Gao Tingyu: The road is my character, I am a delicate person, and I am a delicate person

Xinhua News Agency reporters Yue Ranran and Wang Jingyu

Gao Tingyu could never forget a dream. In an ice rink, there are referees and coaches, but there are no opponents, he slides alone, there is no end, no end. He was startled awake.

Gao Tingyu loves to sleep, in addition to training, a day to sleep 12 hours, he said that the practice is too tired, enough rest to recover quickly. Staying in the Winter Olympic Village, he specially brought a latex pillow with yellow flowers on it, and he was afraid of not sleeping well and falling pillow.

But the night before winning the championship, he still lost sleep...

"Flying Man" coronation

February 12, 2022, destined to belong to Gao Tingyu. On this day, he won the gold medal in the men's 500m in speed skating at the Beijing Winter Olympics

Before the race, on the way to the "ice ribbon" of the National Speed Skating Hall, Gao Tingyu did not look at his mobile phone all the way. To concentrate on preparing for the battle, he uninstalled all social media apps.

Gao Tingyu is liked by netizens, largely because of humor. Some netizens asked him "how to enjoy a figure skating competition", he replied: "Buy tickets, dolls, see the athletes you like, wait for him to finish the performance, hit him with dolls." Netizens then asked: Can you buy a doll to go speed skating (field) to hit you? He replied, "Yes." ”

Sure enough, in the "ice ribbon" of the night, Gao Tingyu got the doll as he wished, a golden "ice pier", but this "panda" was not "smashed" by the audience to him, but he "earned" it himself.

At about 17:00 on the same day, Gao Tingyu rushed through the finish line like a red and black lightning bolt, broke the Olympic record with a time of 34.32 seconds, and won the "flying man battle" of the beijing winter olympics speed skating men's 500 meters, and won the first gold of the Chinese men's speed skating winter olympics.

What is the significance of this gold medal? If you have to ask one person to evaluate, it is not Luo Zhihuan. He won china's first speed skating world championship in 1963. After watching Gao Tingyu's match that night, Luo Lao shed tears: "This is the heaviest gold medal of the Chinese sports delegation!" It is equivalent to winning the '100-meter trapeze' battle on the track and field field! ”

That's true. The men's 500 meters in speed skating and the men's 100 meters in track and field are both sports that challenge the limits of human speed. At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Bolt rode the dust. At the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, Gao Tingyu soared into the sky.

For Bolt, Gao Tingyu commented: "I admire him, especially the inheritance of the Olympic spirit, I must insist on at least three sessions." And for the "Chinese flying man" Su Bingtian, Gao Tingyu was even more unceasing to praise: "(He is) the light of the Chinese people!" ”

"Ambitious"

Gao Tingyu is the same as ordinary people, but different.

He likes to listen to Jay Chou's songs, especially when sharpening the ice knife, he said "very decompressing".

In addition to loving to sleep, Gao Tingyu's amateur life is almost filled with watching video of the game. He said that only by comparing with others can we find our own shortcomings, especially those who have broken world records and Olympic records. Look before going to bed, wake up and look, these three or four years, he is like a demon. When talking about the characteristics of opponents and the rules of training matches, he can gush endlessly, "I want to win!" ”

At the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, Gao Tingyu took the bronze medal in the men's 500 meters of speed skating to achieve a medal breakthrough for Chinese male athletes in the event, but he felt that it was not enough, he wanted a gold medal, a gold medal at the Beijing Winter Olympics.

Gao Tingyu never hesitated to share his "ambition" with the outside world, which he felt was a spur.

Speed skating men 500 meters, many masters, want to be faster than others, must rely on real skills, pure strength.

Gao Tingyu has good explosive power and starts quickly, but he knows his shortcomings better: bending and slipping on the way.

If you want to win a gold medal, you don't want to use your strengths to avoid your weaknesses, you have to turn "short" into "long". In the past four years, he has practiced hard and grinded finely. Entering the Beijing Winter Olympics cycle, Gao Tingyu experienced major emotions and various twists and turns, especially waist injuries, which almost made him miss the game.

