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Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, 12 Feb (Xinhua) -- Title: Astonishment, Breakthrough, and Realization of Dreams -- A Half-Way Roundup of the Beijing Winter Olympics
Xinhua News Agency
34.32 seconds! Olympic record!
China's Gao Tingyu made history on the 12th. The gold medal in the men's 500 meters of speed skating is China's first gold medal in the speed skating event of the Winter Olympics and the fourth gold of the Chinese delegation at the Winter Olympics.
On February 12, China's Gao Tingyu greeted the audience with a "golden pier". Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Ding Xu
By the end of the 12th event, the Beijing Winter Olympics had decided a total of 58 gold medals, creating 2 world records and 13 Olympic records.
The Beijing Winter Olympics coincided with the Chinese Lunar New Year, and from pasting Spring Festival and eating dumplings to the "ice piers" that were burning all over the world, Chinese cultural elements collided with the Winter Olympics to create dazzling and brilliant colors. Halfway through the event, there was no cluster of epidemics in the closed loop of the Winter Olympics, and athletes, coaches and officials around the world praised the well-equipped facilities, well-organized events and the hospitality of the Chinese people. Inside and outside the arena, a wonderful moment is frozen here, and a moving scene is staged here.
Beijing, the first "City of Double Olympics" in history, opens its arms to the world and sends a call: Let's go to the future together!
Simple, safe and wonderful "City of Two Olympics" amazes the world
On February 4, Lichun, the opening of the Beijing Winter Olympic Games. A cluster of "Yingke Pine" fireworks bloomed above the Bird's Nest of the National Stadium, and 91 "small snowflakes" with the names of the participating delegations converged into a "big snowflake" and became the main torch platform of the Beijing Winter Olympics.
Fireworks display at the opening ceremony of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing on February 4. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Lu Ye
From the countdown to the 24 solar terms that frequently amaze foreign journalists, to the "ignition" concept that shows China's wisdom and environmental protection concept... A simple and wonderful opening ceremony opened the curtain on the Beijing Winter Olympics and also set the tone for this event.
"Simple, safe and wonderful", this is China's commitment to the world.
A big country is heavier than Taishan.
During the preparations for the Beijing Winter Olympics, IOC President Bach repeatedly made a "call" for Beijing, asking people to go to Beijing to see how Chinese friends have integrated the concept of sustainable development and the concept of thrifty Olympic Games into every detail of the Beijing Winter Olympic Games.
Alexander Hall, an American freestyle skier, was impressed by the Shougang Ski Jump: "Those 'crazy' chimneys behind them are cool! ”
The main torch at the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics (photo taken on February 4). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Yang Lei
This is one of the Scenes of the Winter Olympics that Bach wants the world to see. Fourteen years ago, taking advantage of the Beijing Olympic Games, the Shougang Group, which was founded in 1919, moved from here, leaving behind an industrial legacy. Today, the park's deactivated chimneys and cooling towers have become a wonderful backdrop for the athletes of the big jumping event to take off, and the world has seen the "Chinese creativity" through the broadcast screen. The Associated Press lamented in the report that a closed steel mill had sent winter Olympic athletes into the sky.
A total of 14 2008 Olympic venues were used for the Beijing Winter Olympics. Mary Sarois, Director of Branding and Sustainability at the International Olympic Committee, believes that this mode of venue utilization brings together the advantages of previous Olympic Games in terms of sustainability, and the new venues have also fully considered the needs of post-game utilization from the beginning, which provides a reference for future Olympic Games.
Samaranch Jr., chairman of the IOC's Beijing Winter Olympic Coordination Committee, sees the power of an "intangible legacy": just like the 2008 Olympics, the legacy of the Beijing Winter Olympics will affect generations of Chinese, "you can see that China is now a country of ice and snow sports, and this will further affect the whole country and society."
Today, China has achieved the goal of "bringing 300 million people to participate in ice and snow sports" ahead of schedule. In the north and south of the great river, inside and outside the Great Wall, the enthusiasm of the Chinese people to watch the Winter Olympic Games and participate in ice and snow sports is rising with the opening of the Winter Olympic Games. The "hot search" and "breaking point" of the Winter Olympics on social media are dizzying, and netizens have said: "The first time I found curling so interesting" "I also want to learn veneer, it's just so cool"...
