Today is the 15th day of the Beijing Winter Olympics, and the schedule is nearing its end.
Reviewing the past ten days of competition, the emotions of the crowd have always been affected by the competition, cheering for the athletes to win the championship, and also regretting the defeat.
Some people once joked that in the game, the most lost is perhaps the runner-up, because he almost won the gold; the happiest may be the third place, because he almost can't stand on the podium.
Nine times out of ten life is not satisfactory, and so is the arena, there is never an eternal winner.
Today, we are targeting a group of palace troops who are just one step away from standing on the podium in individual competitions.
But it is precisely this "step" that makes more people understand why the Olympic motto is not gold, silver, bronze, but higher, faster, stronger, more united.
01 Short Track Speed Skating Men's 1000m
Fourth place
Wu Dajing
On the evening of February 7, in the final of the men's 1000m Group A of short track speed skating, Ren Ziwei won the gold medal in 1 minute 26.768 seconds, Li Wenlong won the silver medal in 1 minute 29.917, and Wu Dajing, who won the men's 500m final at the last Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, won the fourth place.
Compared with the regrets of netizens, Wu Dajing seemed very open-minded, "Congratulations to our Chinese team, congratulations to Ren Ziwei, who took this gold medal." As his teammate, I'm happy for him, and the tactics and coordination we played on the pitch were good. ”
In this game, there is a scene that has been played repeatedly since then - Wu Dajing helped Ren Ziwei to hold the position when he was physically weak, and touched Ren Ziwei's hand, signaling him to go first.
This detail between the two was bluntly said by netizens that "the defense was broken" and praised, which is the collective sense of honor of Chinese athletes.
The importance of Wu Dajing for China's short track speed skating is self-evident. However, when he first went to ice, many people were not optimistic, and even thought that he was not skating material.
Born in 1994, Wu Dajing began practicing short-track speed skating at the age of 10.
Wu Dajing has mentioned a number many times in interviews — 107 times. This was his first time on ice wrestling at the age of 10, and it was the starting point of his association with short track speed skating.
After joining the national team, Wu Dajing was immersed in a collapse every day, "the long distance Zhou Yang passed me, the short distance Fan Kexin passed me, and every day his self-esteem was hit." ”
After that, Wu Dajing quickly adjusted his state, "At that time, my heart was ready to suffer hardships and be tired, and if I wanted to become the main force, I had to work twice as hard every day than normal training." ”
Because of the perennial training of ice knife shoes, Wu Dajing's feet were seriously deformed. On a show, he said, "I have a pair of very ugly feet. ”
However, it was this pair of deformed bones, scarred and calloused feet that witnessed Wu Dajing's thorns and thorns all the way, gritting his teeth and persevering, and finally standing on the highest podium - the silver medal in the short track speed skating men's 500 meters at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, the gold medal in the short track speed skating men's 500 meters at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics...
You can walk off the podium and prepare for the Beijing Winter Olympics, how difficult these four years are, only Wu Dajing knows. As he grew older, Wu Dajing's state declined. This season, he has only won one World Cup 500m title, and because of a waist injury, he did not start to keep up with the big troop training normally until mid-September last year.
"I have to put in 120 percent of my efforts to fight for it at any time. For me, I'm not going to defend, I'm also going to fight for the championship, because there are too many people who can win the championship. ”
Fortunately, Wu Dajing, who tried his best, finally won a short track mixed gold medal, worthy of four years of hard work.
After the end, netizens speculated that Wu Dajing was going to retire? One of his tweets dispelled everyone's doubts.
Talking about his love for short track speed skating, Wu Dajing said: "We have been with each other for twenty years, and every time I get up, I feel at ease and at ease when I think of going to ice and training today, I think this is the texture of life that short track speed skating brings to me." ”
Talking about the expectations for the Chinese team, Wu Dajing said: "You can always believe in the combat effectiveness and cohesion of the Chinese short track speed skating team, an excellent collective, and we will continue to work hard. ”
Talking about whether he will retire, Wu Dajing bluntly said that he is "reluctant to say goodbye": "As long as the country needs it, as long as my body allows, I will always stand on the ice rink." Never admit it. ”
Wu Dajing, see you next time.
02 Figure Skating Men's Singles
Feather knot strings
At this Winter Olympics, when it comes to the super hot players, the Japanese figure skater Yu yusuke can not be circumvented, and the word most associated with it is 4A (Axel around the jump).
