Winter Olympic medal table.
Four years ago at the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, the Norwegian delegation topped the medal table with 14 gold, 14 silver and 11 bronze. Four years later, the Norwegian Legion is still strong.
On the 20th, all the competitions of the Beijing Winter Olympics ended, and the final norwegian team's report card was 16 gold, 8 silver and 13 bronze!
In fact, from the beginning of the first Winter Olympics in 1924 to the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, Norway won 405 medals (148 gold, 133 silver and 124 bronze), making the Nordic country the first place in the historical medal table of the Winter Olympics.
Like the myth of David and Goliath in the world of sports, Norway, with a population of less than 5.4 million, is a veritable king of the Winter Olympics – so what is the source of Norway's success at the Winter Olympics? What can Norway learn from China's development of ice and snow sports?
Johaiyug alone won three golds.
Skiing is part of Norwegian life
In most people's logic, in addition to the inherent climate and geographical advantages that can be adapted to local conditions, Norway should spend a lot on winter projects.
Interestingly, talking about Norwegians' financial investment in the Winter and Summer Olympics may make many people doubt life. In 2018, for example, Norway's annual budget for both the Summer and Winter Olympics was £13.7 million. In terms of the british Olympic Committee's total annual budget for that year, it was as high as 137.5 million pounds.
The huge gap in investment has not narrowed the distance between rivals and Norway, on the contrary, Norway has been steadily promoting the development of winter sports.
In the view of The Norwegian ambassador to China, the success of norwegian winter sports is not unexpected, "Outdoor sports in winter is part of Norwegian life. ”
Bussna explains that this habit is carved into the bones of Norwegians from an early age, and many children are "taken to play in the snow" by their parents at a very young age.
Johaiug won gold on both the first and last day of the Winter Olympics.
In this way, many Norwegians have fallen in love with winter outdoor sports, "and it doesn't cost anything." ”
Pyeongchang Winter Olympics triple-gold medalist and Norwegian cross-country skier Johannes Klebo joked that the Norwegian secret is simple, "We always say that we are born with skis, on rest days, everyone wears skis into the woods, everyone likes to do this." 」 ”
Guan Huiming, an adviser to the cross-country skiing national training team, was amazed by Norway's skiing heritage in an interview with China Youth Daily.
"Norway has a population of 5 million and nearly 3,000 registered skiers, while China has a population of 1.3 billion, but there are fewer than 300 registered athletes, and the proportion of athletes varies greatly."
"Skiing has become a part of the lives of the people of these Nordic countries, children can ski just when they can walk, and 20-year-old athletes may have more than a decade of skiing experience," Kwan said. ”
Johannes Tinnes Berger won four golds in biathlon.
Enviable all-weather playground
Even in the harsh environment of winter, Norwegians go outdoors, which allows Norwegians to establish a sense of closeness to nature, especially to cultivate a real interest in winter outdoor sports.
The Norwegian sports authorities have been working to give more children a regular place to participate in sports and winter sports, and the 11,000 sports clubs across Norway have become the starting point for these children to receive professional sports education.
"In these sports clubs across the country, 93 percent of children and young people regularly play sports." In the view of to Tom Twet, former president of the Norwegian Olympic Committee, "The national sport in Norway is precisely the sport of ice and snow, because everyone plays this from an early age." ”
In The Economics of Football, the famous sports economist Simon Cooper described the Norwegian government's support for national sports: "Even every farmer, every fisherman, no matter where he lives in the country, has the right to participate in sports. ”
Simon Cooper envied Norway's sporting infrastructure, "Just as supermarkets are all over the UK, there are all-weather sports fields everywhere in Norway. Even in the most unlikely corners of the country, there will usually be one built around the corner of your home. ”
"The stadium dressing rooms are warm and the coaches have earned professional diplomas. A kid can play and train on a suitable team for less than $150 a year, which is really not much for the Norwegian. ”
Norwegian teenager skier.
Love sports instead of focusing on competition
The large number of sports venues is not the key to Norway's success, after all, their strongest winter sport is actually cross-country skiing, which is not very demanding.
