Sun Jingyan, director of the China Reportage Literature Society and a national first-class writer, has interviewed more than 200 people at home and abroad in the past five years, and in the newly published book "China Winter Olympics", he records the arduous process of the Chinese Winter Olympics in a panoramic way and shows the fighting spirit of ice and snow athletes with deep feeling.
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Chess on ice
At the Shanghai World Expo, the Finnish Pavilion resembled a white curling, with a scaly façade and cool pools of water with pebbles of various shapes. The exterior walls of the Finnish Pavilion seem to be made of many ice cubes, giving people a refreshing feeling. The core area of the pavilion consists of a miniature city center and a curling forum, and this was the first time I saw the architecture inspired by curling, and four words popped into my mind: Ice Clear Jade. The story I want to tell is closely related to these four words.
On July 7, 1984, a baby girl fell to the ground in Harbin. Looking at her daughter's pink smiling face, the mother gave her daughter a nice name: Wang Bingyu. The baby girl's father was a national hockey team player and later an ice hockey coach, and these ice hockey athletes were full of feelings for ice and snow sports, so they named their children with an ice word.
After his father retired from the national ice hockey team, he went to Harbin Sports School as an ice hockey coach, he did not deliberately train his daughter to be an athlete, but Wang Bingyu had good sports genes and served as a sports commissioner in elementary school.
Fate especially favored the children of Ice City, when she was 7 years old, her father bought skates for his daughter and took Xiaoice Yu to skate on the ice, but she did not think that she did not fight ice at all, and learned to skate on the same day without a buttress wall. When she graduated from junior high school at the age of 15, just when the Harbin Sports School opened a curling major, her father said: "Ice Jade, anyway, you are fine at home, come to our school to practice curling." ”
In 1995, Japanese and Canadian coaches came to Harbin Sports School to teach curling skills, Wang Bingyu experienced on the ice, and immediately fell in love with curling, she felt that the sound of pot collision was natural. Enlightenment coach Zhang Wei looked at her curling figure and exclaimed: "This child has good flexibility! ”
She triumphantly said to her classmates: "I am practicing a sport called curling, and almost no one knows, especially cattle!" ”
Burn youth for your favorite project
In fact, the young Wang Bingyu did not know that curling originated in Scotland, which was an entertainment activity of the nobles in the winter, had a history of a hundred years in Europe and the United States, and became a dominant project in Europe. Curling is known as "chess on ice", a combination of movement and static, focusing on skill, and players on both sides are fighting wits on the field, which is a sport full of wisdom.
Curling is a team sport in which two teams of 4 compete on a rectangular piece of ice. Curling is nicknamed "Roaring Game" because a 44-pound (19.96 kg) granite curling rumbles as it glides on ice.
Curling, also known as ice skating, is a sport of push-and-throwing competition played on ice in teams, one of the oldest team sports in the world, originating in Scotland in the 16th century, where people play curling on frozen ponds and lakes in winter.
The earliest known curling stone comes from the Stirling and Perth regions of Scotland, dating back to 1511. The stone pot is made of mica-free Scottish natural granite and weighs no more than 19.96 kg. In addition to the origin of raw materials, the world's top curling techniques are also mastered by the Scots.
In the middle of the 16th century, curling competitions were born. With the help of Canadians, the rules and methods of curling competitions have gradually come to perfection. By the 17th century, curling with handles began to appear. In the 20th century, the sport ushered in a series of major advances, including the standardization of stone, the improvement of sliding conveying, and the use of indoor frozen ice making equipment.
Wang Bingyu decided to practice curling, but the female members of the family all objected, and her grandmother, mother, and aunt took turns to persuade her: "Bingyu, your study is not bad, why do you have to turn to sports?" ”
She replied stubbornly, "I like curling and I want to curl." ”
She went to high school, took classes during the day, and ran to the stadium at night to train. At that time, harbin only the eighth district stadium in Daowai District had two pieces of ice to train, the ice rink was very sought-after, the skates of figure skaters made the ice rink full of holes, in order to get on the ice, curlers were the latest time to go there every day, training at 8 pm, sometimes it was the turn of 2 am to 5 o'clock in the morning.
When I first started practicing curling, China did not have a special venue, only in an ice hockey rink and many other projects together with the use of the field, the base camp on the field, the front throwing line, the T-shaped line have to be painted by the curlers themselves, at the beginning of the painting of a field takes a day, and then the more you draw better, you are about to become an ice maker, and now it takes only three or four hours to complete.
