Source: Global Times
[Global Times-Global Network report reporter Fan Wei Fan Anqi] "In 2021, I will go to Xinjiang Cocoto Haihou Mountain skiing ,...... Standing on the top of the mountain, you will find that there is a steep slope under your feet, surrounded by mountains, standing in the middle of the mountains, you will feel very small, but I have a ski in my hand, which makes me feel very free, because I can slide down from any place, and I enjoy this feeling. At that time, you will forget how painful the climbing road was when you came, and you will feel that all the hardships you have done before are worth it. After finishing his trip to the Beijing Winter Olympics with a fourth-place finish, Cai Xuetong, a member of the Chinese snowboard team, told the Global Times reporter about his experience.
On the morning of February 10, in the final of the women's U-shaped field of snowboarding at the Beijing Winter Olympics, Cai Xuetong, who chose to give it a go in the second round, completed the project's ceiling-level action - turning 1080 degrees, before which she had never successfully completed this set of the most difficult moves in a formal competition. But then, Cai Xuetong made a mistake in the last difficult action, which directly led to her rubbing shoulders with the Olympic medal again. After the game, Cai Xuetong left tears of regret.
Cai Xuetong told the Global Times reporter that he was not sad because of the loss of the medal, but regretted that he did not complete the set of actions he wanted to complete in the game, "I want everyone to see that this project is actually very exciting." ”
He has won the "crystal ball" of the World Cup seven times in his career, but in the course of participating in the Winter Olympic Games four times, he has twice folded when he is close to the Olympic podium. The frustration and pain that these ordinary people look like to Cai Xuetong do not seem to be a problem, "My pain only lies in the pursuit of a difficult technical action, can not reach their own satisfactory state." 」 I don't suffer because of training, I don't suffer from injuries, I don't suffer from losing a game, even at the Olympics. Snowboarding seems to me to be a fun sport that requires constant pushing the limits of humanity, and I enjoy it and love it. Cai Xuetong said.
"I think my talent is 'anti-manufacturing'"
Born in 1993 in Acheng District, Harbin, Heilongjiang, Cai Xuetong has shown a sports talent and tenacity that is different from other children from a young age. "In our practical terms with northeasterners, when I was a child, I was more 'Tao'," Cai Xuetong said.
Cai Xuetong's sports road began at the age of 4, that year, the father who often went abroad to work brought back more than a dozen pairs of roller skates at once, "because he saw someone playing this sport in the United States, there were also many roller skating rinks, he thought that he could also return to China to open one, but then did not know what reason, his dream of 'introducing foreign projects' was not realized", so Cai Dad distributed these roller skates to relatives and friends, but left three pairs of shoes for himself, Cai Mom and Cai Yutong, "My mother was worried that I would be injured when I rollerbladed, I hid my roller skates, but I sneaked them out while she was cooking, and by the time she found out one day that I was playing roller skates, I was already skating well. ”
When she was young, Cai Xuetong showed extraordinary athletic talent through this pair of roller skates. Because she always wore a pair of roller skates and flew upstairs and downstairs, she was also noticed by the adults in the community, including Li Daji, the coach of the Yuquan Amateur Sports School who lived with her in the same community. After keenly discovering Cai Xuetong's athletic talent, Li Daji found Cai Xuetong's parents, called Cai Xuetong a skiing wizard, and suggested that she be sent to a professional sports school for training, "My personality when I was a child was more like a boy, especially naughty, I didn't cry when I fell, in our Northeast dialect, it is very 'skinny', very 'anti-manufacturing', which probably makes Coach Li think that people like me are particularly suitable for sending to professional sports teams." ”
However, like most parents in that era, when thinking about their children's path to becoming a talent, they instinctively felt that going to school was more important, "I think they should feel that they were lacking in their studies when they were young, and they suffered losses without diplomas, so they thought that I should also go to school well and stop eating the hardships they had suffered." "But in a child's world, liking is sometimes unstoppable. Cai Xuetong found Li Daji and expressed his love for skiing, Li Daji, who came from ice and snow sports, was also privately teaching Cai Xuetong some skiing moves, and persevered to persuade Cai Xuetong's parents that Cai Xuetong should be sent to a professional sports school. Li Daji, who was discerning and discerning, persuaded Cai Xuetong's mother like a marketer, "Such a good seedling, if you don't send it again, it will be too late", and finally, when Cai Xuetong was 10 years old, Cai Xuetong's parents, who could not withstand the "soft grinding and hard bubble" of the two masters and apprentices, sent her to a professional sports school, and Cai Xuetong has since embarked on a professional road, "Coach Li is my Bole." Cai Xuetong said.
In 2005, Cai Xuetong walked into the U-shaped pool that made her addicted after that, Cai Xuetong told the Global Times reporter that it was the most memorable moment of her sports career, "When the coach took me from the bottom of the U-shaped pool, swinging from one side to the other, one, two times, and then I swung to the edge of the groove with the front blade of the skateboard, when I came down, my heart suddenly sank, I experienced an unprecedented sense of weightlessness, like riding a roller coaster, this feeling I will never forget, I think it is also from then on, I fell in love with the sport of snowboarding U-track technique. ”
In 2006, at the age of 13, Cai Xuetong wrote a small legend of "debut is the peak", after two years of professional training, she participated in that year's national ski championships, won the championship in snowboard competitions, and was subsequently transferred to the snowboard national team. Since then, Cai Xuetong began to go to the international arena and opened his own road to the championship on the snow field, "In those years, if there was a competition, my itinerary in the year was the whole world chasing snow. Cai Xuetong said.
