According to the Beijing News, on the evening of February 11, in the men's steel frame snowmobile competition at the Beijing Winter Olympics, Chinese athlete Yan Wengang won the bronze medal with a time of 4 minutes 01.77 seconds, which was the first medal won by the Chinese team in the steel frame snowmobile event. Netizens watching the live broadcast exclaimed that "it is already a legend to get this medal" and "it is really too burning", and regarded it as the most breakthrough medal of the Chinese team so far in the Winter Olympics, showing the joy and respect for the Chinese team's creation and breakthrough history.
The Chinese steel frame snowmobile national team, which was only formed in 2015, is rapidly becoming a competitive team in the world through zero breakthroughs.
At the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, Chinese athletes stood on the steel frame snowmobile track of the Winter Olympics for the first time, and Geng Wenqiang won the 13th place. Four years at a time, from 13th to 3rd place, the Chinese steel frame snow team rushed to a new height with the best result at the Winter Olympics. Some Chinese people have not even fully figured out what a steel frame snowmobile is, and they are shocked by the excellent performance of Chinese steel frame snowmobile athletes.
Behind this, for the Chinese steel frame snowmobile team, this "zero breakthrough" is too difficult!
Without the spirit of the strong "Desperate Sanlang", such a breakthrough would not have been possible. In the day's competition, Yan Wengang made up his mind to "skate out in the 4th round" after the 3rd round of the competition, and finally slid out of the best time of 1 minute 00 seconds and 15 seconds, which won the medal. Such a performance is reminiscent of the Chinese women's football team that broke out in adversity and successively reversed Japan and South Korea to win the Asian Cup, with a full 22 steel nails on his left leg to injure Jia Zongyang, who fought with his teammates for a silver medal at the Winter Olympics.
The steel frame snowmobile master strives to fight for milliseconds, of course, wonderful. But this means, first of all, extremely high competitive difficulty, and also a very high risk factor.
The steel frame snowmobile is a project belonging to the brave, which itself is synonymous with "extreme" and "fear". It can be said that the steel frame snowmobile race is compared to the will of the strong.
Steel-framed bobsleighs are also known as go-to sleds, and athletes need to lean over the sled and slide at high speed in a prone position. The power of the sled ride comes from the thrust and gravity of the athlete, who relies on body movement to control the direction. This is reminiscent of "fast and furious" projects like playground slides and roller coasters.
Yan Wengang's glide on The Haituo Mountain in Yanqing made history. Photo: Xinhua News Agency
However, it should be noted that the lack of more protective blessings, relying only on the "steel frame snowmobile system" that simply combines "flesh" and sleds, is obviously more challenging than many people imagine. The average gliding speed of steel frame snowmobilers can reach 130 km / h, which is far better than that of roller coasters, but there is no "brake" system, which is enough to make ordinary people feel "terrible". Moreover, the steel frame snowmobile athlete is sliding head-on-front all the way, which is a test of human psychological defense.
The "steel frame snowmobile" race, which sounds romantic but is actually thrilling, was actually listed as a Winter Olympic event as early as 1928, but since then it has been disqualified from the Winter Olympics twice due to too thrilling excitement, and it was not returned to the Winter Olympics until 2002. This is also enough to illustrate the high risk factor of this project.
The steel frame snowmobile on the mainland started very late, which can be said to be nearly a hundred years later than in Germany. "Finding a sense of presence" in the "sphere of influence" of European strong teams is comparable to "flat ground and tall buildings". Lacking the sporting tradition in this field, and being so pronounced in the post-starting position, the hope of catching up can only be tied to training and hard work in competition.
Yan Wengang (right) and teammate Yin Zheng after the match. Photo: Xinhua News Agency
Yan Wengang, who has never even sat on the playground roller coaster, was "pushed down" by the coach from the track halfway up the mountain in Calgary, Canada. The whole body hit the bruises the next day to continue training, the swelling and bruising on the body throughout the winter can not go down, former long jumper Yan Wengang "gritted his teeth to survive" the first winter, is the collective portrayal of the hard training of Chinese steel frame snowmobile athletes, they through hundreds of times of gliding training, relying on "hard work" to overcome difficulties and fears.
In recent years, the Chinese team has repeatedly achieved good results in various events of steel frame snowmobiles. In the 2021-2022 season, the Chinese steel frame bobsleigh training team won a total of 8 European Championships, 2 Intercontinental Cups and 1 World Cup. Behind the rapid progress, it is full of "overtaking in curves" and "lying down to taste courage".
"Breakthrough of zero" is the most dazzling component of the Olympic spirit and sportsmanship. The "breakthrough of zero" continuously achieved by China's steel frame snowmobile project reflects the exploration spirit of Chinese without fear of hardships and bravely climbing the peak. The foundation laid by the "Yan Wengangs" and the "stronger" space expanded, calling for more people to face the difficulties. It is foreseeable that China's steel frame snowmobile project will make greater breakthroughs and emit brighter light in the world sports world.
Special Commentator | Wu Lichuan (media person)
Edit | Li Xiaoxiao
Proofreading | Liu Jun