In the men's steel frame snowmobile competition of the Beijing Winter Olympics held on the evening of the 11th, China's Yin Zheng ranked 5th, and broke the starting record of the "Snow Dragon" men's steel frame snowmobile track with 4.58 seconds. Standing on the Winter Olympics for the first time, Yin Zheng's performance is remarkable, and his Chinese-style helmet has also attracted the attention of the media at home and abroad. After the game, Yin Zheng said that his helmet was called "Dragon and Tiger Crown" and was designed by a local Chinese designer.
Nanfang + reporter learned that this helmet decoration with Chinese characteristics is from the hands of Guangdong designer Zhang Dongliang and his team. "The dark tiger stripes on the top of the helmet imply that athletes meet each challenge with a firm and sharp eye; it coincides with the Year of the Tiger, just like the tiger descending the mountain, unstoppable." Zhang Dongliang told reporters, "The whole helmet is inspired by the design of the general armor in the opera, representing the fighting spirit of the athletes to move forward bravely, hoping to spread Chinese culture in the Winter Olympic Games." ”
"Dragon and Tiger Crown" helmet.
Designed helmets for Olympic champions several times
This is not the first time that Zhang Dongliang's works have appeared on the Olympic field. At the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, the Chinese duo Gong Ginger/ Angel Zhong won the championship in Rio, achieving a breakthrough of zero Olympic cycling gold medals. They wore helmets painted with "Mu Guiying" and "Mulan" Peking Opera faces, which quickly triggered heated discussion among netizens and successfully went out of the circle.
"The image of Mulan is very much in line with Angel Zhong." Zhang Dongliang explained the design creativity, using Mulan to imply that athletes are loyal to the country and serve the motherland, and loyalty is in harmony with the surname of Zhong Angel. The design concept of Gong Ginger's helmet is mainly in line with her regretful silver harvest experience at the 2012 London Olympic Games, and Zhang Dongliang hopes to use the image of Mu Guiying to take the lead again to give Gong Ginger a strong aura and wish her a triumphant victory for China.
At the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, the helmet pattern of Angel Bell became a fire phoenix. Previously, she was in a relatively low state because of her injury, hoping that with the meaning of phoenix nirvana, she could return to the peak. At the Tokyo Olympics, Angel Zhong and his partner Bao Shanju broke Olympic records and world records and won the gold medal in the women's team sprint event on track cycling at the Tokyo Olympics.
Zhang Dongliang and "Fire Phoenix" and other helmets.
"As a designer, you have to tell the Chinese story well. It is necessary to understand both traditional culture and the sport and the athletes' own experiences, so that the designed works can empower the athletes. Zhang Dongliang told reporters that he is also an amateur cyclist and understands the athletes' feelings for the helmet very well, so when designing the helmet, he will communicate with the athletes in depth, listen to the athletes' own ideas, and strive to give the helmet a certain spiritual strength.
I hope to bring Chinese culture to the world
After Yin Zheng saw the Peking Opera mask helmets of Zhong Angel and other cyclists, he took the initiative to contact Zhang Dongliang, hoping that he would also design a helmet for himself to spread Chinese culture in the Winter Olympic Games.
Steel frame snowmobiling is the highest average speed on the Winter Olympics, with a maximum speed of more than 130 kilometers per hour. Steel frame snowmobile races require constant turning, emergency stops, and there may be a rollover accident, so the protection of the head is crucial.
"It's amazing, it's worthy of 'Snow F1'." Zhang Dongliang said that after receiving Yin Zheng's demand, he watched a lot of snowmobile sports competitions, "Yin Zheng hopes to combine the elements of Peking Opera, this year is exactly the Year of the Tiger, I want to use the elements of the tiger." After full communication between the two sides, the image of the ancient soldier's armor suddenly jumped out of Zhang Dongliang's brain. Zhang Dongliang eventually fused the elements of Peking Opera with the elements of the tiger to design the "Dragon and Tiger Crown".
The design process of the "Dragon and Tiger Crown" helmet.
In addition, the ruyi pattern on the back of the helmet echoes like a tiger stripe, which means "like a tiger adding wings", which is a good blessing to the athletes. The dragon pattern on the front of the helmet symbolizes that the athlete is like a flexible dragon, galloping on the white track.
On the evening of February 11, the Beijing Winter Olympics men's steel frame bobsleigh race was held at the National Bobsleigh Center, also known as "Snow Dragon", the world's first track to include 360-degree turns. The track has a total length of 1615 meters, a maximum gradient of 18% and 16 turns. The winding track winds down the mountains, snowmobiles speed by, the snowmobilists on the car seem to be playing with centrifugal forces, and the red and yellow helmets on Yin Zheng's head are very eye-catching.
"I not only hope that athletes will compete at their own level, but also hope that they will bring Chinese culture to the world through their own designs and let more people understand China." Zhang Dongliang said, "Over the years, the motherland has become stronger and stronger, the culture has become more and more confident, and we have become more and more confident when doing design. ”
[Reporter] He Dayuan
【Author】 He Dayuan
【Source】 Southern Press Media Group South + client
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