The Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics are in full swing, the Chinese Snow Army has made one historic breakthrough after another, and the names of young players such as Gu Ailing and Su Yiming have spread all over the country. Outside the arena of the Winter Olympics, there is also an authentic Beijing child, who is Su Yiming's good friend and brother, and he and Gu Ailing have known each other for a long time and trained and competed together. He is a first-line ski master in China, with his ten years of skiing experience and obsession and love for this sport, professional and passionate language expression, in the Winter Olympics skiing event commentary platform out of the circle. He is the Chinese snowboarder Zhang Jiahao, who is known as the "ski maniac", and now has the name of "commentator crazy".
On the afternoon of February 17, Zhang Jiahao was a guest in the live broadcast room of Beijing Youth Daily "Ice and Snow 360", telling the bloody story of his pursuit of the Winter Olympic dream alone, and revealed his future plan: to slide all the snowy mountains in the world and use his own actions to drive more children to participate in skiing.
I don't know how to live without snow skiing
Born in 1995, Zhang Jiahao is dressed in a young man's fashion style, with explosive curly hair and a fashionable hoodie, plus his height of 1 meter 86, a proper cool brother, which reminds people of Su Yiming, who won the championship on the men's snowboard jump at the Beijing Winter Olympics two days ago. Although the difference is 9 years, they not only play the same sport, but also have similar personalities: they are at the forefront of fashion, they love adventure, and they will pursue their chosen goals. After a lonely adventure to qualify for the Beijing Winter Olympics, 27-year-old Zhang Jiahao has more composure than his peers.
At the age of 17, he began to experience skiing for the first time at The Nanshan Ski Resort in Beijing, and in just 5 snow seasons, Zhang Jiahao became one of the first-line players in China, and he used his obsession and crazy love to make himself inseparable from this sport and will continue this snow life in the future. Zhang Jiahao said that when he first came into contact with skiing, he was immediately fascinated by the thrill of flying on the snow, and soon fell into it and could not extricate himself. Recalling the initial skiing time, his eyes are still full of unforgettable performances, "How to say it, it is like, it is difficult to express." Liking is my intrinsic drive. Everything I did later was to see how far I could do what I loved. At that time, Zhang Jiahao was still a baker, and his salary was not high, but he adjusted his working hours for skiing, working for two days off a day, and resting for 48 hours almost all on the snow field. Zhang Jiahao said, "As soon as I entered the snow field, I was all day, I could not eat or drink or go to the toilet, go up again and again, slide down again and again, and even before long, I thought about how to try to jump from the jumping platform." ”
Zhang Jiahao said that many people do not understand him, even now, and think that his crazy obsession with skiing is somewhat "abnormal". Zhang Jiahao himself did not care at all, and continued to run wild on the road he chose. He said, "I like to ski, first of all, I enjoy the feeling of freedom without restraint, second, I can feel the stimulation it brings, especially when I fly, and the third is the sense of accomplishment of completing new actions again and again, and the success after overcoming fear will bring me great joy." ”
Zhang Jiahao finally quit his job in 2016 and threw himself into his skiing career, the year that marked the second year of Beijing's successful bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympics. Also in this year, Zhang Jiahao represented China for the first time in the Intercontinental Cup in New Zealand, and snowboarders from all over the world gathered, and he won the 16th place with the best result of Chinese athletes. At this time, Zhang Jiahao began to associate the 2022 Winter Olympics with himself, and implemented it step by step. He said, "I already had a desire to skate better, I had a goal to play, so I had to make a trade-off. Since you love and love skiing so much, quit your job. Without skiing, I didn't know how to live my life. ”
Zhang Jiahao began to study the criteria for participation in the Beijing Winter Olympics, and firmly embarked on this lonely journey of unpredictable results. He spared most of the earth alone without a team, overcoming unexpected difficulties. Two years, 5 countries, 15 games, Canada, Sweden, Chile, Switzerland, the Netherlands, non-stop, Zhang Jiahao brought his love to the white snow. He had been stranded in the mountains near Santiago de Chile for two months because of visa problems, and because he did not have time to adjust to the time difference, he got off the plane in Switzerland and began to race, resulting in a mistake that failed to advance to the final.
Until December 16, 2021, less than 50 days after the opening of the Beijing Winter Olympics, the story did not get a happy ending, and Zhang Jiahao announced that he had failed to impact the Winter Olympics. "I can accept losing, I can accept injuries, I can accept that there is no good accommodation, I can even accept a momentary hunger and thirst, but I can't accept not going to the game, I can't accept giving up halfway," he said. I never regret going. Over the years, in training and competition, Zhang Jiahao has experienced fractures of hands, feet and legs, and has also experienced serious injuries to his lungs after two failed movements, but he has never given up and has never regretted it.
