The Beijing Winter Olympics opened, and I saw the scene that made people passionate: the snow was burning!
Yes, when thousands of miles of ice are frozen and snow is drifting, on top of the ice and snow, one by one, like flames, pulsating and flashing figures, although compared with the vast snow field, it seems so small, so weak, as if it is only a little bit of Mars in the cold night, but it seems to have endless power, always able to quickly split the cold wind, sending blood and passion to people's hearts.
That's how I feel about the Winter Olympics, and more precisely, how I feel about the ice and snow project: because of these figures fighting in the cold wind, the cold ice and snow seem to burn too.
On February 12, 2014, when the freestyle skiers of the Sochi Winter Olympics were training at the Rose Manor Extreme Park, their figures were reflected in the five-ring sign on a building glass next to the arena.
They are maverick artists
I started working on ice and snow projects in 2011 and it's been exactly ten years now. During this decade, I have participated as a photojournalist in two Winter Olympic Games, three Winter Universiades, and two national winter games coverage. In the past ten years, my feelings for ice and snow sports have also changed from being strange and curious when I first came into contact with them, to now that I have just learned a little about the fur, I am more and more immersed in it and cannot extricate myself, I think, what attracts me is the feeling of those flames that jump in the ice and snow, and then the feeling of blood boiling all over the body.
In contrast to the Summer Olympics, which are full of fierce confrontations and even physical collisions, many of the events in the Winter Olympics are actually athletes fighting themselves, fighting against nature. Most of the participants in the Winter Olympics are alone or alone, and there is no scene of simultaneous competition: for example, the alpine skiing competition with 10 gold medals, as well as the 9 small events of snowmobile and bobsleigh, the athletes are in turn on the track alone when participating in the competition, ranking by the final result; there are also 8 sub-events such as aerial skills, snow skills, U-shaped pools, and obstacle courses in the freestyle skiing event, which are also performed by the participants alone, not to mention figure skating and other sports. I think that perhaps this is the spirit of the Winter Olympics in addition to "faster, higher, stronger": athletes do not want to defeat their opponents or directly confront their opponents when they compete, but to challenge themselves in conflict with nature, and to obtain self-worth when people and nature seek harmony. Therefore, compared with many events in the Summer Olympics, most of the participants in the Winter Olympics are more like maverick artists, pursuing a state of unity with nature and self-satisfaction in the pursuit of this state.
This is one of the sources of the "snow is burning" that makes my heart hot: the unity of the athlete and nature that is both harmonious and antagonistic, and the athlete's struggle to surpass himself is the flame that makes the ice and snow burn.
Before the men's aerial skills final of freestyle skiing at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, China's Jia Zongyang trained before the competition.
Fate is the only script
The connotation of "snow is burning" is not only this: drama is another flame: the ice and snow competition is like a play, and this scene may be more fascinating than the scene we see in many film and television literature works - because the outcome is never known, and the plot may be reversed at any time.
In this big drama, fate is the only script. What's even more heart-pounding is that this ice and snow sports drama does not have a fixed protagonist.
As the curtain opens, as the game progresses, the plot often has ups and downs: sometimes the protagonist in everyone's mind will gradually lose his position as the plot unfolds, and some of the characters who were not optimistic will rise up and even dominate - the words often used in sports reports: "reversal", "dark horse", "careless loss", "upset"... In fact, it shows the instantaneous changes of these main and supporting characters.
The unique characteristics of ice and snow events greatly strengthen the drama of this competition: in addition to the changeable weather factors, the arena is also a very unstable factor - the venues of many sports in ice and snow sports are almost completely different in each competition: except for the ice sports, almost all the snow sports have only a relatively fixed field standard, but the specific length, width, slope and snow thickness, hardness and other indicators depend on the terrain and environment of the venue. So, every competition of athletes is facing a completely different arena. In addition, in addition, most of the ice and snow sports have the characteristics of high speed, air and flip, under the joint action of these conditions, the uncertainty of the outcome of the game and the possibility of unexpected events in the game have been greatly increased.
