"It's another layer of the glamour of figure skating, and the few minutes on the field are a highly condensed version of the athlete's many years of experience." Qi Jia said.
Tonight, the Beijing Winter Olympic Figure Skating Pairs Free Skating Competition was held at the Capital Gymnasium, and the Chinese duo Sui Wenjing/Han Cong free skating won 155.47, plus 84.41 points for the short program, with a total score of 239.88 to win the championship, achieve a figure skating Grand Slam, and win the ninth gold of the Winter Olympics for the Chinese team!
If ice fans were to name sui wenjing/Han Cong's most impressive moments, there must be a way for them to reach the top podium.
In the early years, Sui Wenjing always stepped up first on his own, followed by Han Cong. Later, Han Cong did not let her step, but hugged her waist and lifted her to the stage, performing the warmest scene of the coldest ice rink.
In 2007, 12-year-old Sui Wenjing and 15-year-old Han Cong began working together. Sui Wenjing, who is still growing up, seems to have "no waist", ice fans jokingly call her "bucket sister", and Han Cong's name is in harmony with "onion", so the two are named "onion barrel combination".
Today, the two have gone through 15 years hand in hand, enjoying glory and glory together, and also fighting injuries and setbacks together, and becoming strong in the international ice world.
Looking at the photos of their opponents on the podium over the years, you will find that they are always a lot shorter. Audiences unfamiliar with figure skating will always wonder: Why does Han Cong, who is only 170 centimeters tall, and Sui Wenjing, who is only 150 centimeters tall, always get on the highest podium? Where do the atmospheric fields in their small bodies come from?
When the "onion bucket combination" took a photo with the opponent on the podium, there was no advantage in height.
Silver "Turandot"
At the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics 4 years ago, in the figure skating pair skating free skating competition, Sui Wenjing/Han Cong, who ranked first in the short program and had a great advantage, appeared in the second to last place, playing the classic work "Turandot" by head coach Zhao Hongbo and female partner Shen Xue. However, under heavy pressure, they made two jumping mistakes when they first entered the Olympic Arena and regretted to win the silver with a difference of 0.43 points.
After the game, the two who missed the gold medal could not hide their loss. Han Cong said: "Today is a bit regrettable, lost the dream of gold medal in the Winter Olympics. Sui Wenjing smiled and patted him, complaining that he had expressed it incorrectly: "It should be said that it is a bit regrettable that I lost this gold medal, but what is the loss of my dream?" We still have dreams, the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, you wait!"
Qi Jia, the national team coach who coached two people in that Olympic cycle, told the Global People reporter that the whole team sighed for their missed gold medals. "But Xiao Sui this child is particularly good, and the feedback given to me is very short: Teacher Qi, in 2022, we must prepare a small bench to see me!"
Screenshot of the "Onion Barrel Combination" report of Global People No. 463.
From the moment he stepped off the podium of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, the "onion barrel combination" entered the Beijing Winter Olympics cycle. However, just after entering the cycle, Sui Wenjing was diagnosed with a fatigue fracture of her right foot. It can be said that the 4 years of preparation for the Beijing Winter Olympics are also the 4 years of the "onion barrel combination" facing injuries.
Surprisingly, the duo was restoratively trained to return to the world as fast as they could and make a splash. In the four continents figure skating championships in Anaheim, California, on February 9, 2019, the "Onion Barrel Combination" won the championship as soon as it came back, winning the gold medal in the four continents for the fifth time.
"I remember watching TV once, Sui Wenjing said to the camera: God knows what I have experienced in the past few years. Han Cong immediately continued: God knows what I went through. It sounded like a joke, but I really saw in my head what they had been going through over the years, so the tears fell down in a flash. Qi Jia said that unlike the "onion bucket combination" in the eyes of ice fans, the "God knows" ordeal experienced by two people in her eyes is clear and concrete.
