Many viewers still remember the lonely figure.
On the evening of February 8, in the men's 1500 meters of speed skating, Ning Zhongyan, who was called the "Golden Boy of China" by the International Skating Federation, regrettably missed the medal.
The 7th place result, although it is already the best place for Chinese athletes in the Winter Olympics, Ning Zhongyan, who has been optimistic before, did not leave the venue for a long time after the game, and he slid lap after lap on the track alone.
There was no staff to persuade him to leave, his teammates and coaches were watching silently, and everyone knew that this quiet lad needed time to heal his wounds on his own.
On the afternoon of February 18, the final of the men's 1000 meters of speed skating once again opened the curtain at the National Speed Skating Hall "Ice Ribbon", compared with 1500 meters, 1000 meters is Ning Zhongyan's sub-event. In the end, Ning Zhongyan gritted his teeth and slid as hard as he could to get 1:08.60 to finish 5th, and Dutch star Thomas Kroll won the gold medal with a time of 1:07.92.
The victory or defeat of this final is between millimeters, from thomas Kroll's first place to Ning Zhongyan's fifth place, the gap is only fleeting, it can be imagined that for the sake of honor, Ning Zhongyan has used his own flood power, compared to the unexpected defeat in his main event a few days ago, this time on the 1000-meter track, Ning Zhongyan has defeated himself.
Born in 1999, Chinese speed skater Ning Zhongyan, although he did not have the opportunity to receive the podium, he has already written a new history of China's speed skating projects in the "ice ribbon" at his first Winter Olympics.
Unlike other skaters, Ning Zhongyan only started practicing skating at the age of 11, was selected for the Chinese speed skating team at the age of 19, and gradually emerged in international competitions.
Also since being selected for the Chinese speed skating team in 2018, Ning Zhongyan has used an ice knife to carve out the plump trajectory of his growth on the snow white ice.
"I just entered the national team to practice long distance, the results are not good, I also thought about giving up, in 2018 I trained as Zhang Hong's sparring partner for a long time, Zhang Hong's training and competition status at all times infected me, and I also established the determination to skate down and slide out!" Recalling the experience when he first arrived at the national team, Ning Zhongyan was also very emotional, "This is an experience of gritting his teeth and persevering, and now in retrospect, this experience is difficult to endure, but after the experience, it has also formed strength in our body." ”
In the 2019-2020 season, Ning Zhongyan participated in the first leg of the World Cup in Belarus and won the runner-up in the men's 1000 meters with a time of 1:09.220, thus breaking the medal drought of Chinese speed skating in this event. In the game, Ning Zhongyan's amazing back-distance speed maintenance ability shocked the whole audience, and even the world famous player Nius, who was accustomed to seeing big scenes, said bluntly after the game that Ning Zhongyan's transcendence process was like a "rocket".
Since then, Ning Zhongyan's progress has also soared like a rocket, and in the 2019-2020 season, Ning Zhongyan ranked second in the main men's 1500m World Cup standings, second only to Nius.
The fame of the first battle has become the best annotation for Ning Zhongyan this season.
Time to the 2021-2022 season, the "Chinese Golden Boy" Ning Zhongyan continued to play bravely, in the World Cup 4 races 3 times to participate in the main event 1500 meters of competition, including in the second stop Norway to win the gold medal, in the first stop Poland station second only to South Korea's famous Kim Min-suk, in the third stop Salt Lake City station second only to the United States famous Joay Mandia, a total of 1 gold and 2 silver.
From obscurity to the peak, Ning Zhongyan, who spoke a little bit, step by step, conquered his opponents with strength, and also conquered the audience. The Beijing Winter Olympics is Ning Zhongyan's first winter Olympic trip, Ning Zhongyan said before the game, "their advantages may still be better in the middle and back, the disadvantage should still be 1000 meters in the first 200 meters, may also fall point speed, or a little slow." It wasn't particularly good at the starting point, what I needed to strengthen was the cornering technique because the corners were very fast. ”
Ning Zhongyan said that this is the first time China has hosted the Winter Olympics, and it is also the first Winter Olympics in his life, "I will do my best to complete my own projects." ”
Ning Zhongyan's Winter Olympic journey has come to an end, and there are inevitably regrets in the middle, but the experience behind the regret is also the nutrients that Ning Zhongyan needs more in the golden growth period.
Ning Zhongyan once said in a game, "The mountainside is always the most crowded, you have to go to the top of the mountain to see." "We believe that in the future arena, this wind-chasing teenager will set out again, and one day, he will also climb to the top of the highest mountain of the Winter Olympics."
As he wrote on his Weibo, "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!" Instead of bowing to the hardships of the past, nor being overwhelmed by the setbacks of growth, he was like a hard rock, standing majestically on the ice, looking ahead.
Xiaoxiang Morning News reporter Zhou Shihao