Two days ago at the women's steel frame bobsleigh race
Have you seen such a strange flag?
The player with a smile on his face
It was actually the last place in that game
......
The athlete, Katie Tanenbaum, is from the U.S. Virgin Islands in the Caribbean and is the only Winter Olympic player in the region. Born on May 13, 1985 in California, Katie immigrated to the U.S. Virgin Islands in 2007 and began practicing steel frame bobsleighs in 2010. She fought for 11 years to get a place to participate in the Winter Olympics.
It was this player who ended his winter Olympic tour with a smile, but he tearfully spilled the "scene" of the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympic Games. Due to personal health and safety reasons, she was not able to attend the opening ceremony to become the flag bearer of the U.S. Virgin Islands, and she participated in the entire opening ceremony through a video link with volunteers. For Katie, 36, the Beijing Winter Olympics is her first and most likely the last. Not being able to step on the stage of the opening ceremony and wave the flag for her own area will undoubtedly be one of her biggest regrets.
Not only that, Katie even almost missed the opportunity to participate, only 2 hours before she withdrew from the Winter Olympics... Due to health and safety reasons, she missed most of the official training opportunities for steel-framed snowmobiles at the Winter Olympics. The only two training opportunities were far from familiarizing her with the brand new track. "The mental pressure was really great, it wasn't the Olympic experience I imagined. I even thought I couldn't make it to the start of the official race. At one point, her speech was filled with pain and despair. Luckily, she was finally allowed to compete shortly before the women's steel frame bobsleigh race began.
Katie Tennenbaum's Olympic preparations were even more toss and turns. In 2017, the U.S. Virgin Islands was hit by Category 5 hurricanes Irma and Maria (equivalent to typhoons with winds of more than 17 years), with direct economic losses exceeding $4 billion and thousands of people displaced. She was devastated as she prepared for the war in Canada, "I knew I was lucky not to be on the island at the time, but I hated not being able to be with my countrymen even more. I remember the day when I learned of Irma's landing on my home at the training ground, I stood on the training ground like I had lost my soul. ”
The 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang was Katie's closest to the Winter Olympics, and her name has even appeared on the list of participants on the official website of the Winter Olympics. But in the end, for various reasons, her qualification was replaced by her.
The road to participate in the Winter Olympics was bumpy, and the experience of Pyeongchang once gave her the idea of retiring, but fortunately she persevered, went all the way forward and finally stood on the field of the Beijing Winter Olympics! On Saturday night, she jumped off the sleigh with a big smile on her face and waving the flag of the Virgin Islands. Because, to be here is to win!
Katie Tanenbaum said: "I think being called 'inspiring' is one of the highest compliments people can get, and when I hear that phrase from a guy, I believe I've infected him. "Very fortunately, the Beijing Winter Olympics let us know Katie's story, see her smile, and accept the "Olympic spirit" she conveyed!