On the evening of February 15, Zhu Yi appeared on the figure skating women's single skating short program. Accompanied by the music of the Rolling Stones' famous song "Paint It Black", Zhu Yi, wearing a purple dress, appeared for the 12th time today. She had done this action in the team game, but when she made a mistake in the first move, she fell directly on the ice and ended up scoring only 47.03 points. After the game, Zhu Yi could not suppress his sad emotions and shed tears several times in an interview. In order to help her sweep away the haze in her heart as soon as possible, after the game, the Chinese figure skating team has been comforting and encouraging her.
Now standing on the ice surface of the first body again, facing the same music, Zhu Yi later the inner point ice three weeks jump connection after the outer point ice three weeks jump to open, this time she did not fall. After that, she successfully completed the whole set of moves, laughing and completing the game. From 47.03 to 53.44, she didn't beat herself again this time.
What does figure skating mean to Zhu Yi? What was her Olympic selection journey like, and what were her plans for the future? With these questions in mind, the Celebrity Hall living room conducted an interview with Zhu Yi. From her answers, we can see a more authentic Zhu Yi - a serious, sincere 19-year-old girl who strives to chase her dreams.
Celebrity Living Room: What was your exposure to figure skating? What are your feelings for figure skating?
Born in 2002, Zhu Yi grew up in the United States, began to be exposed to figure skating at the age of 7, and won the women's singles championship in the rookie category of the National Figure Skating Championships in 2018. In September of the same year, Zhu Yi joined the "Morning Road Project" Chinese figure skating training team with former Chinese figure skater Chen Lu as the head coach. In 2019, Zhu Yi joined the Chinese nationality and began to represent China in international competitions.
Reviewing the previous Figure Skating Team Competition at the Beijing Winter Olympics, Zhu Yi's performance was not satisfactory.
Zhu Yi: In the past few years since I returned to China, everyone in the national training team was particularly willing to help me, and when I couldn't understand it and express it clearly, they were never in a hurry, but they patiently explained to me what this meant and what that meant. They also taught me dialects, for example, I found that northeast chinese especially like to use "what", what to do, what do you see, similar to this, especially interesting.
Celebrity Room: How was the practice after returning home?
Zhu Yi: But no matter what, it is a fact that you fell and jumped on the field, and you cried before the game was over. Any explanation is pale in the face of mistakes, and for Zhu Yi, there is only one way to prove himself, that is, to compete well on the field.
Today, Zhu Yi finally defeated that fragile self and finished the game with a smile.
Celebrity Lounge: A figure skater has to go through countless falls before jumping a successful jump. What is supporting you to continue with figure skating?
Zhu Yi: Figure skating training is very hard, but every athlete who loves this sport has put a lot of effort into it, and it is not easy for everyone, not only me. And because the practice process is very hard, you want to make yourself stronger and love this sport more. For me, I want to be better every day than the day before, I want to improve myself in every practice, every game. Since I returned home, I have always thought so and worked so hard. This idea supported me to continue to figure skate.
Celebrity Gallery: You qualified for the Beijing Winter Olympics after the audition, can you share your experience of participating in the Olympic Trials? What is the atmosphere in the team?
Zhu Yi: The selection competition is a total of 3 stops and 5 games, and the 4 individual bests are selected to add up, and the player with the highest total score participates in the Beijing Winter Olympics. All three of our women's singles players fought to the end, and my overall score was a little bit higher.
Before that, I competed in the Italian leg of the Grand Prix of Figure Skating and got my first taste of the World Series. With the guidance and help of the coach, my mentality has been greatly improved in a short period of time, and I have set a new personal sports career in Turin, and this experience has given me more confidence in participating in the trials.
My teammates have had great results in the past and we have competed together. In the auditions, the morning was shorter than the program, and the afternoon was more free skating, which was the first time we had experienced such a strong competition. When there is no game, the training is constantly repeated. I know we all feel a lot of pressure because we really all really want to succeed and all three of us girls have great things to do.
I am especially grateful for the opportunity to train with them and play against them. The atmosphere within our team is good, and everyone supports each other and understands each other. Because all three of them are fighting for their dreams together, they understand each other's feelings.
Celebrity Gallery: You once said that it is your dream to represent your country in the Olympic Games. What does it mean for you to really stand on the field of the Beijing Winter Olympics now?
Zhu Yi: For me, the meaning is super big, super super big. I went to the scene to watch the men's singles free skating competition before, saw Jin Boyang's performance, and was so moved that I couldn't hold back tears at all. For us, in the past 4 years, there have been many difficulties and challenges, I have suffered large and small injuries, and I will feel lost because of loss, thinking that I have come here? In the most difficult time, the belief that supported us was to represent China in the Olympic Games, and my teammates also gave me great support and encouragement to find myself again. I am very grateful to be able to stand here.
Of course, judging from this result, Zhu Yi's score still does not have any competitiveness, and such a result is not surprising. As Wang Yumin, chief referee and international referee of the Chinese Figure Skating Olympic Selection Tournament, said, objectively speaking, the overall level of women's single skating in the mainland is still low, compared with the world's top level represented by Russian female athletes, there is still a long way to go from the mainland women's single skating.
Celebrity Living Room: You are 19 years old, how do you usually allocate time for study and training, and what kind of planning do you have for yourself in the future?
Zhu Yi: In order to better participate in figure skating competitions, I was temporarily suspended from school this year because the daily training intensity was very high, and I could only use my free time to teach myself. I especially hope that with the help of the platform of the Beijing Winter Olympics, more children in our country will feel the charm of figure skating, become interested in it, and more and more good seedlings will emerge.
I know that our women's singles are still far from the top international level, and I really hope to see its development and progress. In the future, I may choose to be a figure skating coach, fight side by side with our coaching team, and also want to invite high-level coaches from abroad to work together to help improve the strength and level of this project at home. Just thinking that there may be small players here who will slowly grow up and eventually represent China on the podium of international competitions, I think there is nothing more fun than this.