"In fact, in every major injury, athletes face great uncertainty." Qi Jia said that athletes have higher requirements for the body than ordinary people, and many details that ordinary people tend to ignore are very obvious in athletes. "Girls, in particular, are in the period of physical development, and it is easy to lose shape without training for a long time. We have such an example, in the early years, the traffic was inconvenient, some team members went to Xinjiang to compete, it took a week or two to come back by train, and they became fat on the way and directly changed careers. ”
Surgery brings bedridden, athletes not only have to face the recovery of the injured part, but also face the impact of bed rest on the body, every uncertainty factor can lead to athletes returning to the ice rink after the movement is deformed. "So we know all too well that when they face injuries alone late at night, they are anxious and even afraid."
These are common problems faced by athletes around the world. On the track of the Olympic four-year cycle, overcoming injuries is inevitably part of the athletes' long-term competition. "It's another layer of the glamour of figure skating, and the few minutes on the field are a highly condensed version of the athlete's many years of experience." Qi Jia said.
Sui Wenjing/Han Cong and Qi Jia (right).
Rain, in your black eyes
At the last media open day before the game on January 5, 2022, a reporter asked about the injury of the "Onion Barrel Combination", and both laughed. It's not that they don't want to answer that question, but they want to present it in a more unique way. Figure skating team coach Zhao Hongbo once said that Sui Wenjing/Han Cong like to play the story of skating in the show, and this of course includes their experience of fighting injuries and setbacks.
At the beginning of the partnership in 2007, many people were not optimistic about the "onion barrel combination", the most important reason was the body. Qi Jia told the "Global People" reporter that this concern is based on traditional experience, "From the point of view of stature, they are indeed small, but from a professional point of view, the two figures are a natural golden ratio, especially perfect!"
Based on this cognition, the "onion barrel combination" has never been self-doubting, but has always used its strengths and avoided its weaknesses, Sui Wenjing always said in disbelief when facing the camera: "When others question you, you use your efforts to defeat their doubts, which is still quite cool!" For example, our movements are more coordinated and more aligned, and when the double turn we look about the same length, and the extra points are better. ”
She and Han Cong have always had such a consensus: the back of the huge disadvantage must be the same huge advantage. They want to tell people from all walks of life with practical actions: "If we can all find the energy behind this, then everyone can surpass themselves." ”
On November 3, 2017, at the China Cup Figure Skating Grand Prix, Sui Wenjing/ Han Cong performed passionately.
"Why are they able to stand on the world's highest podium?"
Qi Jia, who was in charge of art direction at the time, could easily give the answer - in the group training of figure skating, the coach would arrange how many actions to complete in the specified time. Most combinations are in order, completing the prescribed movements and ending the training, and some combinations do not even complete the task. "And Sui Wenjing and Han Cong can complete the training in advance at the specified time every time, so they can always leave extra time to practice the shortcomings."
Qi Jia remembered that there was a time when there was a problem with the movement of two people with one palm facing each other and reaching into the air, and the emotion, rhythm and breath were always out of place, and they practiced this action every day after the training task was completed. Later, the action of the two was printed on buses and subway stations. "I often use this example to encourage the players now, no effort is in vain, it will definitely be seen by others."
In Qi Jia's view, the way for the two to play to their strengths and avoid their weaknesses is very simple, that is, to constantly exceed the task and take the initiative to practice. But this kind of training will inevitably bring about an increase in injuries and risks. "Every figure skater has large and small scars on his body, and the girl's feet can be said to be full of holes and deformed, even in the summer, she can't wear sandals." For figure skaters, these are unique glory "medals".
On the eve of the 2019 Saitama World Figure Skating Championships in Japan, Sui Wenjing, who had just recovered from injury, fell back on the ice during his preparations, and this time the situation was much more serious than before.
"It was when the male partner threw the female companion up and then caught it, and I felt that for a minute, I was out of breath, and there was a force inside that was resisted." Sui Wenjing could not describe the pain at that time, but from the expressions of the two later narrated, it could be seen that there was still a palpitation in his heart.
