In just 3 years, from a fledgling star of the national team to the first time to participate in the Winter Olympics in the 3 events that have been carried out in the top eight, Ning Zhongyan, known as one of the "twin stars" of Chinese speed skating, used a touch of Chinese red to split a gap in the speed skating field of the Dutch team of the Orange Legion, showing the strength of China's new generation of speed skaters in the "ice ribbon". In the men's 1000m speed skating race on the afternoon of February 18, Ning Zhongyan won another fifth place.
On February 18, Ning Zhongyan competed in the men's 1000m speed skating competition at the Beijing Winter Olympics. Image according to Visual China
Good at overtaking in curves
Ning Zhongyan was only selected for the national team 3 years ago
If you put it in the past, from just being selected for the national team in the past three years to representing the motherland in the top event of the Winter Olympics, which is a top event in ice and snow sports, I am afraid that few people can turn this idea into reality. 22-year-old Ning Zhongyan did it.
Born in November 1999 in Mudanjiang, Heilongjiang Province, Ning Zhongyan was not recruited by the national team until 2018. Growing up in the city of ice and snow, Ning Zhongyan has shown a strong athletic talent since he was a child, and has become a key training object when he first entered the national team.
In the mouth of the industry, Ning Zhongyan can compete with his opponents in the straight, and when he enters the corner, he completely enters the field where Ning Zhongyan is good at, and repeatedly uses the opportunity of the corner to complete the surpass in the competition, so that he has a good competitiveness in the two events of 1000 meters and 1500 meters.
Even Dutch speed skater Rossett once expressed his appreciation to the young Chinese youngsters when facing the media camera, "He has proved that he has excellent ability in the 1000 meters and 1500 meters, the speed is very fast!" Receiving praise from the speed skating kingdom made Ning Zhongyan firm in his determination to win glory for his country at the Beijing Winter Olympics.
The pre-Winter Olympics were in good shape
Self-discipline is his distinctive label
In fact, in 2019, Ning Zhongyan has already shown his competitiveness in the speed skating arena at home and abroad. That year, he won the Men's Championship of the National Speed Skating Championships Short Distance Team Pursuit. What really brought him to the center stage of the world was undoubtedly that in December 2019, in the Speed Skating World Cup Nur-Sultan station, Ning Zhongyan won the men's 1500 meters championship with a time of 1 minute 44.91 seconds, and at the same time broke the field record and won the first gold medal of the Chinese male athlete in the World Cup event.
At this point, the speed skating field is not only the orange element representing the Dutch team, but also a bright Chinese red, which has become one of the focus of the world's attention.
Also in 2019, Ning Zhongyan actually achieved an achievement, he won the men's 1000m runner-up in the World Cup in Minsk, becoming the first Chinese player to win a medal in the event. You know, the best result of the Chinese men's team in this project was in the 1994 Winter Olympics, when Liu Hongbo won the fourth place.
On November 21, 2021, Ning Zhongyan performed well at the STAVanger Leg of the FISU Speed Skating World Cup. Image according to Visual China
Before the Beijing Winter Olympics, Ning Zhongyan gradually raised his status to a high point. Throughout the 2021-22 World Cup, Ning Zhongyan participated in 3 of the 4 races in the main 1500 meters and won 1 gold and 2 silver results; while in the sub-event 1000 meters, he skated 1 minute 06.656 seconds in Canada to achieve a personal best performance, which was also the first men's 1000 meters gold medal won by a Chinese athlete in an international competition.
In an interview earlier, Ning Zhongyan's foreign head coach had said that the 22-year-old youngster had a very sufficient physical reserve, but more importantly, self-discipline and hard work helped him get to where he is today.
At the Beijing Winter Olympics, Ning Zhongyan had to participate in a total of 4 sports. In the three events that have been carried out, he finished seventh in the men's 1500m race, helped the Chinese team to the eighth place in the men's team chase, and today finished fifth in the men's 1000m. Although he has not yet been able to reach the podium, it will also prompt Ning Zhongyan to continue to work hard, hoping that he will achieve good results in the men's collective starting competition on February 19.
Red Star News reporter Hu Minjuan Pei Han
Edit Bao Chengli
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