It was really a difficult training process, the training team did not care about food and accommodation, transportation expenses, every day is the middle of the night on the ice, the training ground has no seats, curlers always stand there or bend down to train. A curling game for at least two hours, the right hand holds the pot, the center of gravity is on the left foot, the curling action should be low, the knee often hits the ground, first bumping into cyan, then purple, then black, and finally yellow, every training is an ordeal. She gritted her teeth and persevered, and hit fourth base and became the main force on the court. She began to curl strongly against her mother, but her obsessive love of curling finally caused her to change her attitude.
In 1999, China's first women's curling team was formed in Harbin, there were only 8 female team members, no professional equipment, they put on plastic bags, later bought sneakers and then bought plastic boards to stick their own shoes. The ice rink was tense, giving them the worst freezing points. It was the sleepiest time of the day, I really didn't want to get out of bed, the girls were so sleepy that they didn't want to talk, they simply washed their bags, carried a brush and braved the cold wind to go to the ice.
In July 2000, the first national curling competition was held in Harbin, the Harbin team won the championship, Wang Bingyu is the youngest athlete in the country, only 16 years old, in this year, she officially began to engage in curling.
In 2003, the 10th National Winter Games was held in Harbin, she played curling on behalf of the Mudanjiang team, and her mother advised her not to be under pressure, to let go, and to maintain a good attitude. With the encouragement of her parents, she persevered. In the same year, the national curling training team was born, she represented China in the pan-Pacific curling competition selection, did not choose, Coach Tan Dongwei gave her encouragement: "It's okay, I believe you can!" ”
Coach Tan regrouped the 8 girls in Harbin, the other teammates' physical fitness and feelings for ice are quite good, Zhou Yan and Liu Yin are older than Wang Bingyu, but the coach trusts Wang Bingyu, let her play fourth base, and gives her the opportunity to exercise. Curling sports require balanced upper and lower limbs, strong flexibility, good coordination, long standing time during the game, athletes holding a brush to sweep the ice, hands are very tired, Wang Bingyu does not live up to expectations, accurate throwing, communication ability, strong comprehension ability, for the curling slippery astringency and arc, angle in mind, dare to meet the challenge, and teammates to cooperate tacit understanding.
In 2004, in the world championship qualifiers, the fourth base of the New Zealand and Japanese women's teams was very strong, which impressed Wang Bingyu.
In September 2004, the Chinese women's curling national team bravely went out for the first time to learn from Canada. First in Vancouver Richmond Gymnasium to find a foreign teacher guidance, a full 5 weeks of training, each person per day living expenses of 10 Canadian dollars, at that time in Canada a french fries for two Canadian dollars, a hamburger for 4 Canadian dollars, a small pizza for 8 Canadian dollars, in order to save money, they had to eat bread in the morning, lunch, and cook their own meals in the evening. Some cut vegetables, some stir-fry, some make soup, some brush bowls, and the division of labor is clear.
The Chinese curling team has sent teams to participate in the competition abroad since 2002, and has never entered such a high-level competition as the World Championships, and this preparation is related to the survival of the Chinese curling team, Wang Bingyu and Zhou Yan, Liu Yin, Yue Qingshuang and other teammates decided to fight backwater. However, they played together in the amateur curling club and found that they could not even win the Curling Team at the Level of The Canadian Mother, and their mood was particularly depressed.
Curling in Canada is so widespread that there are 1.5 million registered curling members in a country of 30 million people, curling rinks everywhere, and tactics are taught in the form of clubs. Outstanding athletes often participate in the World Tour, accumulate tactics, familiarize themselves with chess games, and enhance their actual combat experience. In a foreign country, Wang Bingyu and his teammates still train seriously no matter where they are, and they are not ashamed to ask the Canadian coach as a teacher, immerse themselves in curling techniques and tactics, and study how to deal with the women's curling teams in New Zealand, Japan and South Korea.
In November 2004, when the maple leaves were red, the Pan Pacific Curling Championship was held in Chuncheon, South Korea, and the Chinese women's curling team finished second and qualified for the world championships the following year. In the curling competition of the Asian women's strong team, the Chinese team won the Korean team, the Korean team won the Japanese team, and the Japanese team won the Chinese team. When experts considered the three Asian powerhouses, they found that the Chinese women's curling team was at the top.
In March 2005, the Curling World Championships were held in Scotland, and the chinese women's curler who made her debut was lucky enough to meet with the New Zealand team in a group and win easily; while the Japanese team and the Korean team met, the two tigers ran out of strength, and after a fierce fight, the Japanese team won. Then, the Chinese women's curler and curling powerhouse Canadian women's team clashed, the score of 11:1 was humiliating, and finally ranked 7th in the world, missing the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy.