Beijing Winter Olympics can not only be "fire" in China, Olympic Broadcasting Service Company (OBS) CEO Ianis Exacos said that according to relevant data, the Beijing Winter Olympics has become the highest-rated Winter Olympics so far, and on the digital platform of the National Broadcasting Corporation, the Beijing Winter Olympics has also become the highest-rated Winter Olympics. Exacos said with satisfaction that as of the 9th, there were 2 billion people following on social media worldwide.
The "fire" of the Winter Olympics can actually be seen from the mascot "Ice Pier". This panda wearing a layer of "ice shell" has become the new favorite of global netizens, athletes have expressed that they want a "golden pier" (award version), many foreign media reporters have also become the iron powder of the "ice pier", Japanese journalist Tsujioka Yoshido even made the news live broadcast into a "live broadcast with goods", and now the "ice pier" is "difficult to find" in the world.
On February 8, Gu Ailing, the champion of the freestyle ski women's big jumping competition and a Chinese athlete, presented the souvenir ceremony. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Ding Xu
High attention means high quality. "Ice Ribbon" continues to produce new records, and behind the "fastest ice" is the injection of high-tech content and the pursuit of high standards on the ice surface. When Leopold, a veteran German snowmobile coach who traveled north and south, saw the "Snow Dragon" of the Yanqing National Bobsleigh Center Circuit, he exclaimed that it was "extraordinary work" and "the ultimate level in snowmobiling". The Winter Olympics coincided with the Spring Festival, how to let global athletes feel the "New Year's taste" of the Chinese Spring Festival, the three major competition areas showed their magic, foreign athletes also followed the local customs, the American snowboarder Julia Marino became the "dumpling powder": "Since the Winter Olympics, I have eaten 200 dumplings. As soon as I came back from the mountains [training], I had to take a bite..."
Since the outbreak of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, sports competitions have faced a "safety" test. At present, the Olmikron strain is raging around the world, its infectivity is far more than ever, in order to allow athletes to compete safely, Beijing has created a sufficiently safe closed loop through an efficient and effective epidemic prevention mechanism. Halfway through the event, there was no cluster of outbreaks in the closed loop of the Winter Olympics. Exacos said: "For athletes, safe participation is of great significance. For now, this is an extremely safe Olympics. ”
The safe and resilient environment also makes athletes feel comfortable, and Dutch speed skater Kroll bluntly said: "If only one country can host the Winter Olympics (in the current situation), it must be China." We should be thankful that the Winter Olympics will be held here. In his view, the organizing committee has found a good balance between ensuring epidemic prevention safety and giving athletes a certain degree of freedom.
Breakthrough and realization of dreams This is "Olympic time"
The 17-year-old Su Yiming realized the dream he set up when he was 11 years old: "I want to represent China in the Winter Olympics, and then achieve good results to win glory for the country." On February 7, he stood on the podium for the men's slope slalom skills at the Beijing Winter Olympics.
On February 7, China's Su Yiming celebrated winning the silver medal after the men's slope steeplechase competition on snowboarding. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Xue Yubin
In the turbulent and changing period of the world under the superposition of the world's unprecedented changes in the past century and the new crown pneumonia epidemic, the Beijing Winter Olympics have built a stage for athletes around the world to show themselves, surpass themselves and realize their dreams, and declare the cohesion of sports to the people of the world.
In the beautiful "ice ribbon", history is being created every day. One world record, eight Olympic records, many of which have been sealed for 20 years. Here extraordinary athletes realize their dreams, and the Dutch athlete Irini Shaoten, who won the first gold medal in speed skating, said excitedly: "When I was a child, I had a big dream, that is, to win an Olympic gold medal. Today, I did. ”
Champion Holland's Irini Shaoten in the women's 3000m final in speed skating on February 5. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Wang Fei
The short track speed skating arena also produced a world record and five Olympic records. The Chinese short track speed skating team has lived up to the reputation of "the master of kings" and has won two gold medals since the beginning of the race, leading the crowd.
