Although the Chinese women's ice hockey team missed the quarterfinals at the Beijing Winter Olympics by one point, Liu Zhixin was satisfied with his performance and hoped that more people would engage in the career of ice hockey in the future, making ice hockey a household name
Since the Chinese women's ice hockey team missed the quarterfinals of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics by one point, Liu Zhixin, a female ice skater jointly trained by Guangzhou and Shenzhen, has been in a state of rest these days, watching the Chinese men's ice games, visiting the Winter Olympic Village, and reminiscing about the past week.
"This is my second time to play in the Winter Olympics, although I did not qualify, it is a pity, but I feel quite complete, I can compete with the world's masters, the score is still very close, we are more and more confident in the development of Chinese women's ice, and we are particularly proud of ourselves!" Liu Zhixin said.
The youngest female ice team member at the Vancouver Winter Olympics
Liu Zhixin was born in Qiqihar, when she was a child, her home was close to the ice rink, her grandfather and father were ice hockey enthusiasts, she began to learn ice hockey at the age of nine, and was quickly selected into the school team, going to school during the day and training in the club at night.
At the age of 14, the national ice hockey team went to Qiqihar to select materials, and Liu Zhixin, who had grown to 1 meter 74 and was also superior in technology than his peers, was selected, becoming the youngest athlete in the national team, and the youngest sister in the team was five or six years old.
If you just like hockey in the past, after entering the national team, Liu Zhixin began to have a dedication to ice hockey. "I remember the first time I participated in the national team training was in Weihai, I was particularly tired, but excited, everything was fresh, everything was full of hope, and there was passion in training every day. Although there is a big physical and technical gap with the big sisters, the mental state is particularly good. ”
Talent and hard work, two years later Liu Zhixin ushered in an unexpected opportunity - with the team to compete in the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. Although not a major player, she was able to play as a substitute in every game, and she became the youngest female ice hockey player in that Winter Olympics, when the Chinese women's ice hockey team won seventh place.
The first time to participate in the World Series on the big stage of the Winter Olympics, or with the United States, Russia, Finland and other strong teams to a group, Liu Zhixin seems to open a new door, the first time for the professional league sprouted a strong vision. "It was very touching, it was very shocking, I felt that I was really bad, and for the first time I really felt the development of world hockey."
A lonely dream to join the top league
After the Vancouver Winter Olympics, Liu Zhixin has a new plan for his career development and a strong vision for the world's top league. At the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, the Chinese women's ice team failed to qualify for the main tournament, and two years later, Liu Zhixin, who was only 23 years old, chose to leave the team.
The following year, she worked as a coach at an ice hockey club in Beijing, engaged in youth ice hockey training, and occasionally worked part-time in the mall, "wanting to try a life that is not just ice hockey." At the same time, with a lonely courage, try to knock on the door of the professional league. She consciously maintains the amount of training for several days a week, maintaining various functions of the body.
Liu Zhixin, who has clear goals and strong mobility, also became the first player to try to join the women's ice top league in his own name. "I was more stubborn, or I wanted to go to the top league abroad to have a look, and began to contact the professional teams in Canada, the English was not good at that time, or friends helped me translate various English materials and emails." When I went abroad to play before, I asked the coach of a professional ice hockey team in Canada, asked him about the channels and procedures for their team to play, and really tried to follow that set of procedures, registering, participating in the draft and the like, and then there were really two teams in Calgary and Toronto who contacted me, but blamed myself for not having the habit of checking the email, and only found the two emails half a month later, when the draft had begun, the time was very tight, and finally because of the passport problem, it could not be done. ”
I cried when I won the world-class professional league title
The establishment of the Shenzhen Kunlun Hongxing Club in 2017 was like shooting a light on Liu Zhixin's hit, rekindling her dream of a career.
What's more perfect is that the league that the club has contacted to join is exactly the Canadian women's ice league that Liu Zhixin has always wanted to participate in. In the first game played in Toronto, the head coach of the opponent was the coach that Liu Zhixin had consulted.
