In addition to the naturalized athletes, there are 51 foreign coaches in the Chinese delegation to the Winter Olympics. They come from 19 different countries overseas, and at this moment they are gathered in Beijing, contributing to the "borderless" sports force in their respective positions.
At the Winter Olympics, these 51 foreign coaches were called "Chinese Red".
Text / Jenny Ma
Editor / Yin Haonan
The inscription is from Xinhua News Agency
When Chinese athletes win gold and silver at the Winter Olympics, have you found that they often have foreign coaches behind them?
According to the list of Chinese sports delegations for the Winter Olympic Games, the head coaches of 19 of the 23 participating teams are foreign personnel, and the total number of foreign teachers is 51. Most teams also have foreign trainers and masseurs to help Chinese athletes train and recover.
This figure is in stark contrast to the fact that there are only 12 foreign workers in the entire ice and snow project during the Sochi Winter Olympics cycle.
51 overseas coaches from 19 different countries, including Japan, the United States, Russia, Norway, and South Korea, most of them have rich coaching experience and outstanding field honors. For example, short track speed skating coach Ahn Hyun-so, Su Yiming's Japanese coach Yasuhiro Sato, biathlon Winter Olympics "Eight Golden King" Norwegian Bjordalen, snowmobile Winter Olympic gold medal coach Canadian Pierre, curling Winter Olympic gold coach Swede Pia and other people, all because of their excellent personal resume and coaching level, have attracted everyone's attention. They cooperate with the domestic coaching team to provide Chinese players with a variety of and international training methods.
"When the Beijing Winter Olympics bid was successful, many ice and snow projects in the mainland had not yet been carried out or the level of competition was low, and some projects could not even find a professional coach in the whole country. Therefore, hiring high-level foreign teachers is a necessary and inevitable move, and it is also an important move to accelerate the improvement of the level of ice and snow competition on the mainland." Before the opening of the Winter Olympics, Ni Huizhong, secretary general of the Chinese sports delegation, said in an interview.
The mainland's many achievements in this Winter Olympic Games are inseparable from the behind-the-scenes contributions of these "foreign faces".
01
The foreign coach behind the championship is also very strong!
Some of these foreign coaches have been in the Olympic Winter Olympics, some have helped to win the championship for many years, some have been popular on the Internet because of interesting talk, and some have realized their ideals and ambitions in China... Everyone's story is wonderful.
For example, "Frog Princess" Gu Ailing's coach , Brad Prosser.
Freestyle ski instructor: Brad Prosser
At this Winter Olympics, Jamie Gray Melton, who coached the Chinese freestyle ski team, was Gu Ailing's first enlightenment coach who entered the professional ski team for training. From Gu Ailing's childhood to this journey to win gold, he has been present.
Interestingly, when Gu Ailing was only 11 years old, Melton recommended Coach Brad Prosser to Gu Ailing.
Brad Prosser, who was also the personal coach of famous Kelly Hildaru and runner-up Tess Ludd, the runner-up of the women's big jump at the Winter Olympics, has a wealth of coaching experience for top ice and snow athletes.
Brad Prosser with Gu Ailing
In 2018, Prosen was an outstanding coach and was hired by the Chinese national ski team as a technical coach, mainly responsible for the U-shaped track skill project. In an interview with Discover New Zealand, he revealed that his teaching tasks in China included " technical skiing and mechanics skills , preparation planning and mental mental health and development " .
In 2020, he signed a separate contract with Gu Ailing to become her personal coach. She then helped her win the Winter Youth Olympic Games, Freestyle Skiing World Cup and other competitions. It can be said that he witnessed the rise of Gu Ailing's new star.
Prosser has helped Chinese players train
After Gu Ailing won the winter olympics this year, he said: "Gu Ailing experienced a magical moment, and all her efforts finally came together. I'm happy for her and proud of what she's accomplished."
Snowboard instructor: Yasuhiro Sato
With Su Yiming's good result of 1 gold and 1 silver at the Winter Olympics, his coach Yasuhiro Sato also became popular on the domestic Network in a special way - the "C language" blurted out by Yasuhiro Sato in the vlog, which brought Chinese audiences closer to him.
Yasuhiro Sato replied to netizens on Weibo, saying "I love China"
However, in addition to the humor and humor outside the arena, Yasuhiro Sato's coaching ability is also beyond doubt. He is regarded by the outside world as the "godfather of Japanese snowboarding" and has produced many outstanding players, such as Reiko Iwaso, Kenjun Oizuka, and Masa Onizuka, who were once his students.
