The Paper's reporter Chen Jun, Hu Jie, intern Fan Xinyu
Cai Xuetong (left) and Liu Jiayu. Infographic
Among the Chinese Winter Olympic delegation full of "post-00s", there are two "veterans" who have participated in the Winter Olympics for the fourth time. They still control the veneers and fly through the infinite sky.
Cai Xuetong, 29, and Liu Jiayu, 30, have been working together since the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics – in the Beijing Winter Olympics snowboarding U-shaped track skills on the morning of February 10, Cai Xuetong won fourth place, Liu Jiayu won eighth, and American legend Chloe Jin defended the gold medal.
Liu Jiayu also said after the game that there will be surprises and regrets in this Winter Olympics, but it is still successful. "My physical condition will not affect my efforts for the next Winter Olympic cycle, because I really have a special love for skiing."
Cai Xuetong in the game.
Cai Xuetong and Liu Jiayu have been fighting together since the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics – snowboarding U-shaped track skills at the Beijing Winter Olympics on the morning of February 10, and at the snow field in Chongli, Gu Ailing also came to the scene to cheer for the Chinese athletes.
Pursue a highest level of sports
In the qualifiers, Cai Xuetong's first slide was very successful, and in the case of promotion without worry, she tried a new move in the second skate, but unfortunately did not succeed.
After the game, she said: "I would love to do this, unfortunately... I definitely have to go to the difficulty of the final, otherwise 4 years of hard work will be wasted. ”
A few simple words, behind the Cai Xuetong's determination and persistence. Since participating in the Vancouver Winter Olympics in 2010, Cai Xuetong has experienced three Olympic Games, and although her results have continued to improve, she has never touched the podium, and she herself admits, "The first three times have more or less made me feel unsatisfactory." ”
"[Qualifying leader and defending champion] Chloe King doesn't put pressure on me, she's skating well and pushing the project forward, and I'm in a challenger position."
Regardless of the final outcome, such a Cai Xuetong deserves respect – looking back on her career, every step she has taken in the past has been a continuous breakthrough in the sport.
Born in 1993, Cai Xuetong is China's first generation of snowboard U-shaped track players, who was attracted to the project by amateur sports schools as early as the age of 10. In the documentary "Top of the Ice", she once recorded her childhood dreams:
At that time, when her mother was cleaning Cai Xuetong's desk, she found a piece of mud cake with a crooked and oblique engraving on the front - Cai Xuetong's goal: to pursue a highest state of sports.
What is the highest state of sport? Cai Xuetong as a child may not be very clear, but she has been living up to her promise.
Snowboarding U-shaped track project is an extreme sport, the field is about 6 meters high, coupled with the height of the flight, the feeling of falling is described by Cai Xuetong as "jumping off the building", injuries are a common thing.
However, Cai Xuetong has never been afraid, "It is normal to be injured, we are playing the limit, where is there no injury when playing the limit?" And our project is like playing, and we don't feel that it is too hard. ”
Cai Xuetong.
Fly freely like a bird
At the age of 17, Cai Xuetong participated in the Vancouver Winter Olympics, and she was the youngest of all the players - the first time she saw such a big scene, Cai Xuetong did not play well, and won the 23rd place with 19.3 points, missing the final.
At the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, Cai Xuetong made a comeback and greatly improved his performance, ranking third with 84.25 points in the first round of the competition, but made a mistake in the second round of the competition and finally won the sixth place. At the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, she advanced her ranking by one place and finished fifth.
Continuous setbacks did not beat Cai Xuetong's self-confidence, on the contrary, she threw herself into the training and competition of the Beijing Winter Olympic cycle with more full emotions, and in the 2021-2022 season, in all three races of the World Cup snowboard U-shaped track competition, Cai Xuetong won a gold and a silver, and lifted the World Cup championship for the seventh time, and her state gradually improved.
In the qualifying round for the Beijing Winter Olympics, Cai Xuetong also proved his competitiveness, trailing only defending champions Korean American Chloe Kim and Japan's Mitsuki Ono, and only 0.5 points less points than second place Mitsuki Ono in terms of points.
With the holding of the Beijing Winter Olympics, as "300 million people on the ice and snow" becomes a reality, China's ice and snow sports are driving into the fast lane, Cai Xuetong also believes that he can drive more Chinese young people to fall in love with ice and snow sports.
