In January 2012, the first Winter Youth Olympics were held in Innsbruck, and 18-year-old Chinese athlete Cheng Fangming successfully won the men's biathlon 7.5 km event. Since then, the three words "Cheng Fangming" have been written into the history of China's snow projects, which has also become the glory he will remember for a lifetime.
2022 is 10 years since the moment when history was made. For more than 10 years, he honed himself through training and competition, and once retired from the army to pursue other careers. After Beijing successfully bid for the 2022 Winter Olympics, he decided to return to the field for the sake of national honor.
"Winning glory for the country is my lifelong dream." With this firm belief, Cheng Fangming stood on the stage of the Beijing Winter Olympics. In the biathlon men's 10 km individual sprint race on February 12, Cheng Fangming and teammates Yan Xingyuan, Zhu Xiaoyu and Zhang Chunyu represented the Chinese team, ranking 32nd with a time of 25:53.3.
The Holly Olympics: the most precious memories of youth
Ten years ago, in the small western city of Innsbruck in Austria, under the gaze of the world audience, Chinese youngster Cheng Fangming excitedly jumped onto the podium and presented a rich gift to his 18-year-old self. It was also the first Winter Youth Olympic gold medal in the mainland biathlon event.
Before that, Cheng Fangming had just participated in the 12th National Winter Games held in Jilin and won his first national winter games medal.
The seamless connection between the two competitions, physical exhaustion is unquestionable, under such conditions to be able to win the gold medal, Cheng Fangming showed his strong potential. When he finally crossed the finish line, he was so tired that he lay directly on the ground: "At that time, I wanted to rush to the front and try my best to race, I really didn't expect to get the first place." ”
Talking about the reasons for the success, he felt that the atmosphere of the World Series infected him: "When I met young friends from all over the world, everyone lived in the athletes' village, the athletes of the same project lived together, almost every day, they could meet slowly, they got acquainted, they greeted each other when they met, it was very kind, this feeling was unprecedented before." ”
In addition, Cheng Fangming's mentality is also crucial: "There is no pressure to participate in such a competition, because I am participating for the first time, mainly long-term insight. All along, biathlon is the strength of the Nordic countries, China's biathlon foundation is relatively weak, participation in international competitions, the accumulation of competition experience is one of the ways for athletes to improve their competitive strength.
The highest honors, the tired body, the intimate atmosphere... This is the first impression of the 18-year-old Cheng Fangming on the Winter Youth Olympics, and Cheng Fangming feels that it is the most precious youth memory in his life and a new starting point for his life.
Returning to the field, the goal is the Beijing Winter Olympics
On August 16, 2014, Cheng Fangming watched the opening ceremony of the second Summer Youth Olympic Games held in Nanjing in front of the TV set. In contrast, he felt that the opening ceremony held in China was more shocking, "Our opening ceremony is more grand and grand, the opening ceremony in Austria is very simple, only songs and dancing, 2 hours to end."
At that time, he still had a thought in his heart: "If China's bid to host the Winter Olympics is successful, it can also host an excellent Winter Olympics." He hopes he can stand on the stage of the Winter Olympics.
Biathlon is a great test of athletes' physical strength and endurance, requiring athletes to have cross-country skiing ability and a high level of shooting ability. Compared with European athletes who have received special training since childhood, the project foundation and training level of Chinese athletes are lacking.
After winning the Winter Youth Olympic Championship in 2012, Cheng Fangming improved his strength through training and competition, but the process of persistence was difficult, and he also wavered, left, and retired to engage in other professions. Until Beijing successfully bid for the 2022 Winter Olympics, Cheng Fangming decided to come back: "The Winter Olympics will be held in my own country, I still want to try it, break through myself, and win glory for the country." ”
Compared with the women's event, the results of the biathlon men's event in the mainland are even weaker. The last time four men and four women qualified for the Winter Olympics was at the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France, and in the seven Winter Olympics in the 30 years since then, China has only had a maximum of one person in the men's event.
"My goal is the Beijing Winter Olympics!" After the return, Cheng Fangming hopes to create the best result of Chinese men's biathlon athletes at the Beijing Winter Olympics.
Standing on the stage of the Winter Olympics, he is still the teenager
It is worth mentioning that in 2019, the Chinese team invited the Norwegian famous Bjør Darren, known as the "King of Biathlon", to coach, and his wife, Domlacheva, the leader of the Belarusian biathlon, also came to China to become the coach of the Chinese biathlon team.
Bjorddalen is well aware of the gap between the Chinese team and the world powers, and he teaches the team members to "practice smartly, practice hard, and learn to use their brains" to maximize the potential of the team members. At the same time as the guidance of famous generals, Cheng Fangming also did not relax: training under the conditions of minus 20 ° C, gliding for an average of 3-4 hours a day, gliding 30 kilometers; shooting training for more than 2 hours a day, shooting more than 200 rounds...
Under the guidance of the coach and his own efforts, Cheng Fangming has significantly improved his endurance on skiing, in the stability of shooting, and in the details of cross-country and shooting connections, and the overall level of the Chinese biathlon team is also constantly improving.
In the Men's 10 km sprint race of the Czech Republic in March 2020, Cheng Fangming won the 16th place in the shooting session, thus being shortlisted for the collective departure list, creating the best Chinese men's World Cup result in this event in 15 years.
In the 2021-2022 season, through the grinding of the 6 World Cups, the performance of the Chinese men's biathlon team was remarkable, which was affirmed by Bjordalen: "The World Cup game can better understand its own level, know what difficulties to overcome, and now what to do is to maintain the best state and fight for a place in the competition." Cheng Fangming himself also feels very deeply: "We have a gap with the world level in shooting and sliding, and every World Cup game can temper the mentality, and the technology can be greatly improved." ”
The real wish came on January 24, 2022, when Cheng Fangming officially qualified for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. At the same time, after more than 30 years, the Chinese biathlon team once again won 4 men, 4 women and 8 Winter Olympic seats.
Before the 2nd winter biathlon men's 10 km individual sprint race on February 12, Cheng Fangming had already participated in the mixed relay 4×6 km (women + men) and the men's 20 km individual race at the Winter Olympics, and he was very happy to play with his teammates. Cheng Fangming said, "In the past two years, we have made great progress and have great hope for the future. ”
Standing on the stage of the Winter Olympics, he has succeeded. Whether it is ten years, twenty years or more years, he will always be the 18-year-old teenager who once won the glory of the country with all his heart.
Written by Li Li
Editor/Li Xu Liang Lina
Visual/Wang Ye Liu Liang