The Beijing Winter Olympics entered the second half of the event, and the players of the delegation dared to challenge themselves and constantly made breakthroughs. By February 17, the Chinese sports delegation had won 7 gold, 4 silver and 2 bronze medals, with a total of 13 medals, and the number of gold medals and medals reached a new high in a single Winter Olympic Games.
From the first start of curling on February 2, to the opening of the Beijing Winter Olympics as scheduled on February 4, and then to the thirteenth competition day after the opening on February 17, the Chinese team players showed a good face of hard work and struggle on the Winter Olympic field, and also showed the unique charm of ice and snow sports, which won universal praise and widespread attention.
"Snow Marathon" and do your best to move forward
At the National Cross-Country Ski Center on February 16, the men's and women's teams competed in the short distance (traditional technique). In this competition, two players from each team are required to take turns skiing 1.5 kilometers, each skating 3 times, and the team with the least total time wins. The Chinese men's team, composed of Wang Qiang and Shang Jincai, showed a good competitive state in the semifinals, once ranking first in the group, but the back course was surpassed by the opponent and stopped in the semifinals. The Chinese women's team, composed of Li Xin and Chi Chunxue, also stopped in the semifinals.
Cross-country skiing requires runners to use basic techniques such as mountaineering, downhilling, and turning to slide through the snowy fields of the hills, and the event route is usually composed of uphill, undulating, and downhill sections that account for 1/3 of the total length, and ranks according to the time it takes the runners to reach the finish line. Because of the long track lines and race times, cross-country skiing is also known as the "snow marathon". The changeable track and severe cold weather are a huge test for the physical fitness of the participants. In the race, the finish sprint is fiercely competitive, and it is often seen that someone falls to the ground, but not every time it is physically weak, and the fall is sometimes used as a line-hitting tactic.
In 2018, China's first cross-country skiing national training team was established through cross-border cross-border cross-discipline selection from bicycles, marathons, rowing and other projects. Despite the difficulty of the event and the relatively weak foundation, cross-country skiers still achieved a number of historical best results at the Beijing Winter Olympics with solid and effective preparation and perseverance. Ma Qinghua, Chi Chunxue, Li Xin and Bayani Garin finished tenth in the women's 4×5 km relay, Shang Jincai finished 41st in the men's 15 km (traditional technology) race, and youngster Liu Rongsheng ranked 38th in the men's double chase (15 km traditional technology + 15 km free technology), which also created the best result of the Chinese team.
Just like the track of the National Cross-Country Skiing Center, the Chinese cross-country ski team that achieved full-project participation in the Winter Olympics has not been completely smooth all the way. However, through hard work, the Chinese team players have used transcendence and breakthroughs to prove that the team is on the right path. As Shang Jincai said after the 16th match: "China's cross-country skiing has made great progress, and the impact of the young rookies behind it is very strong." I believe that as the technology becomes more mature, we will make greater progress. ”
"F1 on the snow", brave pursuit of extreme speed
A heavy snow, which covered the winding and stretching National Bobsleigh Center with a layer of silver, also made the nickname "Snow Dragon" and the snowmobile race held here more "appropriate". In the women's singles snowmobile race that ended on February 14, China's Huai Mingming and Ying Qing ranked sixth and ninth respectively.
At the Beijing Winter Olympics, the Chinese team participated in the whole project of sleds, steel frame snowmobiles and snowmobiles for the first time. 130.1 km, 129.7 km, 122.1 km, this is the fastest speed achieved by bobsleigh rider Fan Duoyao, steel frame snowmobile runner Yan Wengang and snowmobile rider Huai Mingming in the "Snow Dragon".
Because of the speed of the race, bobsleigh is often compared to the world Formula 1 car, known as "Snow F1". Competitors pursue extreme speed, in addition to superb driving skills, but also need to be indomitable courage.
In the game, the gap is often between milliseconds. Yan Wengang also temporarily ranked fourth with a gap of 0.05 seconds after the third wheel of the men's steel frame snowmobile on the 11th. Plunge into the "Snow Dragon" along the Xiaohaituo Mountain "down the river", gallop on the track with a total length of 1975 meters and a vertical drop of more than 120 meters, rushing through 16 curves with different angles and inclinations, including a rare 360-degree slalom, each player has to withstand the double pressure of physical and mental, to pursue extreme speed skating. In the final round, Yan Wengang slightly shook his head to change direction, pressed his shoulders and knees down to control the center of gravity, always marched in the middle of the track, did not touch any section of the ice wall, and fought back a bronze medal with just the right round of sliding.
"Be brave when you start, and then you have to calm down and make a quick turn," Huai Mingming said, saying that there is no way to cross every bend, and every mistake in the corner may make all the efforts in vain. Being bold and careful is a test for every challenger on the bobsleigh and the charm of the sport.
"Ballet on Ice", the emotion is the most moving
On the evening of February 18, the figure skating pair skating short program competition will kick off at the Capital Gymnasium. The Chinese team combinations Sui Wenjing/Han Cong, Peng Cheng/Jin Yang will join forces. Four years ago, at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, Sui Wenjing and Han Cong missed the gold medal with a slight margin of 0.43 points, and now they are back on the Winter Olympics with the song "The Golden Bridge on the River of Sorrows" when they first reached the podium of the World Championships. At the same time, this will also be the second Winter Olympics that Peng Cheng and Jin Yang will participate in after the combination, and it will also be Peng Cheng's personal third Winter Olympics.
In the previous competition, the ice dance group Wang Shiyue / Liu Xinyu appeared twice in costumes with the meaning of "only this green", interpreting the Chinese-style free dance program elegantly and movingly, and echoing the competition venue, as if dancing in the painting.
Figure skating is known as "ballet on ice", a competitive competition, but also an artistic performance. Single skating, pair skating and ice dance, each set of programs is a complete work, music, costumes, performances, action choreography, presenting a unified personality style. In addition to the difficulty of the action and the quality of the completion, the athlete's stage performance and interpretation of the music will become an important consideration for the referee's scoring. Dressed in exquisite competition uniforms and dancing to the beat, the athletes showed their pursuit of art and beauty while completing the program.
The choreography of figure skating programs is an expression that is often incorporated into the stories and emotions of the athletes themselves. Sui Wenjing/ Han Cong's classic song "Golden Bridge on the River of Sorrow", which will be reinterpreted at this Winter Olympics, is elegant and solemn, expressing the feeling of farewell when parting. The duo is good at interpreting stories in competitions, can well integrate personal emotions into it, and the two have come all the way, trusting and supporting each other, and this show is exciting.
Reporters Chen Chenxi, Liu Shuoyang, and Ji Fang
(People's Daily)