Young players are eye-catching, "weak" projects are stronger, and China's snow sports are no longer alone

[Global Times reporter Chen Chenxi] On February 9, Chongli was sunny and windless. The snow sports of the Beijing Winter Olympics held here also seem to be uneventful. As everyone knows, the seemingly ordinary competition day shows the enterprising and efforts of China's ice and snow sports - for the first time in the Nordic biathlon of the Winter Olympics, Zhao Jiawen single-handedly challenged this extremely difficult Winter Olympics project; China's first snowboard U-shaped venue skill project full participation, 4 men and women each team members in the track flying and flipping. From Gu Ailing and Su Yiming winning gold and silver in snow sports, to a number of snow project blanks filled by Chinese athletes, through the hosting of the Beijing Winter Olympics, to promote the leapfrog development of ice and snow sports in the mainland, the situation of "ice strong and weak snow" is expected to change.

"Ice is strong and snow is weak" has changed

Before Gu Ailing won the gold medal in the freestyle ski women's big jump on the 8th, China's last gold medal in snow sports dates back 16 years, when Han Xiaopeng made a splash in the freestyle ski aerial skills event at the Turin Winter Olympics. Before the Beijing Winter Olympics, Chinese athletes won a total of 13 Winter Olympic gold medals, the only one from the snow sports.

In fact, when the Winter Olympics are set up, there are far more snow events than ice events. Of the 109 gold medals at the Beijing Winter Olympics, 76 were in the snow event. If Chinese sports want to reverse the imbalance of "strong summer and weak winter", it must start from changing the status quo of "strong ice and weak snow". Fortunately, the snow sports have already shown a vibrant impact at the Beijing Winter Olympics. Gu Ailing and Su Yiming, the two "post-00s" players, not only carry the banner of their respective projects, but also show their confidence and calmness in the competition and the courage to break through, which indicates the infinite possibilities of the future of the project.

China's weakest events, such as cross-country skiing, alpine skiing and ski jumping, are taking advantage of the Winter Olympics to rapidly improve their strength. Through the help of science and technology, cross-border cross-sports talent selection and other ways to expand the participation area and the number of participants, cross-country skiing and alpine skiing to achieve full participation, ski jumping for the first time to achieve male and female athletes at the same time.

There are still highlights to look forward to

The drama is far from over. On February 13, Gu Ailing will play in the freestyle slope obstacle course qualifier, after which she also has the task of U-shaped track skills; Su Yiming will switch to the men's snowboarding platform on the 11th, compared to the slope obstacles, he is more comfortable in this event.

In the slope obstacle course, Gu Ailing's main competitor is Hildaru in Estonia. Two years ago at the Lausanne WinterGreen Olympics, Gu Ailing won gold medals in both U-shaped pitch skills and big jump events, and the only silver medal was lost to Hildaru in slope obstacle course skills. In the U-shaped venue skills event, Canada's 29-year-old Kathy Sharp is the PyeongChang Winter Olympic champion and will also be Gu Ailing's strong opponent in this event.

In addition, in the Freestyle SkiIng Aerial Skills Project of China's traditional advantage project, the Chinese team will attack in an all-round way with a strong lineup. Sochi Winter Olympics women's silver medalist Xu Mengtao, Pyeongchang Winter Olympics women's bronze medalist Kong Fanyu, Pyeongchang Winter Olympics men's runner-up Jia Zongyang, and "the world's first difficulty" Qi Guangpu are all highly competitive. On February 10, the air skill mixed team competition that entered the Winter Olympics for the first time will determine the champion, and the Chinese team with balanced male and female strength is worth looking forward to.

Xu Mengtao's biggest opponent is the defending champion, Belarusian Huskova, and Australia's Peel is also quite powerful. In the men's category, The Chinese athletes have to challenge the powerful Russian athlete Maxim, who has never left the champions behind in the four World Cups this season and is considered the biggest favorite to win the men's freestyle skiing aerial skills event.

The Olympic legacy fuels development

The first-class venue will provide strong support for the development of snow projects in China. On the 9th, the Beijing Winter Olympics men's freestyle ski jumping event decided the champion, and the Shougang Ski Jump, which is quite an "industrial-style" arena, once again attracted the attention of the world. It is also the world's first permanent big jumping venue.

Today, Chongli, the core area of Zhangjiakou Racing Area, has built seven ski resorts, with a total of 169 ski slopes with a total length of 162 kilometers, of which 10 advanced ski slopes have passed international certification.

The snow players who participated in the Winter Olympics are a valuable asset. Ni Huizhong, director of the Winter Sports Management Center of the State General Administration of Sports, told the Global Times reporter, "These athletes are the 'tinder', they will become the basic force for provinces, autonomous regions and cities to participate in the National Games, become future coaches, managers, and drive more people to participate in ice and snow sports." ”