After the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, he was invited to coach the Chinese team as the head coach of the snowboard jumping and slope obstacle course teams. Under his coaching, there has been a major breakthrough in China's snowboarding project. Women's jung made history and won the 5th place in the women's big jump, while Su Yiming became the youngest Winter Olympic champion in mainland history with a good result of 1 gold and 1 silver.
Jung was originally a student who practiced with Yasuhiro Sato, and in 2021, on Sato's recommendation, Jung was called into the national training team and was able to play for the country at the Winter Olympics.
Being able to break through himself, Su Yiming is also very grateful to the coach, he said:
"He has always supported and encouraged me during my toughest times. No matter how many videos I post every day, he will reply carefully to each one and tell me how to get better."
After Su Yiming won the award, the two masters and apprentices embraced with tears
It can be said that Yasuhiro Sato is really a competent and well-respected good coach.
Short Track Speed Skating Coach: Ahn Hyun-so (Victor Ahn)
As the coach of the much-watched Chinese short track speed skating team, Ahn Hyun-so also attracted much attention at the Winter Olympics. And because China and South Korea are short-term "wrongdoers", Ahn Hyun-so, who was originally a South Korean, has aroused great discussion and attention.
In the short track speed skating arena, Ahn Hyun-so can be described as a genius. He has won 3 gold, 1 bronze and four Olympic medals for South Korea: at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Ahn Hyun-so won the men's 1000m, men's 1500m, men's 5000m relay and men's 500m third. It also made him the athlete who won the most medals at the Turin Winter Olympics.
In 2011, due to his defeat in the South Korean national team and the contradictions within the team, Ahn Hyun-so finally joined Russia. At that time, then-Russian President Dmitry Medvedev personally signed a presidential decree granting Ahn Hyun-so Russian citizenship, and he officially changed his name to Victor Ann.
In February 2014, he represented the Russian team at the Sochi Winter Olympics, winning another 3 gold and 1 bronze medal with a total of 4 medals: the bronze medal in the men's 1500 meters, which was the first medal in the history of the Russian team in short track speed skating; the gold medal in the men's 1000 meters competition, achieving a breakthrough of zero gold medals in short track speed skating for Russia; the gold medal in the men's 500 meters; and the gold medal in the men's 5000 meters relay.
At that time, the champion Ahn Hyun-so (center) and Mwu Dae-kyung (left) also took the podium together
In 2021, after retiring, Ahn Hyun-so became the technical coach of the Chinese short track speed skating team, helping athletes such as Wu Dajing and Ren Ziwei prepare for the Olympic Games. He not only provides them with technical guidance on the sidelines, but also personally trains with Chinese players to help them improve.
China's short-track speed skater Han Tianyu once said in an interview that Ahn Hyun-so usually gives them some technical guidance, will also skate with everyone, and privately take care of them like a brother. And Wu Dajing and others also affectionately called him "Anshen", "Brother", etc., which shows how harmonious his relationship with Chinese players is.
Ahn Hyun-so (dressed in white) trains with a Chinese short-track speed skating women's team Photo: Yonhap News Agency
Short Track Speed Skating Coach: Kim Sun-tae
Kim Sun-tae's "fate" with the Chinese short-track speed skating team began much earlier than Ahn Hyun-soo' – from 2004 to 2006 and from 2010 to 2014, Kim Sun-tae coached at the Winter Sports Management Center in Changchun, China. During this period, he discovered several outstanding short-track speed skaters such as Zhou Yang.
In June 2019, Jin Shantai once again served as the head coach of the Chinese short track speed skating team. He then worked with Ahn Hyun-so to help the Chinese short track speed skating team improve their skills and prepare for the competition.
At the 2022 Winter Olympics, Kim Sun-tae and Ahn Hyun-so often appear in the same frame
Kim Sun-tae's winter Olympic results were not as dazzling as Ahn Hyun-so's, but he also won the men's 5000m relay championship at the World Short Track Speed Skating Championships and the World Short Track Speed Skating Team Championships. Off the field, his coaching experience is also very rich.
In May 2014, Kim Sun-tae became the head coach of the Korean short track speed skating team and the coach of the men's team. During his coaching, he led the Korean team to three gold medals, 1 silver medal and 2 bronze medals at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.
