Oriental Network Zhongxiang news reporter Chen Lina
Today, in the men's 1000 meters of speed skating at the Beijing Winter Olympics, Ning Zhongyan, a Chinese player who appeared in the penultimate group, skated 1:08.60 and finished fifth.
Many people use the word "dark horse" to describe Ning Zhongyan, more accurately, he is actually a real horse, and a blockbuster on the field is inevitable.
"Because my name is Ning Zhongyan" is the name of his social media account, domineering and confident. Most of the content on your account is related to daily training. This 23-year-old boy threw his whole person and heart into the world of ice and snow.
"Born like an ant, when the ambition of the birds is established, the fate is as thin as paper, but there should be an indomitable heart!" This is a sentence posted by Ning Zhongyan on social media in July last year, accompanied by him stepping on an ice knife and waving his arms. For the pursuit of success, in addition to their own talent, year after year, day after day training is the only way.
△ Source: Ning Zhongyan's personal Weibo account
Ning Zhongyan came into view for winning the men's 1500m at the Speed Skating World Cup in 2019. In the 4 races of the 2021-2022 Speed Skating World Cup, he stood on the podium five times and won 3 individual championships in the men's 1500 meters, men's 1000 meters and men's team pursuit.
Ning Zhongyan was born in 1999 in Mudanjiang, Heilongjiang. The northeast black land of 48 to 55 degrees north latitude, because of the unique conditions, the winter is very long, the ice and snow conditions are good, and the good winter sports atmosphere has cultivated many famous players in China's ice and snow sports.
Learning speed skating since childhood, Ning Zhongyan can be said to have grown up on the ice.
△ Ning Zhongyan participated in the 2021 ISU Speed Skating World Cup Stavanger Station. (Source Visual China)
"Without her, there would be no me now." Ning Zhongyan has not reported much public interview before, but in the interview, coach Wang Xiuli was mentioned many times, and in 2018, Ning Zhongyan was selected by Wang Xiuli to join the national team, "My achievements have improved by leaps and bounds, and I have also created history for China, which is inseparable from Coach Wang." ”
Wang Xiuli, a well-known figure in Chinese speed skating. At the Calgary Winter Olympics in Canada 34 years ago, Wang Xiuli, who was at the peak, held her breath of strength, "China has not won a medal since participating in the Winter Olympics in 1980. "She made up her mind that she couldn't go home empty-handed.
△ Wang Xiuli data map (Source: Network)
Before the game, in order to prevent colds, Wang Xiuli asked for some medicines from the team doctor, and it was the ingredients in these proprietary Chinese medicines that made Wang Xiuli suspected of taking doping and banned for 15 months when the Winter Olympic Games were about to start.
After investigation afterwards, it was a misdirection incident, because Wang Xiuli took the cold proprietary Chinese medicine "Huazhi Weixiong". The responsibility is not for the athletes, but for the low level of management and use of drugs in the mainland at that time, which could not keep up with the development of the world's sports level.
"When I learned the news of the ban, the tears fell down lifelessly, collapsed, and the whole spiritual pillar collapsed." Wang Xiuli recalled afterwards that the whole thing was like a nightmare, and all the hard work and momentum that had clenched her teeth before had turned into a bubble because of a pill.
"You don't have to prove your grades, you will always have to carry this 'black cauldron' in this life." This rather harsh sentence made Wang Xiuli return to the training ground.
After the 15-month ban expired, she finally used the women's 1500m title to "snow shame" at the World Championships in Canada – which not only made her the first women's speed skating world champion in China, but also the second world champion to win the world championship after Luo Zhihuan won the gold medal in the 1500m at the 1963 World Championship Chinese s.
After retiring from the military, Wang Xiuli went to Calgary, Canada, to coach, and took Hughes, who trained as a cyclist, to the podium of the Winter Olympic Championships, making him the second athlete in Olympic history to win medals in both the summer (Hughes won two bronze medals in the women's road time trial and the women's road race at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics) and the Winter Olympics.
In addition to Hughes, some other Canadian speed skaters have also been mentored by Wang Xiuli, the most famous of which is the famous Klassen, who won 5 medals at the Winter Olympics in Turin.
In 2017, Wang Xiuli, who has been coaching in Canada for more than 20 years, returned to China in a low-key manner to meet the final challenge of her career. "This is the last stop of my career, I just want to leave my 'skills' to China, train more excellent speed skaters, and achieve better results for China."