In the men's 1000m race of speed skating at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics held on February 18, Ning Zhongyan appeared in the 14th group, and used all his strength to always lead the Dutch player Hein Otterspil in the same group, and finally crossed the finish line with a time of 1:08.60, but unfortunately this result ranked 5th among all the athletes, only 0.12 seconds away from the medal.
Turning the time back to February 8, after the men's 1500m race in speed skating, Ning Zhongyan, who finished 7th, could not hide his disappointment in an interview, and he said loudly "7th place, I am not convinced"!
If you are not convinced, you will do your best! Regardless of the outcome!
Born in 1999, the youngster entered the national training team in 2018 and came out of the world championship in 2019 to win the gold medal in the men's 1500 meters of the Speed Skating World Cup in Kazakhstan, becoming the second Chinese athlete to win the world championship in this event after Luo Zhihuan won the speed skating world championship in 1963. By the end of 2021, the 4-stop Speed Skating World Cup has won 3 gold and 2 silver in succession, repeatedly creating a new record for Chinese men's speed skating. This also makes all parties look forward to Ning Zhongyan's performance at the Beijing Winter Olympics.
However, it is precisely because of the "home battle" of the Beijing Winter Olympics, coupled with the "aura" of the impact of the championship, that the young player who participated in the Winter Olympics for the first time felt pressure. In the men's 1500m of speed skating, Ning Zhongyan, who played in the penultimate group, skated only 1 minute 45.28 seconds, nearly 4 seconds slower than his best time of the season of 1 minute 41.38 seconds. "It's definitely not my true level." Ning Zhongyan told reporters in the mixed interview area after the game, "It's still because the pressure is too much, after all, this is my first Winter Olympics, and I want to prove myself too much." ”
After the 1500 game, Ning Zhongyan and his teammates, coaches and family poured out their pressure, so that he could really let go in today's game. In today's post-match interview, Ning Zhongyan also said: "I am still relatively satisfied with this result, creating my personal best, but I did not stand on the podium, or some regrets." ”
Although in the speed skating event of this Winter Olympics, Ning Zhongyan's performance has been very good. But just as he once wrote a sentence that "the mountainside is always the most crowded, you have to go to the top of the mountain to see", for Ning Zhongyan, it is more important to surpass himself on the field.
Let go and forge ahead, although the result is slightly regrettable, but this spirit of youth and not accepting defeat is indispensable to climbing to the top of the mountain! This time, on the stage of the Beijing Winter Olympics, Ning Zhongyan surpassed himself!
And on February 19 (tomorrow), Ning Zhongyan will also partner his teammates in the speed skating men's collective departure competition, let's look forward to their surprises!