In the words of Bertha, "In Sweden and Finland, ice hockey and other ice sports are popular, and we are more focused on skiing. In Norway, if you open your door in winter, you can ski outside. ”
"We're not even going to develop bobsleighs and sleds like the UK and Germany, because it's going to be a lot of investment." Former Norwegian Winter Olympics player Assen appreciates norway's approach to developing athletes, "Even though we are a rich country, we believe that success comes from hard work and solidarity. ”
Norwegians have their own obsession with developing athletic talent – in sports clubs, it is forbidden to rank children under the age of 13.
"We want our children to play sports because they want to be involved." Torre Obrebo, an official at the Norwegian delegation, stressed that the focus of children going to sport is on other aspects, not on competition and winning, "they want to have fun, they develop not only to athletes, but more importantly to develop into social people." ”
Avrebo gave a Norwegian way of thinking about sports in general – we have a responsibility to provide sports development for the kids, not that I need so many kids to form a national team.
Do not give pressure and encourage athletes to develop well
Of course, athletes who perform well in the club are selected for admission to the Norwegian Elite Sports Centre.
This pyramid tip of Norwegian sports was established after the 1988 Olympic Games, and the Elite Sports Centre provides athletes with the best training facilities, coaches, and scientific aids.
More professional training also makes Norwegian winter athletes stand out. "It's a new way of thinking about sports. The president of the association is less important, and we want to involve professionals directly and cooperate efficiently. In Ofrebo's view, the strength of Norwegian cross-country skiing is inseparable from the elite sports center.
More importantly, Norway also pays attention to the development of different fields of winter Olympic players, and many winter Olympic players can play multiple competitions. Just like Norway's greatest cross-country skiing "queen" Bjorgan won a total of 8 gold, 4 silver and 3 bronze at the Winter Olympics when she retired in Pyeongchang, while in Pyeongchang she won 2 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze in 4 events.
Of course, the atmosphere of the Norwegian Winter Olympics delegation has never put too much pressure on the athletes, and even encouraged the Olympians not to talk about the games. In the case of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, the norwegian ski jumpers could play FIFA games on the PlayStation before the game, and they took a leave of absence before the last training session, the team approved, and finally they received a gold medal a day later.
For the star players, there will be no extra pressure, as if Colebo, who won three gold medals at the last Winter Olympics, for example, "We didn't discuss medals with him, we just said 'Tonight the Norwegian people will want you to perform'." ”
Norwegian Winter Olympics "Eight Gold King" Bjør Darren coached the Chinese biathlon team.
"China has a lot of potential"
Although Norway's experience cannot be copied, cooperation between China and Norway on winter sports is also unfolding in all aspects.
In April 2017, China and Norway signed the Memorandum of Understanding on Sports Cooperation, with winter sports becoming the focus.
In 2019, Norwegian biathlonist Bjørndalen, who has participated in the Winter Olympic Games six times and won 13 winter Olympic medals, began to coach the Chinese biathlon team and fully cultivate Chinese players.
It is worth mentioning that according to China Youth Daily, Norway has also put forward pertinent opinions on China's cross-border cross-item selection. Selecting athletes from rowing and kayaking events and practicing cross-country skiing across disciplines are the advice of Norwegian experts.
According to Morten, head coach of the Norwegian national cross-country ski team, rowing and cross-country skiing are each other's best off-season training programs. The two travel at close speeds, which ensures that athletes maintain advanced training in the same speed space and muscle memory. In addition, both sports require strong cardiopulmonary capacity and upper and lower limb balance.
Chai Chongyang, head of the cross-border material selection project of the General Bureau's Preparation Office, once said that after a long period of research and demonstration with Norwegian experts, it was decided that the first batch of cross-border athletes on the Chinese side would take materials from the rowing and kayaking projects.
"Sports cooperation between China and Norway is mainly based on cross-country skiing and ski jumping in biathlon. Many young Chinese athletes go to Norway's sports academies to study, and Norwegian experience in winter sports has also been brought to China. Busna also said.
In addition to this, some norwegian winter sports technology companies are also involved in the cooperation. For us, it would be great if winter sports could catch on in more countries. ”
As for the future of winter sports in China, Bai Sina is full of expectations for the future after witnessing more young people participating in winter sports, "China has great potential in these areas and has done a good job." ”