Not to live up to Shaohua, not to live up to the times. On February 20, the Beijing Winter Olympics came to a successful conclusion. In this competitive feast, we saw the emergence of many young players, and we also saw the style of a veteran fighting. The veterans' love and persistence in the sports they are engaged in profoundly interpret the Olympic spirit and add to the wonderful Winter Olympics. We salute the strong, and even more to the brave people who still stick to the field and pursue their dreams without regrets as the years pass.
Claudia Peschstein: "This Winter Olympics is the pinnacle of my sporting career. ”
From the youngest member of the German team to the elder of speed skating, German veteran Claudia Pechtstein has been on the speed skating field for nearly 30 years.
On February 5, Peschstein competed in the women's 3,000-meter speed skating competition at the Beijing Winter Olympics, becoming the oldest female Winter Olympic athlete in history and equaling the record of Japanese ski jumper Norimi Kasai who participated in the Winter Olympics eight times.
In the women's 3000m final, Peschstein crossed the finish line with his arms raised and smiled. "I didn't skate too fast, I slid across the finish line with a smile because I achieved my goal and this is my eighth Olympics."
As early as 30 years ago, Peschstein began to compete in the Winter Olympics. She has won 5 gold, 2 silver, 2 bronze and 9 Olympic medals. On February 5, standing on the same stage as the 20-somethings, she witnessed the women's 3,000m Olympic record she had held for 20 years and was broken by the Dutch athletes.
Although she was last in this competition, she won countless applause and tributes. "This tournament is the pinnacle of my sporting career and today is more important than all my medals combined." Peschstein, who is about to celebrate his 50th birthday on February 22 this year, said proudly.
Sean White: "Thank you snowboarding, it's the love of my life!"
On February 11, in the men's U-shaped track skill final on snowboarding, American star Sean White tearfully bid farewell to the field with a fourth-place result, ending his legendary career.
The Beijing Winter Olympics is Sean White's fifth trip to the Winter Olympics. The 35-year-old will be the oldest Olympic participant ever in the event. In the match on the 11th, Sean White failed in the third jump to challenge the difficult move, missing the opportunity to reverse the gold medal, resulting in his Winter Olympic closing match with a difference of 2.25 points. After the game, the applause was thunderous, White took off his helmet, waved to the crowd, and then he could not hide his excitement, holding the snowboard and crying, and hugging his competitors. He cried and said, "Thank you snowboarding, it's the love of my life." ”
In terms of athletic performance, Sean White is undoubtedly one of the greatest athletes in the history of snowboarding, having won consecutive U-shaped track skills at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin and the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. At the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, White won his third Olympic gold medal at the age of 31.
Although Sean White's closing battle was not perfect, his achievements have long since gone beyond medals to prove. Looking back at his journey to the five Winter Olympics, there is only the word "legend".
Xu Mengtao: "At the doorstep, I finally won!"
On February 14, Chinese veteran Xu Mengtao won the freestyle skiing aerial skills final of the Beijing Winter Olympics. This is the first Olympic gold medal won by the Chinese women's aerial skills team, and the first Olympic gold medal in Xu Mengtao's 31-year life.
Compared with the Olympic gold medal, Xu Mengtao's 20 years of perseverance are more moving. In the previous Vancouver Winter Olympics, Sochi Winter Olympics and Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, the Chinese women's aerial skill athlete, who had high hopes, regrettably passed the championship throne again and again. Still, she never wanted to give up.
"I never wanted to retire." Xu Mengtao said in a previous interview. "My only wish now is to win a medal for the Chinese women's air skills team and see the Chinese flag flying in the air."
In the past four years of preparation, Xu Mengtao has continuously increased the difficulty of training and challenged his physical limits in order to win the gold medal. Finally, full of injuries, she waited in the motherland for the perfect ending she had expected since childhood.
In the final, Xu Mengtao perfectly presented the highest difficulty action in the whole game, and won the highest score of 108.61.
After the game, Xu Mengtao asked loudly: "Am I the first?" Am I number one?" After being sure, Xu Mengtao's eyes and cheeks were soaked with tears of joy, and she raised the national flag high and loudly vented her excitement.