Boy, do you want to stand up?
The training in Canada has broadened the horizons of the girls of the Chinese women's curling team, improved their skills, exercised their physique, and increased their practical experience in the competition.
In 2007, Wang Bingyu reached the peak of her life competition, without injuries, and this year held the Pan Pacific Curling Championship in Tokyo, Japan, and the Chinese women's curling team won the women's curling championship.
In 2008, at the World Championships, the Canadian women's curling team won the championship and the Chinese women's curling team won the second place. From the seventh place in the world to the second place in the world, it took only 3 years.
In 2009, the Winter Universiade was held in Harbin, China, and the Chinese women's curling team won the women's curling championship.
In March 2009, the Curling World Championships were held in Pyeongchang, South Korea, and Wang Bingyu led the Chinese women's curling team to compete. The coach looked at the podium and asked, "Boy, do you want to stand up?" ”
The female team member said in unison, "Think! ”
The Chinese women's curling team fought tenaciously and achieved 7 total victories; the Canadian women's team also won 7 games, the two teams met in the Gangneung Curling Hall, the Canadian women's team did not believe that the Chinese girls in front of them could beat themselves, they repeatedly played the 2005 Canadian women's curling team 11:1 victory over the Chinese women's curling team video, playing the heart battle card. Wang Bingyu and her teammates were not discouraged, tenacious and hardworking, and sent a "stunning shot" at the last moment, defeating the experienced Swedish team in the final to win the championship, allowing the Chinese women's curling to successfully reach the top of the World Championships, achieving a major breakthrough in China's ice and snow projects, and the Chinese girl finally stood on the world podium.
At the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, Wang Bingyu led the team to participate in the Winter Olympics for the first time, and unfortunately lost to sweden in the semifinals, Wang Bingyu kept crying, and even doubted whether he could continue to play the "fourth base". The Swedish women's team was strong that year, and it was well deserved to win the women's curling championship. In the bronze medal battle, the Chinese women's curling team defeated Switzerland and won the third place, this precious bronze medal is the best result achieved by the Chinese curling team at the Winter Olympics so far. According to media reports: "It is a miracle that the Chinese women's curling team has won the third place in the world in a short period of time! ”
Ice is an extremely cold thing, and people's joints are most afraid of ice. Curling requires athletes to kneel on the ice on one leg, and long-term kneeling ice has seriously damaged Wang Bingyu's knee. At the 2011 World Championships, Wang Bingyu's left leg and knee were in excruciating pain, and she took two stitches at her left knee to close, leading the Chinese women's curling team to stubbornly meet the battle and win the third place.
The comeback is because there is a dream in the heart
In 2013, the 29-year-old Wang Bingyu temporarily left the arena and entered the palace of marriage. In April 2015, when she was 31 years old, she gave birth to her daughter Xiao Orange, and her teammate Zhou Yan also gave birth to a son in the same year, they fought on the ice rink for so many years, the best youth was dedicated to curling, now, really should enjoy life, experience the joy of being a mother. She began to teach her daughter and do some curling promotion work.
However, the country needs them, the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang is coming, and the Chinese women's curling team needs them!
In January 2016, Li Dongyan, the leader of the Chinese women's curling team, summoned them to return to the team to prepare for the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. Wang Bingyu's heart is very contradictory, on the one hand is the 8-month-old daughter waiting to be fed, on the other hand is the beloved curling career, after a fierce ideological struggle, she resolutely chose the latter, weaned the child, returned to the fourth base, served as the captain and assistant coach of the Chinese women's curling team, and participated in the curling field of the 13th Winter Games held in Xinjiang in 2016. On the day she left home, her daughter looked at her with well-behaved eyes, and she held her daughter reluctantly, tears flowing down her cheeks. The mother said to her, "Ice Jade, you can train with confidence, child, I will help you see." ”
The sensitive daughter seemed to have a premonition of something, and her small hand clutched the hem of her mother's clothes tightly, unwilling to let go for a long time. She tucked her daughter into her mother's arms and rushed out of the house with tears in her eyes as she cried. At the 13th National Winter Games, although Wang Bingyu was only a substitute member of the Harbin Curling Team, her appearance attracted the attention of many media.