"When I saw him, I felt incredible. When I especially wanted to play abroad, I suddenly set up such a professional team in Shenzhen, China, and then I followed this team to the top league, and I had a feeling that my dream came true! It's really difficult to go all the way, thanks to myself for not giving up, Kunlun Hongxing Club has really changed Chinese ice hockey a lot in the past five years. ”
To this day, Liu Zhixin still remembers the first game played in Toronto, the scene was full of spectators, heard that there was a team from China, the local media flocked to it, causing a sensation, and the Chinese also gathered from all over the world to watch the game and cheer.
Before the game, the kick-off ceremony was held, as the captain stood in the middle of the field to compete for the ball, Liu Zhixin said that it felt like a dream, "So I want to participate in the league, I didn't work so hard to get on, and now the peak turns around, when the national flag is raised and the national anthem is played, the tears immediately fall!" ”
Later, in the 2019-2020 season, they moved to the Russian league and won the first world-class professional league championship in Chinese ice hockey. That memory Liu Zhixin will never forget, "It was a particularly beautiful season, and there was a particularly perfect ending, when our four captains took the podium to get the grand trophy, and the moment I lifted it, I cried!" ”
Five years of career, Liu Zhixin has changed a lot, with a learning attitude, more to see more, open eyes, not only in the high-intensity confrontation of ice hockey skills have been improved, but also gradually benchmark professional players in awareness.
"When I first started to contact professional games, I didn't really understand what a professional player was, I could only say that I was a professional player, and now my attitude and understanding of ice hockey are different, and I will focus more spontaneously on the sport of ice hockey, responsible for my own life and my profession." Liu Zhixin said.
In addition to playing ball, Liu Zhixin has never given up cultural learning, and is now a working graduate student at Chinese Min University, majoring in psychology. "I actually like to go to school, professional competitions, training and life can be used, for example, before the game is more nervous, the state is not very good, you can adjust yourself or help your teammates, this is quite interesting." Before I did youth training, how to communicate with children, how to make him more acceptable to my way of education, psychology can be used. ”
After twelve years, he stood on the stage of the Winter Olympics again
Twelve years later, Liu Zhixin re-stood on the stage of the Winter Olympics, from Vancouver to Beijing, she has changed her life. "At that time, I was still young and had a learning attitude. This time it was the second time, less nervous, more demanding of myself, and hopefully more for the team. ”
Being able to attend the Winter Olympics at his doorstep, recalling the opening ceremony, recalling that game, Liu Zhixin felt like a dream. "I had never been in the 'Bird's Nest' before, and I followed the Chinese team inside, and it was very bright, full of people, and the eyes of the whole world were focused on us. Seeing President Xi waving to us, hearing the singing of "Singing the Motherland", and seeing that the entire audience stood up to cheer for the Chinese team, I shed tears, and I felt that my life was complete, especially touched and proud! ”
Although the Chinese women's ice hockey is only one point away from advancing to the quarterfinals, it is a pity, but Liu Zhixin is still satisfied with his performance: "Each of us has done our best, and the score of the world's strongest team is very close, playing the Japanese team That everyone played the spirit, after all, many players cried after the game, after all, we have not won the Japanese team for more than ten years." And many games we are in the case of backwards to equalize, rebound, the collective project is good to make the team more united. I am now more and more confident in the future development of Chinese women's ice, and I am more motivated to train hard, and I feel that my career has reached a higher level. ”
In a few days, Liu Zhixin will represent the Shenzhen Vanke Sunshine women's ice hockey team to Russia to continue to complete the second half of the Russian Women's Ice Hockey League, and then participate in the World Championships. In her opinion, the establishment and development of Shenzhen Kunlun Hongxing Ice Hockey Club has largely promoted the development of Chinese ice hockey, "Playing in foreign countries, when you say the name of the club, you know that this is a team from China." When the team was first founded in Shenzhen, the project was still very unpopular, but because of the training and competition in Longgang, the people there knew about ice hockey, and every game attracted a lot of people to watch. Our performance at the Winter Olympics this time also carries the mission of promoting ice hockey in China. I hope that more people can continue to engage in the cause of ice hockey in the future, so that ice hockey can become a well-known sport, and I also hope that there will be its own ice hockey league in China, and when children choose sports, ice hockey can become a hot project. ”
Text/Yangcheng Evening News all-media special correspondent Su Jing
The source | Yangcheng Evening News Yangcheng Pie
Pictures | Visual China
Responsible editor| Ge Wanli