Night view of the National Speed Skating Hall (taken on October 28, 2021). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhang Chenlin
At the Beijing Winter Olympics, the Chinese delegation achieved 7 major events and 15 sub-events for the first time to participate in the "whole project", of which 35 minor events were the first time to stand on the stage of the Winter Olympics. In the competition that has ended, Chinese players won 4 gold, 3 silver and 1 bronze, as well as countless "firsts" and a series of "best results in history", allowing the world to see the style and efforts of Chinese players.
On February 6, Chinese players Fan Kexin, Ren Ziwei, Qu Chunyu, Wu Dajing and Zhang Yuting (from left to right) presented medals in the short track speed skating mixed team relay medal ceremony. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Yang Lei
Halfway through, the medal table on Germany, Norway, the United States, the Netherlands, Sweden and other veteran teams are still in the forefront, in the previous two Winter Olympics have won double-digit gold medals canada is currently only 1 gold, China has surpassed the previous two Winter Olympics, close to the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics 5 gold best record, is likely to create the best in history this year.
On February 8, Ren Ziwei, the champion of the men's 1000m short track speed skating competition and China's Ren Ziwei, was awarded the medal at the medal ceremony. Photo by Ju Huanzong, Xinhua News Agency
Sprinting, breakthrough, realizing dreams, at the Beijing Winter Olympics, the athletes under the five rings pushed the definition of "wonderful" to new heights again and again.
"Don't feel that the old days are guarded in the clouds, but you can win a battle and win meritorious service." A group of veterans proved that their swords are not old at the Beijing Winter Olympics. The 36-year-old Dutch speed skating veteran Worcester won his sixth gold medal and 12th medal in the Winter Olympics in his five-game Winter Olympics after the world record holder and Japan's Mifan Takagi was not optimistic. Worcester said after the game: "I hope more people believe that age is not a problem, as long as you have the ambition to win the championship, you can definitely do it!" ”
On February 8, The champion of the men's parallel giant slalom competition on snowboarding, Austria's Benjamin Carr, was awarded a medal at the ceremony. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhu Zheng
The veterans are getting stronger, and the young people are not too much to let go. 18-year-old Gu Ailing impressed the world. In the last jump of the big jump, she took out a super difficult action that she had never made before- a deflection rotation body of 1620 degrees, and launched an attack on the gold medal. With a near-perfect play, Gu Ailing reversed the championship. Of course, she surpassed France's Tess Ludder equally well, completing a 1620-degree difficult move in the first round of the deflection, and the score of the two was exactly the same. In the final of the freestyle ski women's big jump, they are a well-deserved "double on the snow".
After two consecutive runners-up, 23-year-old Japanese snowboarder Hirano Finally changed the color of his medal in Beijing and won the U-Shaped Track Skills Championship. Hirano is also a "double Olympic" athlete, and he competed in skateboarding at the Tokyo Olympics last year.
Japan's Fumiyuki Hirano competes in the men's U-shaped track skills qualifier for snowboarding on February 9. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Mou Yu
"Cross-item" is not an easy task, but the Czech girl Esther Ledečka has once again "double repaired" on a single and double board. Four years ago, she won both snowboard parallel slalom and alpine skiing super slalom at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, and this time in Beijing, she successfully defended her title in the snowboard event, and failed to stand on the podium in the super slalom competition. Also completing the "cross-event" was 33-year-old German Dennis Hermann, a bronze medalist in cross-country skiing at the Sochi Winter Olympics, who won the biathlon women's 15 km individual event in Beijing.
Even more legendary is the 46-year-old Brazilian Jacqueline Mouran, who has competed as an athlete in five Winter Olympics and three Summer Olympics, including the 2008 Beijing Olympics. It also made her the only athlete to participate in the Beijing Olympic Games and the Beijing Winter Olympics.
Jacqueline Morand competes in the women's 10 km (traditional technique) of cross-country skiing at the Beijing Winter Olympics on February 10. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Hu Huhu
Faster, higher, stronger – more united The Olympic spirit shines
On the evening of February 5, the "Ice Ribbon" ushered in the first Olympic record, but the focus of everyone's eyes was on the person who was the slowest in the field - and she was the original Olympic record holder of this project.