Her wish for a comeback is to do her best to get tickets to the PyeongChang Winter Olympics. I haven't trained for a long time, I gained weight after pregnancy and childbirth, and when I first arrived at the training gym, she touched the horizontal bar with her arms, but she couldn't do pull-ups. Since the summer of 2017, she humbly worshiped foreign coaches as teachers, carried out more than 4 hours of physical training every day, insisted on running, lifting dumbbells, doing pull-ups, and 3 months later, when she grabbed the horizontal bar, she easily made a standard pull-up. After getting off the horizontal bar, she and Zhou Yan hugged and cried, and only they could understand how difficult it was for her mother athletes to re-emerge from the mountain. The youngest of the Chinese women's curling team, Wang Rui, Yang Ying and Ma Jingyi, are only 234 years old, and Wang Bingyu tells everyone about his experience in the game and life without reservation, helping his young teammates grow up quickly. After 6 months of running-in, the combination of Wang Bingyu, Zhou Yan, Ma Jingyi and Liu Jinli stood out and fought hard to usher in the admission ticket to the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.
From the 7th place at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics to the fifth place at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics; from the 11th place in the 2018 World Championships to the fifth place in the Winter Olympics, every step taken by the Chinese women's curling team is very difficult, Wang Bingyu has been engaged in competitive sports for 18 years, curling has taught her a lot, but she has never given up two words in her dictionary!
On November 21, 2017, after the recommendation of the Chinese Olympic Committee and the Chinese Paralympic Committee, the Organizing Committee decided that Wang Bingyu and others were members of the Athletes Committee of the Beijing Winter Olympics Organizing Committee.
Let curling shine
Wang Bingyu has participated in the 3 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Sochi and Pyeongchang, and this time as the organizer of the Beijing Winter Olympics, she deeply realizes how happy it is to be an athlete, you don't need to care about the venue, operation, transportation, diet, clothing, equipment, because there are countless people serving you. You just need to know the game and focus on the game. All the efforts are presented by the competition of the Winter Olympic Games, she seems to be a parent, there are too many things to worry about, several curling teams need to eat during the Winter Olympic Games, what time to eat, what to eat, how many fruits, nuts, energy bars are put in the training hall, she has to communicate with the logistics support department of the Winter Olympic Organizing Committee; how to send athletes to the venue as soon as possible during the game, how to go to the scene as soon as possible after the game, she has to coordinate with the people of the Transportation Department of the Winter Olympic Organizing Committee to arrange a car; curling competition needs to put a few chairs in the venue room, A few mirrors, she had to consult with the people of the Planning and Construction Department of the Winter Olympic Organizing Committee; how many wheelchairs should be prepared for curlers at the Winter Paralympic Games, and she had to discuss with the people of the Winter Paralympic Committee...
2022 Winter Olympics, she to provide good service for the teachers and sisters, curling Winter Olympics competition is 4 tracks, the level of women's curling in the world today has been significantly improved, Canada, Sweden, Switzerland, Scotland women's curling team are strong teams. In foreign countries, there are many people who play curling together as a family, brothers and sisters in a team, and she thinks of Canada's female curling gold medalist Jones, who is both an opponent and a friend, and does not know if she can participate in the Beijing Winter Olympics.
She has a stubborn personality and dares to accept challenges, paying special attention to the selection of talents in ice sports. I hope that more and more people will participate in it and cultivate more talents for the country through their own efforts.
She said to me with deep feelings: "I used to think about playing like this for the rest of my life, thinking about how I stood in the 2022 Winter Olympics, fantasizing about what I would look like when I was 40 years old, and thinking that when I participated in the senior group competition, I might still meet the current group of opponents." I have a relationship with curling, I have changed positions, I still love curling, and I am still willing to fight for curling until the last moment. ”
Wang Bingyu and her husband Wang Guanshi fell in love with curling, he is a curling enthusiast, is a doctor of microelectronics, doing curling tactics, technical research work, providing scientific and technological services for the national team. He develops statistical systems that provide data analysis for professional athletes. Wang Bingyu has a lot of guilt for the family for the curling career, she can only see the child once every two months on average, and whenever she sees her daughter crying and shouting "Mom, you hurry up and go home" in the video, she will shed tears. She coaxed her daughter over and over again: "Little Orange, Mom loves you too, Mom will come home soon!" ”
In order to prepare for the Beijing Winter Olympics, she once again broke her promise, she will fight for the motherland! Her husband deeply understands her and once wrote a song for her, singing about Wang Bingyu's life: "The body runs like a machine, and happiness inspiration is found in boredom." Every drop of sweat shed for my dreams evaporates into my bravery. I am not afraid of loneliness, but I also long for the company of the person I love, and I also understand that sometimes persistence is a kind of commitment; I am not afraid of failure, even if the long road is always long, I will be brave! Even if it is destined to be a pity..."
The 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, she is looking forward to.
China Winter Olympics
By Sun Jingyan
Published by the People's Literature Publishing House
Author: Sun Jingyan
Editor: Jiang Chuting