"I feel like a bird flying freely during the glide and jump, it's my choice, no regrets, and I hope more young people will join us."
Liu Jiayu compared his heart to the camera.
I like it and I want to continue
The smile is the expression that most often appears on Liu Jiayu's face.
Even if you are the "Elder of the Four Dynasties" of the Winter Olympics, it is difficult for you to see any "heaviness" in her, more of a focus and love.
Liu Jiayu, who grew up with the history of snowboarding in China, is both a pioneer and a leader.
This 11-year-old "kung fu girl" who accidentally hit and began to contact snowboarding is the first medal winner of the Chinese delegation at the last Winter Olympics, and since she was exposed to snowboarding in 2003, she has supported her to the present, which has nothing to do with medals, has nothing to do with honor, and is more of a word of love.
Liu Jiayu also did the same.
On the 9th, in the snowboard women's U-shaped track skill qualifier, Liu Jiayu accidentally fell down in the first set of actions, and when interviewed, she smiled and said: "I also want to ask myself, what happened in the first round." The initial movements were quite good, I did feel quite surprised by the fall, and my coach was also quite unexpected. ”
For Liu Jiayu, who won the silver medal at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, the qualifying mistakes will also surprise her, but the mistakes in the first round did not affect her mood at all, and in the second round, she ranked seventh with 72.25 points and successfully advanced to the final round.
The result of the seventh place promotion is not high for Liu Jiayu, but you still can't see the slightest frustration on her face, but she spits at the camera.
As early as four years ago in Pyeongchang, she made the same grimace, and chatted with reporters after the game, "Am I skating handsome?" ”
From Liu Jiayu, you can hardly see the "heaviness" of a "four-dynasty elder", who always smiles and giggles when interviewed, makes a grimace in front of the camera, and posts photos of the head of the pill on social media - these details make it difficult to associate her with "veteran", "responsibility" or "pressure".
But this is precisely Liu Jiayu's life - "snowboarding has its own culture, and this sport is not only for the championship, but also for the audience to appreciate the passion." ”
"My current mentality towards veneer comes from my decision that year, 'I like it and I want to continue'.
Ahead of the Beijing Winter Olympics, Liu Jiayu also posted a video on social media. In the video, she completes the D-crippler (two-week flip of the forehand blade of the front foot). This action has only been completed by two female snowboarders in history, and Liu Jiayu is the third and the first in China.
"Make the impossible possible." This is the copywriting when the video was first released, and after the video brushed the snow circle, Liu Jiayu re-edited the text, and when she posted it to Weibo, she added this note: "Make everything impossible possible, as long as you believe in yourself!" ”
Liu Jiayu at the Beijing Winter Olympics.
Love can last for years
For an Olympic "elder of the four dynasties", all efforts can be summarized as persistence.
"Injuries are good for me. Every day as long as I can maintain my normal training, I am already satisfied. Liu Jiayu said that those injuries are only an understatement, "because after all, there are more injuries and illnesses, so it requires a lot of human resources, including the logistics of the staff, as well as rehabilitation and recovery." Without that, I wouldn't have been able to guarantee normal training the next day. ”
During the Vancouver Winter Olympics cycle, Liu Jiayu was accidentally injured and did not train for three months. Wait until you can resume training, only 15 days before the Winter Olympics.
In the end, Liu Yujia won the fourth place in the women's snowboard U-shaped field, completing the Olympic breakthrough. But many people don't know, a month later she appeared at peking university third hospital, underwent shoulder glyphal muscle surgery, and four and a half hours later, Liu Yujia "nailed two nails in her left shoulder and then sutured the damaged muscle." ”
During the Sochi Winter Olympic cycle, she still bothered her left shoulder and underwent two major surgeries to go to Sochi, but this time she only finished ninth in the Winter Olympics.
But nothing stopped Liu Jiayu from moving forward, after winning a silver medal in Pyeongchang, Liu Jiayu chose to stick to it, "I feel that as an old member of the snowboard team, I have the obligation to inherit and lead the new young players together, and also hope to explore their own limits and strive for better results on their own Olympic venues." ”
Behind the pursuit of honor is the persistence of withstanding long years.
Source: The Paper