"Olympics for everyone": The Olympic spirit is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people in China

Beijing, 10 Feb (Xinhua) -- Title: "The Olympics for Everyone": The Olympic spirit is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people in China

Xinhua News Agency reporters Yang Xiaojing, Meng Jia, and Li Yunlu

No curling pot with a frying pan, no mop on the ice brush, the whole family comes together... Curling, ice hockey and other sports that were originally unfamiliar to the Chinese people have now been widely known and accepted. Various "folk masters" have also creatively put kitchen utensils on the ice surface, and opened the "folk sub-venue" of the Winter Olympic Games to feel the Olympic atmosphere and experience the fun of ice and snow.

The 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics are coming as scheduled, and the enthusiasm for ice and snow in Chinese has long been ignited. From the "enthusiasts" who personally participate in ice and snow sports, to the "Winter Olympic fans" who watch the events in front of the screen, to the volunteers who selflessly dedicate themselves to the service of the Winter Olympics, Chinese are enjoying this ice and snow feast in different ways, interpreting the modern Olympic spirit that focuses on participation.

The same frequency as the Olympic Games: "Ice and Snow for All" is just in time

In winter, China's snow capital Yabuli, the blue sky is like a wash, white snow. Wang Cheng, wearing a professional ski suit, stepped on a snowboard, and slid down from the mountainside, with a light posture and smooth movements, which attracted many "snow friends" to admire him one after another.

Wang Cheng, who is in his prime, is a regular visitor to yabuli's major snow resorts, and this winter, he has been "stationed" in the snow fields for dozens of days as usual. "In the past, I thought the winter in Heilongjiang was long, but now I just think it's too short." Elderly ski "enthusiasts" like Wang Cheng are not uncommon in China today.

Since Beijing's bid to host the Winter Olympics, the number of participants in Ice and Snow Sports in China has reached 346 million. From the elderly to the children with hanging hair, nearly a quarter of the Chinese enjoy the fun brought by the ice and snow.

IOC President Bach recently said in his speech at the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics that China's extraordinary achievements in promoting ice and snow sports will bring global winter sports participation to a new level and benefit Chinese and global winter sports enthusiasts.

Wang Cheng, who has been "snowing" for nearly 30 years, is a witness to this achievement. In the 1990s, when skiing was still a very small number of Chinese sports, he became one of the first amateurs in China to be exposed to this ice and snow sport.

The Chinese delegation had only 41 members when it first went to the Winter Olympics 42 years ago, and only 30 years ago achieved a breakthrough of zero medals in the Winter Olympics. In this Winter Olympic Games, the Chinese delegation sent 177 athletes to participate in the competition for more than 95% of all 109 minor events, forming the largest and most complete Chinese Winter Olympic Team in history.

Looking back on the development of ice and snow sports in China over the past few decades, especially the great leap forward after Beijing's successful bid to host the Winter Olympics, Wang Cheng sighed with emotion, "Ski resorts have gradually increased, and accommodation, transportation and other supporting facilities have become more perfect. "More and more Chinese fall in love with ice and snow sports, and in recent years they have met many 'snow friends' through skiing." ”

In China, ice and snow sports have broken through the restrictions of climatic conditions and "blossomed everywhere" in the north and south of the river. Relying on the TusS Ice Sports Center in Tengchong, a small town in southwest China, Yunnan Province also formed a short-track speed skating team composed of young players aged 12 to 17 in 2020.

"I never dreamed of getting involved with ice and snow sports!" Dao Jiyun, a 15-year-old female team member, whose home is in Dehong Mangshi, Yunnan Province, has never seen snow since childhood. In 2018, she started from the roller skating team "Rotation Ice" and began to contact ice and snow sports.

Coach Anqi said that when he first came to Tengchong, some locals did not know that there was an ice rink, and with the promotion of ice and snow sports, especially inspired by the Winter Olympics, more and more people came to experience the fun of "flying on ice".

Serving the Winter Olympics: Feel the Olympic spirit with a smile and dedication

"The temperature inside the venue was very low, and when I handed warm water to the audience and heard them say thank you, I felt that my work was very meaningful." Su Yongjun, a graduate student at Tsinghua University Law School in Taiwan, is a Volunteer for the Winter Olympics.