Single-handedly turning the technical terms in figure skating projects into the "big vernacular" in the mouths of the melon-eating masses may only be able to do it.
Why is Yusheng obsessed with 4A?
At the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics four years ago, Yusei successfully achieved the winter Olympics men's single skating double consecutive championships. After the game, he said in an interview after the game that he had won all the honors and stood at the top of figure skating, "All the motivation is only 4A, I have achieved what I can achieve, I have done what I can do, and the rest is only the goal I drew when I was a child." 4A is not a dream, it is a goal."
In the training since then, Yusheng has launched an all-out attack on the 4A.
In the case that the figure skating men's singles short program score of this Winter Olympics is not dominant, many people speculate that Yu Sheng will still firmly choose 4A in the free skating? If he doesn't succeed, will he miss out on three consecutive titles?
In the face of injuries and illnesses, and in the face of the voice that many people think they can seek stability, Yusheng has never wavered in challenging himself and challenging the limit. The pre-match free skating technical action schedule was announced, and the 4A was impressively listed, which belonged to his heroism and was also the unquenchable sports soul.
In full view, he jumped up in the air and spun rapidly, but fell to the ground when he fell on the ice. In response, he said, "I jumped out of the best and closest to success 4A in my heart." ”
Some people say that Habu is the "Prince of Ice", and some people say that he is "the male protagonist of the hot-blooded manga". There are too many honors in Yusheng's figure skating career, and it is only cumbersome to repeat, so I will only mention one game here.
In the 2014 China Cup, when warming up, Yusheng and mainland player Yan Han accidentally collided, and the scene was tragic. Both men suffered head injuries, including yusheng's head, jaw, abdomen, left thigh, and right foot joints. For minutes, he lay motionless on the ice rink. After a simple bandage, the coach advised him to give up the game, and he threw a sharp "Jump!" ”。
In the four-and-a-half-minute race, Yu Yu fell down five times, tried again and again, fell down and got up, but never thought of retiring and giving up. In the end, he still finished second with an overall score of 237.55 points, a thrilling game that was also dubbed "Blood Phantom" by fans.
You have to work very hard to appear effortless. The coach once said: Yusei's greatest talent is nothing more than desperate effort. The so-called geniuses and miracles are all exchanged for day after day of mechanical practice.
After the Winter Olympics, will Yusei retire?
"Until now, it is still my dream to successfully land on the '4A' (Axel Jump around). The answer Yusheng gave again was still the same as before, falling down and then getting up, never saying goodbye.
Yusei said that being able to bravely try that "4A" has fulfilled his childhood dream, "The moment I fell, it was when I was 9 years old that I pulled up the current me." After finishing all the performances, 'he' has already given his praise to me now. Looking back on this jump years later, I can still say, 'That's Habu's 4A, it's a high and beautiful jump,' and I'm proud of myself. ”
At the age of 9, when his peers were still afraid of falling, Yusei was able to shuttle to the ice rink alone, and he did not complain about getting back up after falling again and again.
Today, 27 he will still be like this, waiting for your 4A!
03 Snowboarding Men's U-Shaped Track Skills
Sean White
There are no eternal winners in the arena, and there are no eternal strong men in life.
On the morning of February 11, the men's U-shaped track skills of snowboarding ushered in the final, and the oldest ever participant in the winter Olympics event, the legendary American star Sean White, ended his career with an imperfect final jump.
At that moment, the applause of the audience was thunderous, and the tears in Sean White's eyes could not help but fall.
As one of the greatest athletes in the history of snowboarding, five-time Winter Olympic veteran Sean White has won the Winter Olympic snowboarding U-shaped pool championship three times, becoming the first snowboard triple in the history of the Winter Olympics.
In addition, he has won five summer extreme sports medals and twice won gold medals, making him the first snowboarder to win both summer and winter world championships.
In the snowboard world, Sean White is undoubtedly a "god-like being".
In Turin in 2006, the 20-year-old Sean White came to the Winter Olympics for the first time to stand on the top podium; in Vancouver in 2010, he was full of ambition to defend his title; in 2014, In Sochi, Shaun White, who tried to hit the treble, did not play well, only to win the fourth place. After that, he left the arena for a while to shift his energy to his band and brand.
Just when everyone thought that Sean White was no longer beautiful, in 2018, Pyeongchang returned to his familiar U-shaped pool and won his third Winter Olympic gold medal, when the biggest competition he faced came from the young Japanese player Hirano Who had idolized Sean White since he was a child.
