▲ On the evening of February 4, at the opening ceremony of the XXIV Winter Olympic Games, the last torchbearers, Diniger Yilamujiang (left) and Zhao Jiawen, embedded the torch in the center of the "big snowflake"
Although differences and conflicts are still the norm in the world under the epidemic, the shining moments forged by the Olympic Games will never disappear.
This article was first published in Southern People Weekly
Text / Southern People Weekly reporter Li Nanfei
Photo / Courtesy of Xinhua News Agency
Editor / Xu Mei Chen Yafeng
Like a dream. In the past two weeks in Beijing, 2,897 athletes from 91 countries and regions have gathered under the banner of the Five Rings, transcending national borders and religions, respecting each other, encouraging each other, and respecting the spirit of sportsmanship, running together to "faster, higher, stronger and more united", creating 2 world records, 17 Olympic records and 3 historical highs.
On February 20, at the closing ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics, IOC President Bach said:
"You not only respect each other, but you also support each other, even if there are places where they are opposed because of conflict, but you embrace each other. You have overcome these differences and proved that no matter what we look like, no matter where we come from, we are all equal in this Olympic family.
The forces of Olympic unity are stronger than those that seek to separate us. You have provided an opportunity for peace, and may your example of unity and peace inspire political leaders around the world. ”
▲ On January 31, IOC President Bach paid tribute to the Chinese in Beijing
The short film played at the closing ceremony flashed many Olympic moments, such as Russia's Brov hugging Ukraine's Abramenko, and the two laughing together and looking at the sky.
In the freestyle ski aerial skills final, Abramenko and Brov won silver and bronze medals respectively. They are old friends, and four years ago they were the champions and runners-up of the project.
"I just show my true feelings and I think it's a good thing. I don't care about his nationality, he's just a guy here, an athlete I admire. Abramenko said after the game.
▲ On February 16, the beijing Winter Olympics freestyle skiing men's aerial skills final, champion China's Qi Guangpu (center), runner-up Ukraine's Alexander Abramenko (left) and runner-up Russian Olympic Committee player Ilya Brov presented the souvenir ceremony
On February 21, the players from all over the world bid farewell to Beijing and returned to their hometowns. Just a day later, local conflicts in global politics heated up.
Making the world more united through sports is the vision and effort of the modern Olympic Games for a hundred years. In 1931, at the age of 69, Coubertin recalled in his memoirs that the modern Olympic movement had moved forward by overcoming "intricate diplomatic conundrums, small personal intrigues and tricks, sensitivity that must be tolerated, vulnerable weakness, and secretly set traps."
The last dance
Sean White made a mistake in the last jump, but there was applause from the audience. Tears swirled in Sean's eyes, and he gasped as he tried to calm his emotions as the people around him called out his name, and he said with some embarrassment, "I'm sorry to let you see me cry so ugly." ”
It was the last dance of legendary snowboarder Sean White. He is 35 years old and has participated in five Winter Olympics and won three gold medals. Today, the players in his field are only about 20 years old, and the youngest is less than 17 years old. "I really want to pinch myself to make sure that at my age, I can still stand on the stage of the Winter Olympics." He said.
▲ On February 11, American Sean White shed tears after the game
In the Beijing Snowboard Men's U-Shaped Track Skills Final, Sean challenged the most difficult backfoot 1440 in the final round to hit the podium. Sean is well aware that this move, which has only been successful once in training, requires luck to complete in the game: "The move I tried will most likely hurt me, but today my plan is to do something 'horrible' and then pray that I can get out of it." ”
Four years ago, he relied on the super difficult moves of the last jump to reverse the gold. But four years later, he felt that his legs were no longer listening. "It could be physical reasons, or it could be because of nervousness. I knew my legs couldn't move freely, but I decided to make one last trip to challenge the difficult moves. He said, "It's okay, it's all over." ”
Sean has a record of the most Gold Medals at the World Extreme Games and the most Winter Olympic Snowboarding Gold Medals, as well as the most injuries for active skiers: multiple surgeries on the knees, ankles, wrists, and congenital cardiovascular malformations and asthma. "All my life I've been thought of as a bit of a Superman, and a lot of people say they don't know how I can do that. I'm proud of that, but as a person, it pays the price. He said.
▲ On February 11, the men's U-shaped field skill final of snowboarding at the Beijing Winter Olympics, American Sean White was in the competition
The gold medal was eventually won by 23-year-old Japan's Hirano Bumon. It was the third time they had met in an Olympic final, and after two silver medals, Hirano finally took gold. "The young players used to follow me closely behind me, and seeing them finally overtake me was something I always wanted to see in the back of my heart." Sean said with tears in his smile.
The day after the game, Sean announced his official retirement. He described his decision this way: "One day I took the cable car up the mountain to train, and I watched the majestic peaks gradually approaching me, there was no one around, quiet, the sunset was shooting from afar, and it was that moment when I realized that it was time, it was time for me to retire. ”
Olympic record on the plains
Before the Beijing Winter Olympics, the Olympic record of 1500 meters of men's speed skating had been maintained for 20 years. On February 8, in the "Ice Ribbon" arena, this record was broken by Thomas Kroll of the Netherlands, who appeared in the tenth group, in 1:43.55.
Seven minutes later, his teammate, 32-year-old Kyle Ness, set a new Olympic record, improving his time by 0.34 seconds to defend the event.
