On February 19, the final pair skating free skating competition in the figure skating event of the Beijing Winter Olympics ended, and the Chinese duo Sui Wenjing and Han Cong won the championship with a total score of 239.88 points, winning the ninth gold medal of the Beijing Winter Olympics for the Chinese sports delegation! In the short program competition a day ago, the Chinese group scored 84.41 points, breaking the world record they set in the team competition in the pair skating short program. In the free skating competition, the two of them continued to be in good shape, and the last appearance of them finally scored 155.47 points. After 15 years of partnering, Sui Wenjing/Han Cong finally fulfilled their Olympic gold medal dream in Beijing!
In the final, Sui Wenjing and Han Cong faced great pressure, especially in the three Russian pairs they had played before, showing super strength and good form, constantly refreshing the highest score in the whole game, and the last Chinese combination to appear needed to face the challenge. Although there was also a mistake in the competition, Sui Wenjing and Han Cong successfully challenged the highest difficulty, and were the only pair skating combination in the whole game to make twists and turns around. After the game, Sui Wenjing and Han Cong hugged and cried, releasing the pressure and bitterness along the way. At the PyeongChang Winter Olympics four years ago, the "Onion Barrel Combination" missed the gold medal with a difference of 0.43 points, and now they are reborn in nirvana and bravely win the crown.
It is worth mentioning that in the audience of the "Onion Barrel Combination" winning scene, a five-star red flag was launched. This national flag is the same five-star red flag raised in Tiananmen Square on January 25 when the Chinese sports delegation swore an oath! This is a blessing from the Tiananmen National Flag Squad to the Chinese team. On the occasion of Sui Wenjing and Han Cong winning the championship, the audience held high this national flag with special significance and sang "Singing the Motherland" to celebrate this historical moment!
In the final, Sui Wenjing/Han Cong's free-skating track was "The Golden Bridge on the River of Sorrows", which was the song they used when they won the 2017 World Championships, and now it is re-enacted and has more stories and connotations. This song is gentle and elegant, solemn and classical, and the lyrics are to the effect that people are not alone when they encounter difficulties and are discouraged, because friends will lend a helping hand and help each other with all their might. Sui Wenjing and Han Cong incorporated their feelings after the injury into it, telling the story of the two of them supporting each other, working together, and returning to the field.
During the Beijing Winter Olympics, both Sui Wenjing and Han Cong suffered serious injuries. After the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, Sui Wenjing suffered a fatigue fracture of her right foot, and Han Cong underwent hip surgery in April 2021. On the day of Sui Wenjing's injury, Han Cong borrowed his female companion to practice lifting, and in the days of waiting for Han Cong's recovery, Sui Wenjing also maintained high-intensity training, which also allowed the two of them to regain their state in the shortest possible time every time. For these experiences, Han Cong once made a romantic interpretation: "In 2017, we used this track, 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. ”
After a difficult time, when Sui Wenjing and Han Cong took "The Golden Bridge on the River of Sorrow" to the Olympic Arena, they also injected more content into this program. Sui Wenjing said in an interview: "At such a moment, there may be many people who are far away and cannot see each other, I hope that through our program, we can bring you the power of the 'bridge', so that everyone can feel the beauty of the sport of figure skating, but also feel the support we give to everyone." Just as the Olympic slogan has been newly added 'more unity', we hope that through our program, we can build a bridge between the audience and with everyone, and everyone has a strength in their hearts, more united, to fight against difficulties together." ”
When Sui Wenjing and Han Cong were waiting for the points, it was Shen Xue/Zhao Hongbo, who hugged Sui Wenjing and Han Cong tightly before the two of them, who brought China's first figure skating Olympic gold medal. The two who are now coaches help Sui Wenjing and Han Cong to stand on the top of the Olympics again, so that the glorious tradition of the Chinese figure skating team can continue, and the skating competition ended perfectly with a precious gold medal!