After layers of selection and systematic training, he and tens of thousands of other volunteers used his professional and meticulous service and professionalism to make the ice and snow sports event more warm and orderly.

The success of the Winter Olympics is inseparable from the participation and support of the Chinese people. At present, about 20,000 Volunteers and more than 40,000 City Volunteers are participating in volunteer services for the Beijing Winter Olympics.

It is reported that this year's Beijing Winter Olympics, even with the pressure of epidemic prevention and control, there are still more than 1 million people who have submitted applications for volunteer registration for the Winter Olympics, among which there are many veritable "double Olympic volunteers", and Yu Zhongqi, a doctoral student from Tsinghua University, is one of them.

In Yu Zhongqi's view, there is a big difference between the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics and the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. "The concept of 'Beijing welcomes you' advocated at that time was to let the world know us better. Today's slogan of 'going to the future together' means that we participate in the trend of the world and run together to a better future. ”

From the opening ceremony of the pacesetter volunteers waving and shouting "Welcome to China", to the bright "Tianji Blue" inside and outside the competition area, the young volunteers interpreted the volunteer spirit of "dedication, fraternity, mutual assistance and progress" and the more united Olympic spirit with smiles and enthusiasm, showing the era style of a civilized and inclusive China and an ancient nation.

Marek Skovronski, a Polish bobsleigh coach who has experienced five Winter Olympics, described his Beijing Winter Olympics experience as "unparalleled". "I would like to pay tribute to all the Chinese, especially the Olympic volunteers. Thank you for their help, for their kindness, and for the smiles on their faces. ”

Enjoy the Olympics: Participation is more important than winning

"At the Winter Olympics, I'm not trying to beat others, I'm trying to break my boundaries." Chinese athlete Gu Ailing said after winning the gold medal in the freestyle ski jump at the Winter Olympics on the 8th. On the same day, along with the "Gu Ailing Gold Medal" and "Gu Ailing world's highest difficulty" on Weibo hot search, there was also "Gu Ailing kneeling to comfort the wrong silver medal players", this heart-warming scene received countless praise from Chinese netizens.

"The mutual stimulation, respect and empathy between the top masters is the spirit of sportsmanship." Netizens commented.

As The father of the modern Olympic Games, Coubertin, said, "The most important thing about the Olympic Games is not victory, but participation." In top sports events such as the Winter Olympics, medals are important, but the Chinese people are also paying more and more attention to the positive energy conveyed by the competition, while waving the flag for their own players, they also do not hesitate to cheer for other countries.

In the men's short track speed skating competition on the 9th, when the Chinese player Ren Ziwei did not win the medal, netizens cheered him up one after another, "everything is good on the field"; when South Korea's Huang Daxian won the crown, Chinese netizens also actively praised, "Whoever wins is an Olympic hero".

"Jump out of the 'gold medal theory' to watch the game, we will get a different kind of wonderful." Many event enthusiasts said, "This is the charm of the Olympics. The spirit of the contestants beyond themselves is more admirable than winning a medal! ”

For the Chinese people, the charm of the Olympic Games is not only in the competition itself. Former Winter Olympic champion Wang Meng's "commentary talk show" became popular, bringing more light joy to the tense and exciting sports events; the winter Olympic mascot "ice pier" dominated the screen, netizens directly called "one household and one pier" to enhance the participation of the Winter Olympics; for the "genius girl" Gu Ailing, compared to the identity of the Olympic champion, what people are more happy about is her talent path and family education...

Coubertin's Olympic dream is becoming a reality in China. He originally advocated the modern Olympic Games, starting from the purpose of education, using competitive sports to promote sports, and then incorporating sports into general education, and then integrating general education into human culture and life.

With the preparation and holding of the Beijing Winter Olympic Games, more and more cities in China have incorporated ice and snow projects into the teaching content of primary and secondary school education, and carried out ice and snow sports through physical education courses and comprehensive practical activity courses to promote students to ice rinks and snow fields.

According to the latest "National Fitness Plan", China's development goal by 2025 is that the public service system for national fitness will be more perfect, the people's physical fitness will be more convenient, the enthusiasm for fitness will be further improved, the number of participants in various sports projects will continue to increase, and the proportion of people who regularly participate in physical exercise will reach 38.5%. (Contributors: Zhou Wenqi, Huang Yang, Wang Junbao, Zhang Zhang)