49 years old, the oldest female Winter Olympics in history; eight times, the most female athletes in history to participate in the Winter Olympics; in the past seven years, a total of 5 gold, 2 silver and 2 bronze - German Claudia Pechtenstein reached the speed skating women's 3000 meters finish line, raised her arms high to meet her own "first".
Germany's Claudia Peschstein after the women's 3,000m final in speed skating on Feb. 5. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Wu Wei
"I was smiling and sliding across the finish line." Claudia's voice trembled slightly, "I achieved my goal, this is my eighth Olympic Games." ”
"Faster, higher, stronger" is to climb to the champion, but also to challenge yourself again and again, which is the most moving part of the Olympic spirit.
41 years old has not yet won the first place, is this a failure? The Frenchman John Claret doesn't think so. On the podium for the first time in his life and hung a heavy silver medal, Claret felt that he was the happiest person: "Whether you are 20 or 41, it doesn't matter." This is an Olympic medal, which is already a very good memory. Of course, he actually took a "first": with this medal, he became the oldest alpine skiing medalist in the history of the Winter Olympics.
On February 7, the runner-up of the alpine skiing men's downhill event, France's John Claret, was awarded the medal at the ceremony. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Chen Bin
Gao Hongbo, a Chinese teenager who participated in the Winter Olympics for the first time, only did a simple slide in the men's U-shaped track skills qualification tournament for snowboarding, and did not even do an aerial turn. But this is not because of his lack of strength, but because he accidentally fractured his ankle during pre-game training, for the 21-year-old, "I came" to leave no regrets.
The field is the opponent, the field is the friend, the athletes understand the meaning of "more united" better than anyone.
For 17-year-old Su Yiming, the two Canadian players on the podium are his idols and heroes. On the field of competition, there is a special fight, and off the field is particularly sorry for each other. When some netizens questioned the referee's score, Su Yiming and his coach jointly spoke out, imploring the public to end the criticism.
When Tess made a mistake in the last jump and fell on the snow and cried bitterly, the champion Gu Ailing did not celebrate wantonly, and she and the bronze medalist Mathilde Grimau walked to Tess to comfort the French girl who had lost her father early last year. "We have a good relationship with each other, we ski together, do what we like together, and happen to be friends again, and the atmosphere is very good." Grimau said.
China's Gu Ailing (right) and Switzerland's Mathilde Greymould (left) comfort France's Tess Lud after the freestyle ski women's grand jump final on Feb. 8. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Xue Yuge
At the Beijing Winter Olympics, there were too many stories and emotions that had nothing to do with the gold medal and the podium.
24-year-old Irish bobsledgeist Elsa Desmond spent 15 years to become the first bobsleigh athlete in Irish history, single-handedly created the Irish Bobsleigh Association, and finally stood on the winter Olympics; Donovan Carrillo was the first figure skater in Mexico to participate in the Winter Olympics in 30 years, and created his best personal record in short programs, free skating and overall results; Chinese Taipei girl Li Weiyi climbed step by step to return to the flag gate she missed in order to finish the women's slalom competition in alpine skiing. This is because in her heart, "I can't just go back like this"...
On February 12, Lindsay Jacobelis of the United States competed. The U.S. team, made up of American Nick Baumgartner and Lindsay Jacobelis, won the snowboard sledge chase mixed team event. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Xu Chang
Sun Zeyu, a student at Tsinghua University, did not expect that his "Welcome to China" at the opening ceremony actually attracted a social media search. Under the relay search of netizens, American snowboarders Tessa Maude and Sun Zeyu became "netizens". The 18-year-old Maud took "Chinese's fraternity and hospitality to heart" in mind.
On February 8, Japan's Yusuke Yusuke competes in the men's singles short program of figure skating. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Ma Ning
In the next eight days, the athletes of the Winter Olympics will also work hard at the Beijing Winter Olympics. There are more legends that will be born, more history will be created, let us join hands to witness the Beijing Winter Olympics writing a new chapter of peace, friendship and progress, and playing the symphony of "together to the future". (Written by: Wang Hengzhi; Participating reporters: Lin Deren, Wang Chunyan, Yao Youming, Wu Lu, Liu Jinhui)