In the first half of 2020, Gao Tingyu, who had a recurrence of waist injury, returned to the Heilongjiang team to recuperate, and for more than 8 months he had been living a "four-point and one-line" life of dormitories, canteens, training grounds, and infirmaries, which was a period of hard life, and his waist was full of dense acupuncture eyes. Fortunately, in the face of hardships, he has always been sober, because the goal of "changing the color of the bronze medal" has always been firm.

Hard work pays off. On the "fastest ice", his corners and slippery on the way have become flawless. "Make up for the shortcomings a little bit, and then finally strengthen it, and play it out in the Winter Olympics."

Zhang Hong, a winter Olympic champion, said that Gao Tingyu has a big grin on his appearance, pursues perfection on the ice, although he is young, but his mind is very mature, others play games, he is watching game videos, researching technology and ice knives, "his self-discipline ability is beyond everyone in the team (other)".

Gao Tingyu, who had fallen off the ice, was a chronic child. He always said "everything is the best arrangement" and the mantra was "OK". Some reporters want to talk about hardships, and he always launches a tai chi, "I am a man, forgetful." I can't remember anything that feels less important."

For important things, he can't forget for a lifetime, such as yelling and tears after winning the Winter Olympics. "On my doorstep, I want to go crazy."

"Exquisite" as such

If you want to win the gold medal, in addition to having hard power, you must also have a strategy.

500 meters, strong hands, the gap in milliseconds, how to outperform in mentality, placed in front of Gao Tingyu and coach Liu Guangbin.

The four-stop World Cup series is the qualification tournament for the Beijing Winter Olympics and a window for athletes to explore each other's "enemy feelings". In these four races, Gao Tingyu's performance was erratic: he won the championship, had starting fouls and cornering mistakes, and in some games, he did not even play.

As everyone knows, the drunkard's intention is not to drink, Gao Tingyu's "false sleep" is to hide strength, let the opponent relax his vigilance, and more importantly - in exchange for the starting position in the middle of the Beijing Winter Olympics.

Everything is predetermined. In Liu Guangbin's view, the starting position of athletes is very important. According to the rules, the better the players in the World Cup, the lower the order of appearance in the Winter Olympics, and the players who start behind are likely to put pressure on themselves because the players in front of them have good results, affecting their performance. And if you start in the front and middle positions, the psychological baggage is small, and you may be able to give it a go.

According to the results of the World Cup, Gao Tingyu ranked in the seventh group to start. The other masters are all piled up in groups 13, 14 and 15. The final result also proved that Gao Tingyu's 34.32 seconds has affected the mentality of the players behind. The last two groups, unexpectedly, appeared at the same time the first shot to rush away.

On the afternoon of the competition, starting from Gao Tingyu's warm-up, he always had a serious face. Even when he stood on the runway and the radio introduced his name, he had no expression. When the big screen results came out, he still did not smile, thinking that he could surpass the Olympic record more. Until the last group of runners crossed the finish line... The moment he saw the final result, Gao Tingyu finally smiled, he raised his hands high, and made the "first" gesture.

After the game, this northeast guy not only began to shake the "baggage", but also showed off the "domineering":

- Record-breaking impressions? "Well, the competition is really done with real knives and guns, all come to the doorstep, who are you used to?"

How do you describe your personality? "Across the Road".

"How did it catch fire?" For the popularity of "across the road", Gao Tingyu was very surprised, and he gave a correct solution: "There is a little difference, it does not fit in, the personality is a little more, and the subjective consciousness is a little stronger." ”

Gao Tingyu said that he had already thought about where to put the gold medal and the "golden pier". "I've already set aside a wall and plan to make a cupboard."

The uninstalled WeChat finally loaded back on the night of the gold grab, and Gao Tingyu sent a circle of friends for the first time, thanking many people. The passage he wrote includes words, emoticons, and icons.

"I'm a delicate person, Gaga (very) refined." (Participating reporters: He Leijing, Li Dian, Luo Xin)

(Xinhuanet)