On February 25, 2018, during the figure skating exhibition game of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, Han Cong threw Sui Wenjing into the air and staged a difficult twist.
Han Cong said helplessly, "If it hurts me, it's okay, but the pain is on her, and it looks uncomfortable." The team doctor who gave Sui Wenjing acupuncture also comforted and teased her: "You fall once to get a world championship." ”
In the end, the "Onion Bucket Group" actually won the championship in that competition, winning their second World Championships double skating title, and the duo performed the song "Rain, in Your Black Eyes".
The two have performed the song by the talented Italian musician Esso Bosso in several competitions. The music shows the wild vitality from light rain to heavy rain, conveying The powerful spiritual world of Bosso. At the age of 30, Bosso suffered from cancer, although the tumor was removed, but he also suffered from neurodegenerative diseases and functional disorders, but he did not succumb to fate and became a classical music composer and orchestral conductor, conducting the world's top London Symphony Orchestra.
"Onion Barrel Combination" integrates the understanding of fate into this program, using different rhythms and amplitudes of technical movements to perfectly interpret the rain from small to large and the tenacious struggle against fate, and the creation of Bosso has the effect of qinser and singing. Shen Xue, who was at the scene, said that many judges familiar with Bosso and the "Onion Barrel Combination" were in tears after watching the performance.
"Figure skating is pleasing to the eye and makes you laugh together, it's just the beginning. But the real figure skating master is to slide you to cry, which must require a wealth of life experience. Qi Jia said that to some extent, figure skating is a "youth meal", which conflicts with rich life experience, but setbacks have just created a rich experience of "onion bucket combination", so that their interpretation is natural.
On March 21, 2019, at the Saitama World Figure Skating Championships in Japan, Sui Wenjing / Han Cong won the crown.
Become your "Golden Bridge"
Due to the special nature of pair skating, the partners must be integrated in many cases, which determines how far the two can go.
In addition to "Rain, In Your Black Eyes", another show performed by "Onion Barrel Group" with high frequency is "Golden Bridge on the River of Sorrows".
The original song of the Cantonese song "Gushing a Thousand Hearts" by Hong Kong singer Tam Wing Lin, China, comes from this song: "Use your sincere heart, drive away the pain and torture, go to help together, go to help together, sing this song in unison, gushing, stepping over together..."
The original English lyrics of this song also express that after people encounter the blow of life, friends should lend a helping hand and help each other with all their strength: "When the darkness comes, pain surrounds you, I will become a part of you, I will fall for you, I will fall for you, like a golden bridge across the river of sorrow, I will fall for you..."
In the 15 years of working together, Sui Wenjing and Han Cong must not only become the "rain" in each other's "black eyes", but also become the "golden bridge" on the "River of Sorrows" in each other's lives.
In Qi Jia's eyes, Sui Wenjing and Han Cong's partner are a perfect match, and there are many complementarities in their personalities.
In a quick Q&A, the reporter asked the two sides to compare animals. Sui Wenjing compared Han Cong to a spider: "Brother Cong's mind is meticulous and rigorous, a bit like spider weaving webs, there are bugs coming, and they are locked at once." Han Cong likened Sui Wenjing to a tigger: "She's just bouncing around." ”
As a bystander, Qi Jia's evaluation is basically the same. She told the Global People reporter that the Sui Wenjing and Han Cong in her eyes are the relationship between Sun Wukong and Rulai Buddha: "Han Cong is older, smarter, and has planned all his ideas and layouts well. Sui Wenjing seemed to be twittering, lively and cheerful, but everything could not jump out of the palm of Han Cong's hand. Some details left a deep impression on Qi Jia, "For example, during training, the two went to the sidelines to listen to the coach's guidance, and Han Cong immediately pulled Sui Wenjing to continue practicing, controlling the rhythm and squeezing time. ”
These seemingly mundane details are crucial for figure skaters.
"Any pair of partners is a comrade in the trench, equivalent to sharing a brain's left and right hands, if the hands fight, either you obey me or I obey you." 」 Qi Jia said that many partners who eventually separated were not because of any big contradictions, but because of trivial details in life.