Eyes back to Zhangjiakou. The final winner of the gold medal in the project was the "lost brother" Hirano Bumon, who always aimed at Sean White.
After the race, Sean White silently smiled at the finish line and watched the young athletes perform. Many of them, like Hirano Walk Dream, followed in the footsteps of Sean White into the world of snowboarding.
With the final wonderful jump to reverse the championship, Hirano Bumon and Sean White hugged each other tightly after the end of the game.
In an interview, Hirano repeatedly expressed his respect for his idol: "I have always looked for the strength of the challenge in Sean. He's been breaking through himself, and this time too. He's also pushing all the athletes forward. From Sean, I understand that I can only become stronger than myself, and this is the challenge I have to chase. ”
Many netizens were broken by this scene. On the Internet, someone posted a photo of the Hirano brothers with Sean White in their childhood: "A generation will eventually grow old, but there are always people who are young!" ”
Hats off, veteran!
04 Figure Skating Women's Singles
Camilla Vallieva
In this Winter Olympic Games, the every move of the Russian "three children" has always touched the hearts of the audience.
If the competitive characteristics of "Qianjin" Serbakova are stable, and "Sasha" Trusova is a technology, then "K Treasure" Valieva must be comprehensive, in gliding and jumping, she has almost no shortcomings, and is therefore called "Hexagon Warrior".
"Not surprisingly, the Winter Olympic champion is her."
However, the world is unpredictable, K Bao fell into the storm of drug testing, and the figure skating game that seemed relatively stable has become an undercurrent and full of variables. In the end, she bid farewell to her Winter Olympic journey with a fourth place in the women's singles, and after the game, she hid her face and cried bitterly, very sad.
Not yet 16 years old, K Po has been learning to skate for 13 years.
As a child, she appeared thinner than children her peers and often got sick. When she was three years old, her mother let her try sports.
Rhythmic gymnastics, ballet and figure skating are the three sports she is most exposed to.
"Rhythmic gymnastics was too painful, ballet was boring, and when my mother finally asked me to choose one, I chose figure skating, and I liked it so much." This love made her embark on the road of professional development at the age of 6.
In Russia, where figure skating talents are born, it is too difficult to stand out.
The hard training beyond ordinary people has made her almost all-round in figure skating, skill, art, stability, flexibility, expression, almost all aspects of crushing.
K Po always has his own unique opinion on his own show: "A butterfly landed on my hand, this butterfly is a symbol of my dreams, and I chased it throughout the show." At the end of the show, I caught it and let it go, as if I had fulfilled my dream and gained peace. ”
In 2019, K Bao competed in the international competition for the first time, and it was a blockbuster, winning the overall championships in France, Russia and the finals in the junior competition.
At the 2020 Junior Figure Skating World Championships, K Bao won the championship in one fell swoop and broke the world record for the overall result.
After entering the adult group at the age of 14, K Bao climbed steadily and broke the world record one after another.
Figure Skating Grand Prix Canada, K Bao broke the world record for free skating and total scores, won the championship, and became the first female player to break the 250 point mark; figure skating Grand Prix Russia, K Bao once again refreshed the world records of short program, free skating and total scores, and won the championship; The Russian Figure Skating National Championships, K Bao became the first athlete in the history of figure skating women's singles to break through 90 points in a short program, and successfully completed 3 kinds of four-week jumps in free skating. In the end, he won the championship with a total score of 283.48 points, once again breaking the world record held by the individual.
What's even more incredible is that her overall score is nearly 40 points higher than the second-place Sasha, achieving the first place in the fault line, which is also the biggest point difference between the champions and runners-up in the history of the Russian National Championships, creating history.
No one expected that K Bao, who was regarded as the number one seed in the figure skating women's singles of the Russian Olympic team, would end his trip to the Beijing Winter Olympics in this way.
There is no next edition, and no one can pack tickets.
After all, there are too many uncertainties in competitive sports, and the replacement of Russian figure skating women's singles talent is too fast. Either way, as IOC President Bach has said, hopefully her family and friends will be able to accompany her through her most difficult times.
The essence of sports is play, education. Nor should the charm of competitive sports be a championship or a medal.
A group of people with absolute talent and effort in a certain physical ability represent more of us, launching seemingly impossible challenges to the limits of human beings again and again, even if all efforts cannot be exchanged for "success" in universal values, but this shows the motivation and perseverance of human beings. This is the Olympic spirit.
Author: Li Chenyan
Edit: Wang Xing
Image source: Visual China