Rich coaching experience in the competition can be described as the "confidence" of Jin Shantai coaching the Chinese short track speed skating team. And his elegant behavior on the sidelines also left a deep impression on the Chinese audience.
Now, with the end of the short track speed skating competition, both Korean coaches have gotten up and returned home. The deputy leader of the Chinese short track speed skating team voiced on the social platform: "Reluctant to say goodbye, all the way safe", the whole team bid farewell to the two.
In the future, perhaps we can also see them "renew the frontier" with the Chinese team.
02
Foreign coaches are in China, and sports have no borders
On February 10, People's Daily published a commentary article entitled "Cheers for Cross-Border Exchanges of Sports Talents", which made the following comments:
"The Beijing Winter Olympics are getting better, and while the audience applauds the athletes' outstanding performances, the Olympic spirit is also guiding us to break the boundaries between people and countries: foreign coaches are in China, Chinese coaches are overseas."
"In the world of sports competition, examples of technology output and reference are not uncommon. Many foreign delegations have won the laurel under the guidance of Chinese coaches, and many weak projects in China have gone to glory under the guidance of foreign coaches."
People's Daily said that sportsmanship has no borders, and the flow of sports talents across borders is a normal phenomenon.
This is indeed the case. In the past few decades, there have also been athletes from the mainland who have helped other countries achieve excellent results on the field. Table tennis, fencing, badminton and other sports, there are Chinese athletes as coaches or athletes to help the development of sports in other countries.
Chinese cai has also helped the development of sports in other countries, such as Lang Ping, who also coached the American team
This kind of cross-border flow of sports talents has indeed made the competition more exciting, and it has also brought the emotions and distance of people of all countries closer. Su Yiming's coach Yasuhiro Sato said in an interview with the media earlier: "There is nothing better than making sports a bridge of Sino-Japanese friendship."
The coaching of Ahn Hyun-so, Kim Sun-tae and others has not only helped the Chinese team to improve, but also enhanced the feelings of Chinese audiences and them. Arguably this is the best of both worlds.
"Foreign coaches" does not mean that "China cannot do it", nor does it mean that "foreign countries are the best", what it really represents is a borderless exchange that is purely about sportsmanship.
Let's remember their names. At the Beijing Winter Olympics, these 51 foreign coaches were called "Chinese Red".
Attached: List of foreign teachers of the Chinese delegation to the Beijing Winter Olympics
Short track speed skating team: Kim Sun-tae, Ahn Hyun-so
Curling team: Lyntonholm Pitt Pia Rattle, Mariani Marco, Latamanki Tommy Olavi
Men's Hockey Team: Zanata Ivano, Kovalev Alexei, Bedos Clayton James, Carrera Jari Pica
Women's Hockey Team: Brian David Idarski, Stacy Lee Clarosi, Max Harrison Markowitz, Alto William Milinen, Mason Baptista
Freestyle SkiIng Aerial Skills Team: Dimitri Kavonov, Dennis Kapochik, Yevkini Bunonovsky
Freestyle Ski snow skill team: Toby Dawson
Freestyle skiing U-team: Jelena Chece, David Zweig
Freestyle Ski Jumping and Steeplechase Team: Misra Torni Ain, Daisuke Shirakawa, Jamie Gray Melton
Snowboard obstacle chasing team: Marcel Edward Andrei Matthew
Snowboard U-team: Timo Peca Cosqueira, Benjamin John Bright, Ti Maria Denise Romahr
Snowboard Jumping and Slope Obstacle Course Team: Yasuhiro Sato
Snowboard Parallel Giant Slalom Team: Kautnik Peter
Biathlon teams: Bjordalen Ole Einard, Amat Janpiel Bernard Andrey, Domraceva Dalia, Kustad Erek Batlitt
Ski jumping teams: Klinga Yani Marcus, Kutsaho Pekka Olavi
Alpine skiing team: Willy Bad Zenar, Quinta Gerrard
Snow Team: Pierre Fritz Luders, Yannis Millins, Florian Lind, Melvin Michael Reid
Steel-framed snow racing team: Marg Andreas Schmid, Kenny David John Howard
Bobsleigh Team: Wolfgang Heinrich Schedler, Robert Hubert
Cross-country skiing teams: Maksim Volkov, Nikita Kryukov, Kristian Bjune Sveen, Ole Marius Bach