Biathlon? For this Winter Olympic project, most Chinese people think that it is "niche" or even "unpopular", but it is actually one of the seven major events of the Beijing Winter Olympics. By tracking the whole process of the 11 gold medals in biathlon at the Beijing Winter Olympics, the reporter was able to glimpse the other side of the project's "praise".
Chinese Cheng Fangming competes in the biathlon men's 15 km group race on February 18
On the first competition day, the reporter saw the "hot" scene of this "unpopular" sport. The day's biathlon mixed relay began at 17:00, the reporter set off at 14:00, after a transfer, about half an hour later arrived at the venue media center, only to experience "more early pedestrians", when the media center that can accommodate 220 people was full of people, in the reporter's impression, only popular football events will be so concerned, after continuous searching, finally had to share a partition with another foreign photojournalist.
Looking closely, most of the scene is European and American reporters, the reporter's left hand side is a Reuters photographer, opposite is a Norwegian reporter, and the language they do not understand is flying all over the sky. The mixed mining area is the world of foreign media reporters. So many foreign media on-site interviews are undoubtedly to meet the needs of the domestic audience to pay attention to the competition, and considering the epidemic, this demand must be extremely strong, which prompts the media to participate in the Olympic communication war on the spot.
As the competition progressed, the reporter noticed that most of the winners on the podium were familiar faces, and the winning athletes were basically from Norway, France, Sweden, Germany, the Russian Olympic Committee, Belarus and Italy, and their corresponding number of participants was also large, such as Norway and France each had 12 players, Germany and Sweden each had 11 players, and the Russian Olympic Committee, Italy and Belarus had 10 participants, and their total number accounted for more than one-third of the 213 athletes in the winter biathlon of the Winter Olympic Games.
On February 18, the participants competed in the biathlon men's 15 km group race
In-depth understanding, these award-winning athletes have brothers, sisters, and more family members include biathlon, alpine skiers or cross-country skiers. According to the official website, the sources of biathlon players in Europe and the United States are diverse, in addition to athletes, there are also students, teachers, police, soldiers or customs staff, and the depth of the biathlon mass base can be seen.
Due to its origins in Northern Europe, biathlon is known as the "national skill" in some countries. Norwegian coach Egil Kristiansen said that this (ice and snow sports) is a national sport, it is said that (everyone) is born with skis, "skiing and snow sports are part of our culture".
Regarding the attractiveness of biathlon, practitioners have more say. "The quick transition between skiing and shooting, the sound of shooting and the cheers of the audience is like a symphony." The biathlon competition of the Beijing Winter Olympics has not missed a single peak.
On February 16, the biathlon women's 4x6 km relay was held at the National Biathlon Center
Gao Feng is the CEO of Pizza Huts, responsible for the 2ndlon competition equipment and software services for the Beijing Winter Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, and since contacting biathlon in 2016, it has been impossible to receive, and now it is fully committed to the promotion of biathlon sports and industries. "The audience felt exciting, exciting, not to mention the contestants, and it was very challenging." Gao Feng said.
After continuous live viewing, the reporter also gradually explored the charm of biathlon, which combines the characteristics of skiing and shooting: always full of uncertainty. For example, in the men's 20 km individual race, some runners were the first to cross the finish line, but because of the large number of off-target (the total time of the off-target shot was added to the penalty of one minute), they were surpassed by the latecomers who shot accurately. If there are projects with intervals in departure time, the earliest may have completed the race, and there are runners who have just started later, and the results are unpredictable until the last moment. Another example is the relay race, and if you miss the target, you will be punished for skiing, which means that the winner is the one who laughs to the end.
Norwegian players at a medal presentation ceremony on February 16
On the evening of the 18th, the biathlon competition of the Beijing Winter Olympics was completed, and the Norwegian team ranked first in the biathlon medal table with 6 gold, 2 silver and 6 bronze results, followed by France, Sweden, Germany and other teams. Medals show that the strength is strong, and behind the strength is undoubtedly a huge sports population base.
Biathlon is sought after, although it is related to the natural conditions of some countries, but the charm of the project itself cannot be denied, the women's 15 km champion of the Winter Olympics, Germany's Hermann is a "loyal fan" of winter biathlon from cross-country skiing. In addition, factors such as sports tradition and high popularity also put the sport on the road of virtuous circle, the more attention and popularity, the better the results, and vice versa. This may be the only way to develop any sport.
Text/Xinhua News Agency reporter Wu Shuguang Guo Yaru
Photo / Xinhua News Agency reporters Jiang Hongjing, Mou Yu, Peng Ziyang, Dai Tianfang
Editor/Xu Zhao