Beijing, February 19, 2019 Title: Behind the Participation of 300 Million People in Ice and Snow Sports: "All The Music" on the Road to a Sports Power
Author Bian Liqun
"At that time, the ice rink was crowded and empty, and now the legs can't be opened, like 'dumplings'."
The "time" Zhou Yi said was 2015. That year, China successfully bid for the Winter Olympics, and it was also that year, when she was in her third year of junior high school, she first came into contact with skating.
From the bid to host the Winter Olympics, to the presented by China to the world to present a simple, safe and wonderful event, with the realization of the goal of "driving 300 million people to participate in ice and snow sports", more and more people are throwing themselves into ice and snow sports like Zhou Yi.
If the achievements of competitive sports are compared to the "solo music" on the field, in the past ten years, the development of national fitness and the improvement of public physical fitness have outlined a picture of "crowd music" on the road to building a sports power and a healthy China.
Ski enthusiasts enjoy snow sports at Chongli Fulong Ski Resort. Photo by Zhai Yujia, a reporter from China News Service
From "ice fever" to "fitness boom"
On February 11, an ordinary weekday morning after the Spring Festival, this reporter went to an ice rink in Beijing's Shijingshan District. In the skating crowd, there are parents with children, groups of students, young couples, and adults. A small Xiaoice field has become the epitome of the national fitness boom.
According to official data released a few days ago, the number of participants in ice and snow sports in the country reached 346 million, of which 186 million in the northern region and 161 million in the southern region. Ice and snow sports are in full bloom in China.
Members of the public run and exercise in the gym. Photo by China News Service reporter Hou Yu
Not only winter sports, from running, table tennis, foot basketball, these traditional popular sports, to cutting-edge surfing, sailing, street dance... The depth and breadth of public participation in national fitness has developed by leaps and bounds in the past decade.
According to the 2020 National Fitness Activity Survey Bulletin, the participation of people over 7 years old in physical exercise increased from 49% in 2014 to 67.5%. The number of adults and the elderly paying attention to sports information accounted for 92.7%, an increase of 10.6 percentage points over 2014, and in the past decade, the Chinese people's attention to sports has increased day by day.
From "Audience" to "Protagonist"
With the opening of the Chinese Curling Mixed Doubles Winter Olympics, a "national curling carnival" swept across the country; after Gu Ailing won the championship, the search volume of "ski-themed homestays" on a certain platform soared by 3 times... While focusing on the achievements of competitive sports, the Chinese people are not only willing to be "spectators".
According to incomplete statistics, since November 2021, nearly 3,000 online and offline mass events related to the Winter Olympics have been held in various places, with more than 100 million people participating. Guo Dandan, China's first ski world champion, once told China News Network, "After the Beijing Winter Olympics, the public will have a new understanding of ice and snow sports." "This judgment has been preliminarily confirmed.
The PE teacher explains the "Land Curling" project to the students. Photo by Qu Honglun
In fact, "new cognition" has been formed as early as imperceptibly. Su Bingtian broke the men's 100-meter Asian record at the Tokyo Olympics, and Xiao Ran, who was standing in front of the TV, jumped up excitedly. Because of the busyness of life, he once gave up the habit of fitness, and now his desire for exercise is once again ignited.
"Competitive sports have a leading, exemplary, motivating and popularizing role in national fitness. National fitness also has a driving force for competitive sports, which helps to create a good atmosphere for sports activities, which lays a solid foundation for competitive sports and provides support for the selection of reserve talents. The two are interactive. Zheng Jiakun, a sports scholar and professor at the Shanghai University of Sport, told China News Network.
Aerial photography of Nanchang National Sports Football Park, the opening of the night football field, has become a good place for citizens to exercise and exercise at night. Photo by Liu Zhankun
From "Sports Powerhouse" to "Healthy China"
According to the Fifth National Physical Fitness Monitoring Communiqué, the proportion of people who reached the "qualified" level or above in the "National Physical Fitness Measurement Standards" in 2020 was 90.4%, an increase of 0.8 percentage points over 2014; the differences in physical form, physical function and strength quality between urban and rural residents were further reduced compared with 2014. The positive changes in the physical fitness of the Chinese people in the past ten years can be seen from this.
The 14th Five-Year Plan and the Outline of Long-term Goals for 2035 outline the goal of building a sports powerhouse and a healthy China. In Zheng Jiakun's view, including social sports, community national fitness, the development of grass-roots clubs and associations, community events, and the construction of fitness venues and facilities are all future development directions.
In the "14th Five-Year Plan" Sports Development Plan, these have been further put on the agenda. In 2030, China will basically build a three-level public sports facility network in counties and villages, with a per capita sports area of no less than 2.3 square meters, and achieve full coverage of 15-minute fitness circles in urban communities. In order to achieve the goals of a sports power and a healthy China, Chinese sports are racing against the clock.
On the roof of the office building of the State General Administration of Sports on Stadium Road in Beijing, 12 vigorous and powerful characters stand out - "Develop sports and enhance the people's physique". This is the original intention of China's development of sports, and it is also the goal of generations of sports people.
The children in the ice rink.
21 kilometers away from this building, the ice rink in Shijingshan District is still lively on and off the field. A 6-year-old girl is showing reporters how to do a good job of turning in figure skating. She said she often came here to play.
Another ice rink in the stadium is the ice rink, where a group of children are playing intently. At the same time, the competition for the Beijing Winter Olympics is still fierce.
"The future depends on their generation." A parent who was on the sidelines watching the game said. (End) (Some of the interviewees in the article are pseudonyms, and interns Guo Ziyi and Chu Yue also contributed)