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International Online Report (Reporter Wang Xiaoyan): Su Yiming, a snowboarder who won two medals for the Chinese delegation at the Beijing Winter Olympics, celebrated his 18th birthday on February 18. His coach Yasuhiro Sato said in an exclusive interview with reporters the first day that he hoped that Su Yiming would become a person who could contribute to the world. What kind of feelings are there between Su Yiming and Coach Sato? What kind of experience did coaching Su Yiming bring to Sato?
Su Yiming said: "Teacher Sato can be said to be a teacher who changed my life. Today's achievement is not only for me, I think it is also an unforgettable (achievement) for him, and our efforts over the past four years have not been in vain. ”
On February 15, the men's big jump final of snowboarding at the Beijing Winter Olympics, before leaving, Su Yiming and Sato hugged. (Picture from Visual China)
On February 15, after winning the gold medal in the men's big jump in snowboarding, Su Yiming expressed his gratitude to Yasuhiro Sato after the game.
In the day's snowboard jumping competition, after the first two jumps had ensured the highest score in the whole game, Su Yiming hugged Coach Sato and cried loudly, crying and saying "I did it" and "I Love you" in English while crying, so that everyone who saw this video could not help but break their defenses.
Sato told reporters that before the jump, he and Su Yiming stood side by side at the beginning of the track, cheering for the beloved disciple with a sentence of "I Love you". He said that this was a sentence that naturally flowed in his heart at that time, and in that situation, only this sentence was the most appropriate.
Yasuhiro Sato said: "The situation forced us to get this gold medal, which is not easy."
A week ago, due to a misjudgment that the referee himself also admitted, Su Yiming was second in the men's veneer slope obstacle course. The incident triggered strong calls from Chinese netizens for a change in the verdict. In the face of the surging wave of accusations, Coach Sato and Su Yiming called on everyone to remain calm and understand the difficulty of refereeing work in the form of an open letter. The open letter pointed out that it is very difficult to dare to openly admit misjudgment, please respect their work.
After the open letter was published, the mood of netizens was slowly calmed, but it also added pressure to Su Yiming's next competition - because the open letter also mentioned that this result will become the motivation for Su Yiming to win gold in the next project.
Yasuhiro Sato said that Su Yiming's ability to always put himself in the shoes of others is his greatest strength.
Yasuhiro Sato said: "Xiaoming's outstanding performance at the Beijing Winter Olympics has brought him the strongest feeling that those who have the ability to climb the podium must not only have the strength and endowment to match it, but also have a heart that knows how to understand others." Some people say that athletes need a strong heart, and when the strength comes up, the heart will naturally be strong. But I think it's more important to be considerate and respectful of others, and in the end it's love, and love is the most important thing!" “
Yasuhiro Sato is known as the "godfather of snowboarding" in Japan, and Japanese athletes such as Reeko Iwasawa and Ken Otsuka, who also appeared in the Winter Olympics, are his students. Four years ago, Sato was invited to coach the Chinese team, which also gave Su Yiming the opportunity to finally learn from Yasuhiro Sato.
At the Beijing Olympics, a total of 51 foreign coaches from 19 countries coached the Chinese team, but Sato opened a new model - wearing the uniform of the Chinese team, but coaching both Japanese and Chinese teams at the same time. This is also the condition listed when he accepted the invitation of the State General Administration of Sport at the end of 2018 to coach the Chinese snowboard national team. The reason is that many of the players selected for the Japanese national team this time are also players who have been coached by Sato for a long time. Thanks to Sato's guidance regardless of borders, Su Yiming was able to share coach Sato's instruction notes and have the opportunity to train with high-level Japanese players, which provided a good external environment for his rapid progress.
In Sato's photo album, there is a group photo of his favorite three people, taken in Colorado, USA, in December 2021, at the local snowboard World Cup, Japanese team member Iwano Reiko and Chinese team member Su Yiming gathered around him - two of his disciples won the championship in the competition. In an interview, Sato has repeatedly said that he is willing to transcend national borders and become a bridge of friendship between Japan and China through sports exchanges.
Yasuhiro Sato said: "Because of me, the athletes of the two countries naturally interacted, I really felt that I was a bridge, which was my happiest moment."
Sato said that after accepting Su Yiming as a disciple, he had the opportunity to deeply understand China and make many friends, which was also an important gain for himself. He appreciates the sincerity and frankness of Chinese, and after returning to China, he wants to tell the people around him that he hopes that the Japanese people will look at China with a more positive attitude and contact different cultures with an inclusive posture, so that people can have a fuller life. Coach Sato also issued an invitation to Chinese friends: "After the epidemic is over, there should be many Chinese friends who want to experience the soft powder snow in Japan, and I hope that while enjoying skiing, they can also feel the advantages of Japan and have a deep understanding of Japanese culture." ”
The 18-year-old of winter Olympic champion Su Yiming has just begun, and Coach Sato, who is also a teacher and father, also sent him congratulations and expectations: "I hope that Xiaoming will maintain his original intention, continue to grow, learn more knowledge, and become a person who contributes to China and the world in the future!" ”