvinced, keep going forward, just want to try my throttle pedal, how fast this car can run. I didn't think about where I could go, what I could achieve, whether I could get grades, whether I could feed me, nor did I think about what I could get from this. If I really want to, I can't go today, I'm halfway there and I'll do something else.
The Olympics were actually the same thing, and so was when I went to Chile. No one thinks this is OK, and without you knowing it, you have to figure out all the problems yourself, and you have to solve everything yourself. What prompted you was this one who was not convinced, and wanted to go there to see. So there were no other ideas along the way, and you were able to slip to where you are today.
Impact the Olympics
In 2020, it is necessary to participate in competitions abroad (to save points). They all think the epidemic is so serious, why go? And now people (other athletes) can do the action can only put you in a circle, so many children. I said I'd try it too. In fact, I also know that I can't measure up, but I have to try it, maybe I think it may not work in my own eyes, then I have to try it.
My journey is like a roller coaster, that heart, ding-dong ding-dong! There's so much uncertainty [in the race] that you can't control. The real implementation of the Olympic plan is in early 2020. Just started to Canada, just after two stops, began the epidemic, and went directly back to China. The world's competitions have been cancelled, and there is no way, go back to China to train, and practice in Chengdu for a year. By the winter, I saw that gradually there were games in the world that could be compared. Before October, I applied for a visa in advance, and from October onwards, I began to pay (visa), and I paid Spain first, three or four months, and there was no movement. I withdrew my visa, handed it over to him, and was denied. Still not convinced, think of a way, think of a way, think of a way.
It was almost a collapse, all the way to get a visa, and finally Sweden finally signed it. Went to Sweden and the results were not particularly good, a fifth place, a sixth, and an eleventh place. Three or four games, without good results, came back. I think there is only one year left before the Olympic Games, and if I don't do this, I will definitely not be happy, or I want to go. Because it was summer, you could only go to the Southern Hemisphere (to play). In the southern hemisphere, Australia is sealed, New Zealand is sealed, and the game is not held. The only thing I can go to is Argentina, I have experience in doing visas before, I call the embassy every day, open the door at ten o'clock in the morning, the first phone is me, a phone answer, "Is it Zhang Jiahao?" No one gave the letter."
Finally, it was done. Before leaving, the tickets were all bought, and (the Argentine side) said that because of this policy change, the game may not be held. Because of the severity of the epidemic, visas have also been cancelled. It felt like a thunderbolt on a sunny day, very helpless! Because of the whole feudal country, this is the only chance! If you don't go in the summer, it is basically impossible to compare it in the winter, and it is quite collapsed. Suddenly, Chile sent a message, and the embassy said that you were allowed to come to the game. And it is visa-free, and you can go directly by paying an entry permit.
Before going, the organizer said that we did not snow this time, and it was possible that the game would not be held. I said it's all here, don't worry about how to go first. After that, it snowed for seven days in a row! My brothers all said, "There are people in the sky in South America", and after seven days of heavy snowfall, this game will be held normally. Luckily, I finished in the top three of those four games and one of the first, and then I suddenly felt hope again. Think I lean on, I got 50 points at once, the slope obstacle is second, the platform jump is third, the world ranking is more than a hundred, I have to enter the top 100 in the world ranking to be able to enter the World Cup.
After Chile finished, I waited for a visa in Europe. Ten days before the game, I still haven't believed this visa, if this game does not go, it can basically be said that there is no play. At that time, I was also very anxious, and the country helped me run, call back and forth, and find a way. In the last two days, I applied for a visa and found a sister to help me fly from Beijing to Chile. People helped me get my passport to the airport, and the moment I got my passport, I immediately checked in for boarding, and the plane took off 10 minutes away.
When I was in Chile, a sister came to interview me, and as soon as she entered my room, she was shocked, and she said I felt that you were out of the ordinary world. I said why? She said you have nothing, inside a small broken house, cold enough, not yet heated. I don't care about this thing, cheap can also live, our goal is not to run to this. I'm here to race, and as long as I can achieve my goal and finish my game, it doesn't matter.
Zhang Jiahao in the bedroom on Sunday Monday
Training, visas, epidemics, policies, itineraries... You're driving a car, you're messing up things, it's a lot of work. But training first, how other loves how to do, can go there, I eat or something, pull a bite to finish. Sometimes I take a box of instant noodles, and sometimes I don't eat it. The clothes have not been washed for two months, just throw them away, and wash the socks at most. The most important thing is stretching, training, racing.
I flew (in Europe) on November 10th, and it was night when I went to my place of stay, and I slept when I got to the place. The next day I warmed up directly and raced on the 12th. I said this quickly, and by then the heart had been flattened. Then the Dutch game was the 19th, and those games were not better, one was particularly competitive, more than 80 individual races. In addition, I didn't play fully to warm up, and I didn't adjust the jet lag. During this time in Chile, I only applied for a visa and did not train, but this is the case.
In the final game, I don't think I played well - in fact, even if I played well, I may not be able to get in, because at least I have to take the top four or the top five points. But not necessarily, maybe who made a mistake, or I did a difficult move and stood firm, right? Not necessarily.
After returning to China, he gave many interviews. Looking back now (over the past few years), I think that state was quite good, and I always went forward according to my own inner thoughts, without saying what it should be. So I feel very happy, maybe others will think you are tired, or not worth it, there is no need, but I myself think it is a happy way.
Zhang Jiahao and his skis on Sunday Monday
To be honest, [the future] hasn't thought about it yet, and I just want to make some contributions to the [skiing] thing. Skiing has changed me so much. The first time I took a plane, the first time I took a train, the first time I saw the sea, the first time I took the high-speed train, the first time I went abroad - I didn't learn 26 English letters when I first went abroad, and I was also given by skiing at this university; I came into contact with so many friends, and I also gave it to skiing.
I'll keep sliding, but not like the previous state. I think it takes a while to settle down, and I don't feel that many people now pay attention to you, you have value, or you have a good opportunity, you can develop better. That's not the most important thing for me, the most important thing is that I'm going to find the next thing I can put in 100% effort – regardless of what I hear and try it out for it.
Producer| Yang Ruichun Editorial Director | Zhao Hanmo Responsible Editor | Jinhe Operating | Liu Xixi Wang Xinyun
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