"It's a game of failure, it's just that this game is called the Winter Olympics"
In 2010, Cai Xuetong was the champion of the Women's World Cup of Snowboarding U-Shaped Venues in Canada; in 2011, cai Xuetong was the champion of the 25th World University Women's U-Shaped Field Competition; in 2012, snowboarding U-field World Cup In Canada, Cai Xuetong was still the champion... Since 2009, Cai Xuetong has won the overall points championship of the Snowboarding World Cup seven times and the World Championships twice. It has not only repeatedly refreshed the best record in the history of Chinese athletes in the world's top events, but also created a record for snowboarding.
In January 2022, Cai Xuetong won the runner-up with 86.80 points in the women's final of the Snowboard U-Field World Cup at mammoth Mountain In the United States, and stood on the world cup podium for the 29th time in her career, and the INTERNATIONAL SKATING Federation praised Cai Xuetong in a report, saying that she was the most successful player in the history of the ISU snowboard women's U-shaped field project.
However, in the eyes of the outside world, Cai Xuetong's career has a big regret - she has won almost all the awards in the professional snowboard event, but she lacks an Olympic medal.
The 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics was the first time that 17-year-old Cai Xuetong participated in the Winter Olympics, and she was also the youngest female athlete in the snowboarding event at that Winter Olympics. That year, the childish Cai Xuetong finally ranked 23rd; at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, Cai Xuetong, who was plagued by injuries, finally ranked 6th. At the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, Cai Xuetong became a favorite to win the championship, but cai Xuetong finally ranked fifth at that Winter Olympics.
Cai Xuetong told the Global Times that the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics can be called his best time, "because at that time, both my age, technology, physical and psychological state were just in time." I think I have reached the time to 'shine and heat up'", but due to the mistakes in the first two rounds, although Cai Xuetong completed an "amazing jump" in the last round, he still did not get the podium. "That time, because I was too stressed, I always thought that I wanted to achieve the expected results, and finally I limited myself and didn't play well."
After that final, Cai Xuetong stubbornly said in an interview with the media, "I think this is a failure of a game, but this game is called the Winter Olympics." ”
After the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics trip, the frustrated Cai Xuetong went to Beijing Sport University, and she chose to return to campus and adjust herself in an environment where there was no competition. During the time away from the snow, Cai Xuetong was also re-evaluating his gains and losses: he had been skiing for nearly 20 years unconsciously, and most of his life before that was related to skiing. In addition to not winning a medal in the Olympic games, I have already proved myself in other arenas, so what am I pursuing? "Later, I figured out, why was I able to persist to this day? Isn't it because I simply like snowboarding? Therefore, after half a year, Cai Xuetong chose to return to the ski field to continue his love.
At this Winter Olympics, although Cai Xuetong still failed to win an Olympic medal as everyone expected, her mentality has changed a lot.
In an interview with the media after the game, Cai Xuetong said that although it was sad, it did not mean that he did not enjoy the game, "I just felt that I did not complete the set of actions I wanted to complete, but I was still very happy about the whole process." ”
When summarizing his performance at the Winter Olympics, Cai Xuetong told the Global Times reporter that in addition to the last two finals he did not complete according to the scheduled plan, other times he was still very satisfied with his performance. In this Winter Olympics at the doorstep, Cai Xuetong has no pressure, but is more enthusiastic about showing himself, "I hope to let more people see the passion I have when I ski, and I hope that they can also join the sport." This is my original intention to participate in this Winter Olympics. Cai Xuetong said.
"If I don't fight with this set of actions in the Olympic arena, I may regret it for the rest of my life."
In a documentary broadcast before the opening of the Beijing Winter Olympics, Cai Xuetong's mother said that when Cai Xuetong was 10 years old, she found a piece of mud cake while cleaning Cai Xuetong's desk, and the front was engraved in childish font: "Cai Xuetong Goal" on the back: "My goal is to pursue a highest state of sports." Cai's mother said that this mud cake also strengthened her determination to let her children practice skiing.
Like many teenagers with great significance, Cai Xuetong's ideals at a young age were incomparably ambitious. Cai Xuetong told the Global Times reporter that at that time, the highest state of sports in his mind was to become a hall-level athlete, "This is an ideal that can only be possessed at that age, of course, I have also worked hard for this."
However, when talking about this topic now, Cai Xuetong said that the highest state of sports in his heart is to be able to constantly challenge himself and enjoy sports itself.
In the second round of the women's U-shaped field skill finals for snowboarding at the Winter Olympics, Cai Xuetong chose to challenge the project's ceiling-level action - turning 1080 degrees, and before that, she had never completed this set of the most difficult moves in the competition.
Cai Xuetong told the Global Times reporter that in the training before the opening of the Beijing Winter Olympics, he had already mastered this action, so he especially wanted to show this action in the Winter Olympic Games, "Because in the Olympic arena, everyone is fighting towards a higher, faster and stronger goal, and I think if I don't fight with this set of actions on the Olympic field, I may regret it for the rest of my life." ”
In the final, Cai Xuetong's opponents included the powerful Korean American "genius girl" Chloe King. Cai Xuetong said that in the face of a strong opponent, it is more necessary to sacrifice the most difficult action, which is not only challenging the opponent, but also challenging the self, "When we all challenge each other in the best state, so that we can promote and develop this sport together, and explore the limits of human beings together, I think this is the consensus of people who love this sport."
Although Cai Xuetong was unable to perfectly present this whole set of actions because of the mistake of the third trip, Cai Xuetong said that this does not mean that this set of difficult actions must be sealed.
When talking about the next step, Cai Xuetong told the Global Times reporter that after the Winter Olympics, he will continue to have an unlimited life, and will continue to challenge this set of unfinished actions in the snow field, "Life is not only a game that can be used to prove myself, if I want, I can even slide every mountain in the world." “