Han Yutong
Zhang Chutong
Qu Chunyu
On the evening of February 11, the Capital Gymnasium witnessed the fifth gold medal in the short track speed skating event of the Beijing Winter Olympics. Han Yutong, Qu Chunyu and Zhang Chutong, three Chinese women' generals, were unable to go any further and stop the short track speed skating women's 1000m 1/4 finals in the preliminaries.
In the history of the Chinese delegation's participation in the Winter Olympics, the short track speed skating team that contributed 12 gold medals is a well-deserved master, of which the short track speed skating women's team has occupied 10 of them (including the mixed team relay gold medal at the Beijing Winter Olympics). Although they did not win the gold medal this time, the three ice flowers with different personalities will continue to stick to it and wait for the next bloom.
Han Yutong:
Persevere and move forward quietly
In the Chinese short track speed skating women's team, the 27-year-old Han Yutong is already worthy of the title of "veteran" compared to his teammates. Since entering the national team at the age of 18, "quiet" has always been the "label" on Han Yutong's body, so she has also been given the nickname of "stuffy lion" by ice fans.
The initial reason for Han Yutong's association with ice knife was not her yearning for the professional arena, when she was a child, due to her poor physique, her parents let her exercise by practicing skating. "I was often sick as a child and my immune system seemed to be weak, and my family thought it would enhance my physical fitness. Later, as I grew older, I became more and more addicted to speed, and skating was fun for kids. Han Yutong once recalled his path to enlightenment.
Like all athletes, in the process of changing from hobby to professionalism, Han Yutong also paid a lot of sweat. When she was 6 years old, she often got up at 3 a.m. to finish skating and go to school. This rhythm of life Han Yutong insisted on for 5 years, and then, the Jilin girl knocked on the door of the national team at all levels step by step.
In the spring of 2012, 17-year-old Han Yutong officially entered the national team. In September of that year, she saw the power of "long guns and short guns". On September 20, 2012, the second qualifying competition of the National Short Track Speed Skating League was staged at the Heilongjiang Provincial Ice Base, and Wang Meng, who had been dormant for two years, officially returned, and Han Yutong was in the same group as her in the preliminary round.
Compared with the "big sister" who talks freely, Han Yutong has maintained the habit of "cherishing words like gold" since then. As the head coach of the Chinese short track speed skating team Li Yan was once optimistic about the young player, Han Yutong made the reporter feel helpless in the first end of the interview, and many years later, even if she has become an ice star, she is reluctant to express too much off the field.
The silence off the field is in stark contrast to the passion on the field. On December 13, 2014, the 2014-2015 ISU Short Track Speed Skating World Cup Shanghai began its second day of competition. In the women's 1500m Group A final, Han Yutong won his first World Cup gold medal in the women's 1500m final, winning his first World Cup gold medal while also winning the reputation of "anti-Korean towel". After the Sochi Winter Olympics, Han Yutong's growth accelerated. After missing out on medals at the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, the veteran's motivation was further stimulated. The 1000m preliminaries were Han Yutong's "debut", and in the competition with the Dutch star Suzanne Shulting, Han Yutong was quite tenacious, and finally advanced to the second place in the group with a slight gap of 0.2 seconds, and his personal performance was second only to Schulting, who set an Olympic record among all the athletes.
In the women's 1,000 meters of the Beijing Winter Olympics, although she did not qualify for the final, Han Yutong has shown all her energy. Time has passed, and she is no longer the young girl of yesterday, but because of the pure heart of the ice, she will continue to be quiet and persistent.
Qu Chunyu:
Spring weathering rain can still be expected
Before the single competition began, Qu Chunyu had already broken into people's sight. In the previous mixed relay competition, Qu Chunyu's impact was the key to the Chinese team winning the first gold medal at the Beijing Winter Olympics, and in the quarter-finals and finals, she continuously staged a good play of surpassing. After returning home from the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, the 25-year-old is looking forward to harvesting more in Beijing...
