▲ On February 1, Ning Zhongyan made a victory gesture while training at the National Speed Skating Hall Photo/Xinhua News Agency
Excellent cornering technology, excellent speed, unprecedented record, netizens gave Ning Zhongyan a title - "full moon curved knife". He once wrote after a competition, "The halfway point is always the most crowded, you have to go to the top of the mountain to see." ”
This article was first published in Southern People Weekly
Text / Southern People Weekly reporter Han Ruxue
Photo / Courtesy of Xinhua News Agency in addition to the signature
Editor / Xu Mei Chen Yafeng
Ning Zhongyan is a sports star that has attracted much attention. Previously, on the evening of February 8, ning Zhongyan won the 7th place in the men's 1500 meters of speed skating, which was the best place for Chinese athletes in the Winter Olympics, and the time of 1 minute 45.28 seconds increased the chinese team's historical record of the Winter Olympics by 2.67 seconds.
It was a game that kept pushing the limits. Thomas Kroll had just broken the 20-year Olympic record, which his teammate Big Brother Ness had since broken.
In this situation, Ning Zhongyan appeared, although seventh, still created the best result in the history of the Chinese Winter Olympics in this event.
▲ February 8, Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics speed skating men's 1500 meters final, Ning Zhongyan in the competition Photo / Visual China
In recent years, Chinese speed skating has made continuous progress in the men's 1500 meters of this middle distance event, this Winter Olympics, in addition to Ning Zhongyan, Lian Ziwen, Wang Haotian also won the qualification, the Chinese team became one of the 6 full participation teams in the speed skating project of the Beijing Winter Olympics. At the PyeongChang Winter Olympics four years ago, the mainland failed to qualify for the event. In the history of the Winter Olympics, the mainland's best result in the event was Liu Gongfei's 18th place in 1992.
Before the game, Ning Zhongyan was regarded by industry insiders as a seed player who attacked the medal. Under the halo, it is the long-term persistence of Ning Zhongyan, who was once the sparring partner of Olympic champion Zhang Hong, and now he finally stands on the field and attacks the championship medal.
Ning Zhongyan, born in 1999 in Mudanjiang, Heilongjiang Province, began practicing skating at the age of 11, was selected for the Chinese speed skating team at the age of 19, and has gradually emerged in international competitions since then.
Before being selected for the national team, he experienced a long wait and honing. In January 2016, the 13th National Winter Games Speed Skating Senior Group Men's 5000 Meters Competition was the only event that Ning Zhongyan qualified for at his first Winter Games. At that time, due to the restrictions of age and format, he could not participate in the youth group competition when he just turned 16, and could only compete in the adult group with a small play. At that time, Ning Zhongyan was still a long-distance runner, and finally only won the 19th place.
Stick with it or give up? Ning Zhongyan had not yet found his way.
He once summed up his sports career with the word "bumpy" in an interview, "The most difficult time was when I practiced for five or six years, my results were not very satisfactory, and I also thought about giving up." ”
The turning point came from the discovery of coach Wang Xiuli. Wang Xiuli is China's first women's speed skating world champion, and in that season in 2017, the Chinese team hired her to return to China to coach. At that time, Wang Xiuli had already brought out the Olympic champion of the Canadian team, and after returning to China, she keenly discovered the potential of Ning Zhongyan. That summer, Ning Zhongyan was recruited into the group by Wang Xiuli and began a long-term Canadian foreign training.
Wang Xiuli gave a new training idea, guiding Ning Zhongyan to transfer from a long distance to a more suitable middle distance for him. The effect was immediate, and Ning Zhongyan's performance improved steadily since that season.
▲ On January 30, Ning Zhongyan (right) talked with coaches Wang Xiuli (middle) and An Weijiang during training
In 2018, Ning Zhongyan was selected for the national team. When he first arrived at the national team, Ning Zhongyan was a sparring partner for Winter Olympic champion Zhang Hong. Zhang Hong is the women's 1000m speed skating champion at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, which is also the first gold in the history of China's speed skating.
