On the evening of the 12th, on the ice surface of the Capital Gymnasium, Wang Shiyue / Liu Xinyu scored 73.41 points with a set of songs full of retro rock style, ranking first among the 11 players who have already appeared, and successfully advanced to the second stage of the ice dance free dance competition.
From the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics Ice Dance Rhythm Dance ranked 22nd, stopped in the first round, to now successfully qualify. In the past four years, Wang Shiyue /Liu Xinyu has used their efforts to continuously improve their level, and what is the secret of this?
We are not reconciled!
Women's singles, men's singles, pairs, Chinese figure skating has trained the world's top athletes in three events, even including world champions and Olympic champions. Only the ice dance project has never entered the ranks of the world's high level.
Before the Beijing Winter Olympics, China's ice dance record at the Winter Olympics was 19th in the Vancouver Winter Olympics. At the last PyeongChang Winter Olympics, Wang Shiyue/Liu Xinyu scored only 57.81 points in the rhythm dance, and finally ranked 22nd, without the opportunity to dance freely.
After the game, Wang Shiyue burst into tears in an interview: "I don't know why, we are very frustrated after every game. We've done what's in the rules, and we don't understand why the prosody dance scores always go up. After each game, we carefully watched the video and studied it, doing thousands of exercises on the same action, hoping to get the approval of the referee. This time we really did our best to fight, did not enter the free dance, we are very unhappy! ”
Indeed, it is not willing.
"We will walk step by step to the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and strive to achieve good results at the doorstep!" Four years ago, Liu Xinyu said so.
Overcoming the height difference is the first step
Unwillingly, not knowing where your problem really is, then go and look for the answer. So, after the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, Wang Shiyue/Liu Xinyu went to Canada to study at the Montreal International Skating School.
All along, Wang Shiyue / Liu Xinyu has faced a problem, that is, the height difference between the two is more than 20 centimeters. So adjusting the way they skated became the first thing coach Patrice Lauzon did.
Laozong adopted a strategy that was completely opposite to everyone's cognition: "In fact, we adjusted more on Wang Shiyue, so that she did not blindly squat, but thought more about 'stretching' and 'getting up' on 'flexion and stretching'. After adjusting the gliding method, Wang Shiyue/Liu Xinyu overcame the problems caused by the height difference, and many of the problems caused by height were also solved.
"The height gap may be a disadvantage for them, but we can avoid the natural height gap becoming a barrier to programming and technical output in different ways, so that we can invest more energy in playing to their strengths." Lauzon said.
Every time they talk about this experience, Wang Shiyue/Liu Xinyu is full of emotions: "At the beginning of the season, we always wrestled, both knees fell as big as eggs, and sometimes we couldn't get up on the ice. But after a few months, it has improved a lot. ”
It's your turn to improve your performance
With a solution to the technical problem, it's time for expression. Still at the Montreal International Skating School, Marie-Frans Dibreuil, who is good at choreography, is constantly helping Wang Shiyue/Liu Xinyu discover the style that suits them.
"They have to really like the music and the concept of the show, otherwise the show won't be able to attract the audience." It is precisely because the contestants have found music and programs that attract them, when nearly twenty groups of contestants come up with the final product, the audience will feel that each show is different and refreshing, because each group of contestants shows their own style. "Wang Shiyue/Liu Xinyu have speed, full of energy and energy, and these characteristics are also reflected in the current choreography, and their rhythm dance is a rather characterful comedy performance, reflecting their strengths." ”
And that experience also made Wang Shiyue/Liu Xinyu have more insights: "Every action has its purpose and meaning, choreography or step practice is not a simple splicing of a single action, each action must conform to the role, music, or the necessary transition from the previous to the next." ”
In this way, after four years of hard work, Wang Shiyue/Liu Xinyu finally broke through on the ice of the Beijing Winter Olympics. At this moment, Wang Shiyue said: "I hope that one day the two of us can also become the same predecessors as Teacher Shen Xue and Teacher Zhao Hongbo, and open up a path for future generations." ”