On the road to growth, Qu Chunyu can be called an absolute "gifted girl". "Chunyu was more lively and active among girls when she was a child, and since she started elementary school, she participated in school sports meetings every year, and sprints often took the first place." Qu Chunyu's mother, Yu Shuyan, recalled.
At the age of 8, Qu Chunyu entered heihe sports school, and five years later, she entered the heilongjiang provincial team. At that time, Qu Chunyu was only 13 years old, and she saw that she was about to reach the "threshold" of the national team, but the bottleneck period was unexpected, and she had the idea of giving up when she was young. In the end, with the encouragement of his mother, Qu Chunyu chose to persevere and became an official member of the national team in 2016.
Good explosiveness and good at short- and medium-distance projects are the advantages of Qu Chunyu. Four years ago in Pyeongchang, in the first Winter Olympics in her career, this feature of her opponents suffered a lot, in the women's 500 meters preliminary round, Qu Chunyu successfully qualified as the first in the group, and successfully eliminated the main opponent of the Chinese team, south Korea's famous Shen Shixi, who played at home. However, the experience after that was a joke with the then 22-year-old, in the 500 meters, 1000 meters and 3000 meters relay finals, Qu Chunyu suffered a series of convictions for fouls, and finally passed by the podium.
"After coming back from PyeongChang, we can feel the pressure on her." Yu Shuyan recalled.
Fortunately, Qu Chunyu has a "big heart". After packing up her mood, she embarked on the journey again. In mid-January, Qu Chunyu won the first place in the total points in the third leg of the Winter Olympic Selection Tournament and successfully won the ticket for the Beijing Winter Olympics.
Beijing's experience dispelled previous regrets, and on the first day of the Winter Olympics, Qu Chunyu won a late gold medal. When he was 7 years old, Qu Chunyu, who walked on the ice, had two wishes: one was to tie the ice knife himself, and the other was to be able to stand on the ice rink steadily. Today, she has stood firmly on the ice of the World Series, and today's success and regret will eventually become the foreshadowing of tomorrow's spring wind and rain.
Zhang Chutong:
After 00 wins in the future
For friends who don't know about the Chinese short track speed skating team, Zhang Chutong is a slightly unfamiliar name. Indeed, the girl born in 2003 is not yet 20 years old this year, and has officially entered the national team for less than 4 years, which is an absolute "small character" in the national team.
Zhang Chutong's mother was a track and field athlete, and when Zhang Chutong was 9 years old, she decided to let her daughter learn short track speed skating, which added another star of hope to the ice of Jilin City.
Jing Hongjun, the coach of the youth amateur sports school in Changyi District, Jilin City, is the "Bole" on the road of Zhang Chutong's growth. After discovering Zhang Chutong's good sense of ice and speed, Jing Hongjun poured a lot of energy into Zhang Chutong, and after winning a number of provincial and municipal championships, Zhang Chutong was sent to Jilin Provincial Sports School for training.
In 2018, 15-year-old Zhang Chutong successfully entered the national team with excellent results in a series of selection competitions. In the elite leagues that followed, her performances also won the recognition of her teammates and coaches. At the 2019 China Cup Elite League Commendation Conference, Zhang Chutong was named the best rookie by Li Yan.
Youth is Zhang Chutong's advantage, but at the same time, in order to make up for the disadvantage in experience, she also needs more real skills. Zhang Chutong's hard work is one of the best in the team, and she often practices alone after others leave, and her comprehensive ability is constantly improved.
"I can find my shortcomings in every game, then train hard, and when I play again, I find that I have improved a little bit, and I am still satisfied." Although he is not very old, Zhang Chutong always has a clear understanding of his own competition and training. And this "sobriety in the world" was also evaluated by Li Yan as "rare".
The Beijing Winter Olympics was the first Winter Olympics in the life of 19-year-old Zhang Chutong. At the age of 19, Yang Yang had not yet entered the national team, and Wang Meng entered the final of the 500 meters in his first world championship, but unfortunately accidentally fell down when he started. From this perspective, Zhang Chutong has gained too much, as long as he maintains his current hard work and concentration. The star of hope for China's short track speed skating is destined to shine even brighter in the future.