"At the doorstep, I finally won!" She shouted excitedly.
Qi Guangpu: "It took 16 years to fight to have this championship." ”
After 22 years of chasing dreams, waiting and persevering, Chinese veteran Qi Guangpu has finally realized his dream. On February 16, in the men's aerial skills competition of freestyle skiing at the Beijing Winter Olympics, 31-year-old Qi Guangpu won the championship with the highest score of 129.00, winning the precious seventh gold for the Chinese delegation at the Winter Olympics.
The Beijing Winter Olympics was the fourth Winter Olympics of Qi Guangpu's career and the most robust one he played. Qi Guangpu's previous three attempts on the podium of the Winter Olympics have failed, and the best result is the fourth place at the Sochi Winter Olympics. The elders of the Four Dynasties, who never gave up, finally waited for his shining moment in Beijing.
Sliding, vacating, turning and churning, landing smoothly... Qi Guangpu scored 129 points with a near-perfect set of moves. The moment he landed, applause and shouts rose and fell. Hardships and hardships, Yuru Yucheng. At the award ceremony, Qi Guangpu, who has always been low-key, jumped on the podium and burst into tears.
Looking back at his trip to the fourth Winter Olympics, Qi Guangpu sighed with emotion: "These 16 years are really not easy. I think for athletes, there may only be one 16 years. From the moment I stood on the field, I fought for the championship, and I couldn't fight for one session, and I fought for 16 years to have this championship. ”
Wu Dajing: "When I play, I will do my best." ”
Winning gold is the highest goal of all Winter Olympic athletes. But the significance of the Winter Olympics is not only the medal, but also the athletes' spirit of struggle to challenge themselves and limits. Chinese short-track speed skater Wu Dajing truly shines with this precious Olympic spirit.
On February 13, in the men's 500m short track speed skating competition at the Beijing Winter Olympics, defending champion Wu Dajing missed the final of the men's 500m group A of short track speed skating. In the post-match interview, Wu Dajing repeatedly mentioned regret.
"I'm still sorry, after all, I've been preparing for this game for so long. Whether this game is good or bad, I accept any kind of result. Wu Dajing said.
In the four match days since the start of the Winter Olympic Games, Wu Dajing has represented the Chinese team in 12 matches and won the first gold medal for the Chinese team in the mixed team relay. Although he failed to achieve his wish to defend his title in the short track speed skating 500 meters, for Wu Dajing, he has defeated himself by doing his best to compete in the three Winter Olympics.
For Wu Dajing, in addition to getting better results, enjoying the game is also an important part. Wu Dajing said: "This is my third Olympic Games, I don't know if I can participate in the world series next, whether I can participate in the Olympic Games, so I treat every game as the last." ”
"I'm going to give it my all, I'll do my best when I get on the pitch." He said.
Yusei Yushin: "It is my mission that I want to complete." ”
Japanese figure skating legend Yusuke Habu has been one of the most talked-about athletes at the Winter Olympics. At the figure skating men's singles free skating competition held on February 10, Yu Yusuke, who broke the world record 19 times and won two Olympic gold medals, slammed into the 4A action.
4A, officially known as Axel's Four Jumps, is the most difficult jump in figure skating, and no athlete has ever completed this set of moves that exceed the limits of the human body in an official competition. Under everyone's attention, the Feather String jumped up in the air and spun rapidly, but fell to the ground when it fell on the ice. In the end, Habu ranked fourth in the string and lost the medal. To this he said, "I jumped out of the best and closest to success 4A in my heart." ”
In fact, the 27-year-old Yu yu can have many ways to impact the third gold of the Olympic Games, but he chose the most difficult path. After defending his title at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, he stood at the top of figure skating and said in a post-match interview: "All the momentum is only 4A left. 4A is not a dream, it is a goal. ”
Although he fell, he fought with all his might. This is perhaps the best interpretation of the Olympic spirit. "If everyone says that only I can do this, I want to complete it." Yusei yushin said in an interview.