Cai Xuetong set the best result in the history of the Winter Olympics in Hebei

Cai Xuetong was the best result in the history of the Winter Olympics in Hebei Province

Missed a medal, still wonderful

On February 10, the Beijing Winter Olympics Women's U-Shaped Track Skills Final was held at Genting Ski Park, and China's "Three Golden Flowers" Cai Xuetong, Liu Jiayu and Qiu Leng competed. After three rounds of competition, Cai Xuetong, an athlete jointly trained by Hebei and Heilongjiang, won the fourth place with a score of 81.25 points, creating the best record for Hebei so far in the Winter Olympics.

Missed a medal, still wonderful. From the 23rd place to the 6th place in the second winter Olympics, and then to the 5th place in the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics four years ago and the 4th place in the Beijing Winter Olympics, Cai Xuetong, the "elder of the four dynasties" of the Winter Olympics, has continuously achieved breakthroughs.

On February 10, Cai Xuetong was in the game. Xinhua News Agency reporter Xu Chang photographed

One step away from reversal

Regret but still enjoy the game

In this competition, although there are American famous players such as Chloe Kim and Japanese famous Mitsuki Ono on the side, the mainland players are also very strong: Cai Xuetong has won the annual championship of the women's U-shaped field skills of the Snowboard World Cup 7 times, Liu Jiayu, who also played four winter Olympics, is the runner-up winner of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, and Qiu Leng is also participating in the Winter Olympics for the second time...

According to the rules of the competition, after each athlete performs three rounds of action, the best result of one of the rounds is taken to determine the ranking.

In the first round of the competition, the mainland athlete Qiu Leng, who took the lead in the game, only scored 53.75 points, and Liu Jiayu also made a big mistake, only scoring 11.25 points, which made the pressure on the Chinese team focus on Cai Xuetong. And she lived up to expectations, played well, got a good score of 81.25 points, and temporarily ranked third.

In the next two rounds of the game, Cai Xuetong increased the difficulty and did a highly difficult 1080 action, but both made mistakes in completion and failed to get the ideal score. Spain veteran Castellet played well in the second round, scoring 90.25 points, surpassing Cai Xuetong.

In the end, Cai Xuetong finished fourth, Liu Jiayu ranked eighth, and Qiu Leng, who did not reach the final at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, finished twelfth.

After the game, Cai Xuetong once held his knees, sat alone in the snow, bowed his head and was silent for a while - only one step away from the medal, this year's 29-year-old veteran, regrets are still there.

"I was very happy with the process and enjoyed today's game." In an interview after the game, Cai Xuetong said.

In the four years of preparing for the Beijing Winter Olympics, she has paid a lot - "Every day of training, I am trying my best to grasp it, constantly trying new difficulties, allowing myself to enjoy the sport itself as much as possible, and giving myself a very big affirmation." ”

In this competition, her state is also good: "In fact, I feel very good in the state of sliding, but the final action is not successful, if successful, the result may be different." ”

Indeed, in the last two rounds of competition, Cai Xuetong has the hope of reversal, but may be "slightly worse luck".

"Originally, the third round should have been a back foot 900, but when I took off, I may not have enough patience, I was a little anxious, so I didn't give the upper force." Cai Xuetong reflected.

This bit of "luck" she lost, even Gu Ailing, who specially came to the sidelines to watch the game, regretted it. And that's the game.

Tapping into potential continues to be challenging

Try to touch your limits

The road ahead, how to go?

Liu Jiayu firmly said after the game: "I enjoy every moment of snowboarding, I will not retire, I will definitely continue to prepare for the next Winter Olympics." ”

Four years ago, after rubbing shoulders with the medal, Cai Xuetong was depressed for a while. It was the scene of American snowboarder Sean White's final jump at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics that touched her and helped her strengthen her confidence to continue to compete in the Beijing Winter Olympics.

At this Winter Olympics, Spain's veteran Castellet, who is 33 years old and has won a silver medal in the Winter Olympic Games, also touched Cai Xuetong: "She is my role model." So whenever I see her, I think I can too. ”

Therefore, Cai Xuetong said that on the one hand, if she can still tap her potential, she will continue to work hard for the Winter Olympics; on the other hand, I hope that everyone will pay more attention to the snowboarding U-shaped track skills project, and can see that she is still on the field through the competition.

"My goal is to push my limits, and that's what skiing has taught me. I just want to use my best potential and then challenge myself to the hardest moves to promote the sport. Cai Xuetong said.

At the same time, she did not forget to encourage her other teammate, Wu Shaotong, who missed the final due to mistakes in yesterday's preliminary round. "She's very strong and can get to the final. I feel sorry for her and hope that she will learn from the experience of this competition and carry this strength to the Milan Winter Olympics and touch her limits. ”

Qiu Leng also sent encouragement and blessings to Wu Shaotong in her own way: after completing the first round of the competition, she deliberately showed her hands to the camera, and the words "Lao Wu, come on" were written in the palms of her hands.

"This Winter Olympics will be held at the doorstep, and the guarantees in all aspects are particularly good, and if I don't do my best, I am afraid that I will regret it later." So as long as I'm in the final, I don't have to be conservative anymore. Qiu Leng said that after reaching the final, although the foreign teacher suggested that she only do one 900 and two 720 moves in the third round, she still insisted on challenging her limits, impacting 1080, following her heart, and had no regrets. (Hebei Daily reporter Zhao Ruixue)

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