"For example, there was no competition recently, I won't practice today, or let's skate less, okay?" If there is disagreement, the dance partner will be unhappy: already tired, can not take a day off? "For another example, the success rate of boys in single jumping is higher than that of girls, girls generally blame themselves, then boys are very critical, if there is a lack of understanding and encouragement, it is easy to have contradictions."
These details of life are not solved by the coach, mainly depending on whether the values of the two people are consistent, "Adolescent developing children often have to adjust and change technical movements according to physical conditions, is the dance partner willing or not?" Especially in the bottleneck period or decline period, when everyone is negative, even when I hate myself, do I still love the sport? Would a dance partner still be willing to partner with me? "For spectators and ice fans, the performance of pair skaters is only in the ice rink, and the trivialities of life are the real difficulties to face.
On October 29, 2021, the Figure Skating Grand Prix in Vancouver, Sui Wenjing/ Han Cong danced the ice rink.
In April 2016, Sui Wenjing underwent bilateral ankle surgery, which was her biggest surgery so far. When making the decision to operate, Sui Wenjing was nervous. Han Cong is also anxious, he can not leave his own training, but without a dance partner, can only practice by himself, "single skating, pair skating, ice dance share an ice rink in different periods, double skaters and single skaters practice together, it is very lonely."
Even so, during that time, Han Cong had to take an hour to the hospital to find Sui Wenjing after a day's training, "In addition to psychological counseling, I also need to assist the bedridden Sui Wenjing to practice her upper limbs, if you really can't practice, then you lie down and watch me practice." Qi Jia said that this is a special encouragement and psychological hint, telling the dance partner in the difficulties of the career: We are one, I am also a part of you, your career is still there, we have never been separated.
At the 2016 ice festival, Han Cong unexpectedly danced a solo dance, and finally slowly walked to the corner, the light was given to Sui Wenjing, who was waiting in a wheelchair, and Han Cong pushed her to the center, taking her back to the ice rink in this way.
Finally, in August 2016, Sui Wenjing resumed training. After unimaginable hardships, the two finally made a comeback at the Four Continents Figure Skating Championships in February 2017 and performed "The Golden Bridge on the River of Sorrows", interpreting their mental journey over the past year, and finally winning the crown.
Later, Han Cong said: "We used this set of programs in 2017, when Sui Wenjing had surgery, and I had to wait for her to return to the ice rink and give her support and strength like a bridge." And when I did the operation, Sui Wenjing became my bridge again. ”
On February 4 this year, Sui Wenjing/ Han Cong made their debut at the Beijing Winter Olympics and performed "Mission Impossible 2" in the figure skating team competition, setting a new season best and adding 10 team points to the Chinese team. On the 18th, the two performed this short program again in the pair skating competition, taking it to the next level, scoring a new world record they had previously set.
On February 18, Sui Wenjing's fluttering hair was particularly eye-catching during the competition. Sui Wenjing said: "This is deliberately designed to make the show more flavorful, because such a flick of hair may be a little more different." ”
After four years, an upgraded version of "The Golden Bridge on the River of Sorrows" was played at the Capital Gymnasium. "Onion Barrel Combination" pins the feelings of special periods in the show. Sui Wenjing said: "At present, many people in the world are far away and cannot see each other, and I hope that our program will bring you the power of the 'bridge' and build a bridge with everyone." "This is also the voice that China is making to the world on the pair skating rink.
Qi Jia said that when ice fans across the country are eagerly concerned about the "onion bucket combination", few people know that the reason why Han Cong lifted Sui Wenjing to the podium every time stemmed from a sense of "taking it lightly", "Only a few of us know that the original intention of this action is to care for Sui Wenjing's injured feet." At that moment, Han Cong became Sui Wenjing's "Golden Bridge" again. (Source: Global People WeChat public account Author: Yang Xueyi; Editor: Xu Ye; Editor: Ling Yun)