"The boy's speed will be faster", the scene of sparring makes Ning Zhongyan remember it vividly, "but Zhang Hong is particularly tenacious", the scene of catching up makes him deeply encouraged, "tenacity" is a word he uses the most when talking about his sports career, and it is also a true portrayal of the long journey.
That year, Ning Zhongyan sent his first Weibo, "Wise Choice," with the picture of him riding the ice rink in a black training suit.
After finding the direction, he set his mind, and the era belonging to Ning Zhongyan quickly began. In November 2019, Ning Zhongyan won the men's 1000m runner-up of the speed skating World Cup in Minsk, Belarus, making a breakthrough in the event for Chinese speed skating. Previously, Chinese players had never won a medal in the World Series in this event.
Ning Zhongyan reached the world podium for the first time. For a 20-year-old who has just played in the World Cup for two seasons, it all came so suddenly. In the post-match interview, Ning Zhongyan said many times that he was surprised, but he was not carried away by the victory, he recorded on Weibo, "From the moment the podium came down, everything returned to zero, and he continued to move forward and strive to do a good job." ”
In December of the same year, Ning Zhongyan won the men's 1500m championship at the Speed Skating World Cup in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, and broke the field record, which was the first gold medal of a Chinese male speed skater in the World Cup event.
Unlike short-track speed skating, which has tactics and can play team cooperation, speed skating is a pure racing sport, and the players do not interfere with each other, which is faster than a word. The Netherlands is recognized as a speed skating powerhouse, and in that race, along with Ning Zhongyan was Dutch star Ness, who won the men's 1500m at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics and was the world record holder in the event. Ning Zhongyan withstood the pressure in the arena and finally overtook the line and won the gold medal.
At this time, it has been exactly 56 years since the last time a Chinese male athlete won the world championship in the middle and long distance event of speed skating. The last moment of glory, born at the 1963 Speed Skating World Championships, Won the gold medal in the men's 1500m, becoming the continent's first winter sports world champion.
Luo Zhihuan, who was 80 years old at the time, could not hide his excitement after watching Ning Zhongyan's game video, "This breakthrough is not only related to his excellent speed and endurance, but also the key to victory in cornering technology." ”
Excellent cornering technology, excellent speed, unprecedented record, netizens gave Ning Zhongyan a title - "full moon curved knife".
Affected by the epidemic and the reduction of events in recent years, Ning Zhongyan has trained steadily, played fully in limited competitions, and constantly surpassed himself.
In February 2020, at the Speed Skating World Cup in Calgary, Canada, Ning Zhongyan finished second in the men's 1500 meters with a time of 1:43.262, creating a personal best in the event. He wrote in Norway, "The halfway point is always the most crowded, you have to go to the top of the mountain to see." ”
In December 2021, at the Speed Skating World Cup in Canada, Ning Zhongyan won the men's 1000m A group championship in 1:06.656, and set a new personal best and national record. Compared with the main 1500 meters, the sub-event 1000 meters did not have an absolute advantage, but finally won. This result not only allowed him to win the gold, but also set a new personal best and national record. After winning the gold medal, Ning Zhongyan secured the qualification for the men's 1000 meters at the Beijing Winter Olympics.
▲ On January 29, Chinese team members Ning Zhongyan, Lian Ziwen, Xu Fu and Wang Haotian (from right to left) prepared for the Beijing Winter Olympic Games Photo/Xinhua News Agency
On the afternoon of February 15, the Chinese team will compete with Italy for the seventh place in the final of the men's team pursuit of speed skating, which is also the first time that the Chinese team has participated in this sub-event in the history of the Winter Olympics. At 16:30 on February 18, the final of the speed skating 1000 meters of the Winter Olympics, Ning Zhongyan will continue to attack the medals.
After a long accumulation in the past, at this time ushered in the opportunity to bloom, Ning Zhongyan once again stood on the ice rink, which was his own track.
Reference: CCTV "People in the Olympic Year"