Zhang Jiahao's story went viral on the Internet, some people did not understand, some people thought it was not worth it, some people thought it was not necessary, and some people compared what he did with the past "martial fool", calling him "snow idiot", but there are also more people who recognize him, encourage him, help him, and appreciate him. Zhang Jiahao thinks this is enough.
My resemblance to Bob now is only in my hairstyle
Although he failed to realize his dream of participating in the Beijing Winter Olympics, Zhang Jiahao, as a "ski maniac", could not stay away from the Winter Olympics, so he unlocked his interpretation skills, and introduced his experience, the process of getting acquainted with Su Yiming and Gu Ailing, as well as the tidbits of competition and training, etc., all of which were introduced to everyone in the process of commentary, and were sought after.
Zhang Jiahao said that when he watched the Winter Olympics skiing, especially the snowboarding competition, he was often more excited than the participants, and before each athlete made a move, he would also try to think about how to complete it if he did it himself. Even the day before the game, he would go to all kinds of homework to understand what kind of movements the players would do in the game, how many turns they would do. The day before Su Yiming's competition, Zhang Jiahao didn't even sleep well, thinking about what kind of performance his little brother would play in the game.
Zhang Jiahao said, "He was still a little nervous in the slope obstacle course competition, because he was on the stage of the Winter Olympics for the first time, and after winning the silver medal, he relaxed. At this point I felt that his big jump was stable, the gold medal was definitely his, and I firmly believed that he could do it. As a result, in the big jumping competition, Xiao Ming played too well and made the most outstanding moves, which was perfect. ”
Talking about his acquaintance with Su Yiming, Zhang Jiahao recalled, "The first time I met Xiaoming was in the winter when I was just hooked on skiing, in a youth training camp in Beijing, when Xiaoming was 8 or 9 years old, a small person holding such a large snowboard was playing, one was practicing, and one practice was a day. I think he is the kind of genius player, the snow sense and the action are particularly prominent, and the combination of the two is also impeccable. He has talent and a strong heart. Later, we also had exchanges in training, and various competitions also encouraged each other. And now, we are probably left with a more similar hairstyle. Of course, his hair didn't have a curly hair like mine. ”
For the "genius girl" Gu Ailing, Zhang Jiahao also gave a high evaluation, "The first time I saw this little girl was at the Qiaobo Ski Resort in Shunyi, Beijing, and later in New Zealand and the United States in training and competitions have been seen many times." She gave me the impression of playing with everything and playing anything, as if skiing wasn't the sport she put into the most and didn't take up her most of her time and energy. She is an assertive child, confident, cheerful, strong, doing things with a plan, a goal, is the kind of person who sets her own goals and then has to achieve and complete them step by step. Gu Ailing's strongest is the U-shaped field race, although we are not a project, I am a snowboard, she is freestyle, but I can also see her potential and strength, and I am not worried about her prospects for this competition. As long as she plays normally, she can do it, and fully believe in her ability. ”
To glide all the snowy peaks in the world
After the Winter Olympics, Zhang Jiahao wanted to pause his commentary career, he said: "I now have a new goal, that is, to skate all the snowy mountains in the world, and I will set off this summer." Whether it is to take the cable car up or climb up by yourself, or what method to go up, and then slide down one by one, continue to share the joy of skiing with everyone. At present, many snowy mountains do not have professional ski route planning, where suitable for skiing, where there is danger, this piece is blank, I want to explore. ”
Easier said than done, Zhang Jiahao did not set a timetable for himself to complete the goal, "I am not to pursue the number of slides, simply because I like to slide, everything is because of love." Just like I've recorded every skiing experience over the past decade. This time, I will continue to record my skiing story, pass on this skiing spirit, so that more people can feel the fun of ice and snow sports and participate in ice and snow sports. ”
Zhang Jiahao said, "Of course, in addition to skating these snowy mountains, I also have to do some things in the skiing industry, and I will also do commentary when there are competitions, but I will not spend the most important energy." All the purpose of doing these things is to help those young people and children who have the dream of the Winter Olympics through their own actions to help those who have the dream of the Winter Olympics not to realize their ideals as much as possible, to get on the stage of the Olympic Games, to do my best to drive them, so that they can also experience the joy and passion brought by skiing. ”
For Zhang Jiahao, he has experienced so many setbacks, difficulties, and is still so fond of and insists on skiing, what does this mean?" The most important thing is that I can make a hundred percent effort for my pure ideals. He said. A short sentence is not only a farewell to his Winter Olympic dream, but also a new beginning in his ski life, he said that he will continue to strive for the next goal he has set for another 10 years, 15 years.
The dream journey belonging to Zhang Jiahao has never ended, and his dream chasing process is encouraging countless young people to engage in skiing and making those who love the sport fearless.
Text/Beiqing Sports Liu Ailin