Remember the miracle of Li Jianrou winning the title at the Sochi Winter Olympics? And some earlier in the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics short track speed skating men's 1000 meters final, when the United States Apollo, South Korea's Kim Dong-sung, China's Li Jiajun and other famous players collided and fell, the last Australian Bradbury "Fisherman Deli" won the gold medal legend - Bradbury's name also has a "miracle" meaning in Australia.
That flame is enough to keep your heart warm
At the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, I witnessed a spectacular ice and snow sports scene: the protagonist of this play is the king of the Winter Olympics, the superstar Who can compete with Bolt in athletics and Phelps in the swimming competition in ice and snow sports. That day's competition is still stirring in my chest to this day: the scenes in the memories are almost suffocating!
American Sean White burst into tears after the final of the men's U-shaped track for snowboarding at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics.
The men's veneer u-slot final had two jumps, taking the highest score: the first jump White led, however, in the second jump, Japan's Wonder Boy, 19-year-old talented player Hirano Bumon, with a near-perfect performance to get a high score of 95.25 points, Hirano Walking Dream began to celebrate the victory on the sidelines after finishing his second jump. Unexpectedly, under heavy pressure, White actually completed two consecutive back foot turns around 1440 degrees in the final jump, and finally won the championship with a staggering 97.75 points. When White's final result came out, Hirano Bumon crouched on the sidelines, his eyes sluggish. After winning the championship, Sean White knelt on the snow and burst into tears. This photo I took also helped me win the Silver Medal in the Olympic Close-Up category at the Global Photo Contest (POYI) in the United States.
On February 14, 2018, Japan's Wonder Boy and 19-year-old talented player Hirano Bumiyuki reacted after the results of the competition were announced. In the men's U-shaped field final for snowboarding at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, he narrowly lost to American Sean White to finish second.
In the veteran's story, I think the most incredible thing is that Sean White is a congenital cardiovascular malformation, a disease that mixes arterial and venous blood, and if left untreated, only 10% of patients can survive to the age of 20.
What do you think? Is the spark of the ice and snow sports drama enough to make your heart heat?
A more beautiful view than the rolling snow-capped mountains
In fact, what makes me feel the most passionate about the Winter Olympics is not only the wonderful games, but the stories that come from outside the arena.
Eight years ago, before the official opening of the Sochi Winter Olympics, in the early morning of February 6, 2014, I climbed to the top of Mount Aybuga, where the stadium is located, and it was beautiful, surrounded by white clouds, ice and jade, making people feel like they were in a fairyland.
Then I saw a more beautiful view than this continuous snow-capped mountain: on the edge of a steep cliff, there was a young man stepping on his skis step by step towards the abyss, at first I thought he was just looking at the scenery below the cliff, but as the distance between him and the cliff grew closer, my nerves tensed more and more. Finally, his skis protruded out of the cliff, and at this moment, he was still looking down at the unfathomable cliff, as if he did not know that he was in danger. I wanted to shout out loud to remind him, but I didn't know how the phrase "pull the horse from the cliff, turn back is the shore" was spoken in Russian. At this moment, the young man jumped from the cliff, and then, along the steep snow slope, leaving only the long traces of the skateboard sliding on the snow and the stunned me.
In the days that followed, I saw more and more warriors jumping off cliffs in almost the same way; on more steep slopes, I saw countless traces of sleigh slides, the colorful music written by the brave as they challenged nature.
These warriors not only have athletes and coaches who come to compete, but also ordinary staff who serve the event.
Looking at these scenes, my heart fluctuated, and I felt that I might have glimpsed a bit of the truth of "snow is burning": the participants of ice and snow sports, they are not actually competing with any opponent, what they do is to challenge nature, challenge themselves - this is where ice and snow sports make people feel passionate.
When it comes to challenging nature, it is more precise that ice and snow sports are a perfect blend of challenges to nature and harmony with nature. Snow sports, including the Winter Olympics, most of the venues will disappear after the games, especially the snow arenas – when spring comes, all the snow will turn into a trickle and rush to the sea, and then all the venues of the snow races will be gone, as if they never existed, only the mountains and forests will be silent.
Dust to dust, soil to earth, return what belongs to nature to nature, ice and snow sports are just natural passers-by and cheerers, and perhaps we humans are too. (Editor-in-charge: Shen Feng)