"I couldn't believe it. Even though I've always had this dream, I'm not as confident as I was four years ago," he said, "and when I heard about Kroll's results, I felt it was very difficult for me to win him." ”
▲ On February 8, the beijing Winter Olympics speed skating men's 1500 meters final, the Netherlands' Kyle Ness in the competition
Ness's achievements are inseparable from his excellent opponent, South Korea's Kim Min-seok. Short track speed skating is played in pairs, and then the results of all the runners are ranked. In other words, the better the opponent around you, the better you are likely to play.
At the end of the first corner, Kim Min-seok led Nes, and at 700 meters, Nes accelerated to reverse. Entering the final 300 meters, Ness picked up speed again, surpassing the new record that Kroll had just set. And Kim Min-seok, who was immediately behind Ness, also won the bronze medal on the same day.
▲ On February 8, champion From the Netherlands Kyle Ness (center), runner-up from the Netherlands Thomas Kroll (left) and runner-up South Korea's Kim Min-seok presented souvenirs
Ness is also the world record holder for speed skating in the 1500m, and in March 2019 he set a world record of 1:40.17 in Salt Lake City.
The world record for 13 speed skating events, 12 of which were set in frigid highland cities, such as Salt Lake City in the United States and Calgary in Canada. But in the "Ice Ribbon" on February 11, Sweden's Nils van der Poul set a world record for men's 10,000 meters speed skating for the first time in the plain city of Beijing.
Magnin's Happy Video
Two backflips, slid down the big jump platform, and finally landed in a relaxed side-lying position. This uses the slope as a slide, and it is completely impossible to win in the ski race. However, Spanish freestyle skier Thibault Magnin made a video of these movements when he was testing the snow at the Shougang Ski Jump to convey his happiness.
The video went viral on social media, and what has happened since then is a surprise he has never experienced: "I probably got more than two thousand messages from Chinese fans, most of them in Spanish, and I don't know how they did it." "Every piece of news is very heartwarming, it's long, it's all positive, and they're really good." In addition to the messages there are 20 to 30 paintings about me, which is all fantastic. ”
▲ On February 15, the Beijing Winter Olympics freestyle skiing men's steeplechase qualification competition, Spain's Tebow Magnin in the competition
Although Magnin didn't achieve a great result at the Olympics – he was the first Spaniard to take part in freestyle skiing – he was very happy from his social media. He filmed the fireworks, torches and joyous crowd at the opening ceremony, saying, "I'll never forget the night," and he posted a few videos of himself churning in the air, saying, "After a year of the hardest part of my life (he had left knee surgery last year), I feel like standing here is already a medal." Despite some deficiencies, I have gained a lot of joy here and that is my goal! Four years to see! ”
Magnin sent a pair of skis to the field volunteers, "Look at my Chinese friend and his skis," he wrote on social media. He wrote his other pair of skis by name and "free skiing" and stayed in the Olympic Village.
"Welcome back to China again." His Chinese friend said to him.
"I will definitely be back." He replied.
▲On February 18, IOC President Bach came to the main media center of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing to interact with volunteers
Enjoy your fifth Olympic tour
Like Sean, U.S. snowboarder Lindsey Jacobellis is competing in the Olympics for the fifth time; unlike Sean, although Lindsay already has ten World Extreme Games gold medals and six World Championship gold medals, the 36-year-old has never won an Olympic gold medal.
Since its debut at the Winter Olympics in 2006, the Snowboard Slew Tracks have featured in the finals of every edition of the event. On February 9, at the Beijing Winter Olympics, she became the oldest Winter Olympic snowboard champion and the oldest Winter Olympic champion in the United States.
The Snowboard Slalom Chase is a high-intensity confrontational, high-risk racing snow event, in which members set off in groups of 4-6 people to compete in a series of obstacles such as jumping, grooves, wave lanes, cliffs, and half walls in the pistes, allowing appropriate physical contact and competing for who can reach the finish line the fastest.
▲ On February 9, the women's steeplechase competition of snowboarding at the Beijing Winter Olympics, American Lindsay Jacobellis (left) competed
Lindsay lost the lead before the last jump due to misjudgment, missed the low-hanging fruit of the Turin Winter Olympics gold medal, and slipped at the Sochi Winter Olympics and the Pingchang Winter Olympics, missing the medal. But for the Beijing Winter Olympics, Lindsay said firmly: "This is by no means a redemption trip to make up for regrets." ”
"I don't have that idea of redeeming myself, I just want to enjoy the game and enjoy my fifth Olympic trip," she adds, "and every day when I wake up, I think there may be a play or a no play today, but I don't really care." It's all incredible, because the level of female players today is much higher than it was 16 years ago. So I feel like, as long as I can get to the final, I'm the winner. ”
Like many of the world's finest athletes, Lindsay proved that age is just a number, and that age can yield to the will of man. When she was the first to cross the finish line, her smile was as wide as the snow-capped mountains of Genting Ski Park. She knew that after 20 years, she could finally call herself an Olympic champion.
One place to participate
The Winter Olympics also produced the first black woman to win the speed skating championship, American Eileen Jackson. After winning the women's 500m speed skating title, she hugged her teammate Brittany Bauer with tears. At the Olympic Trials, Jackson lost his eligibility for a fall. Ball, who won the first place in the selection, offered to give up his place in the project and let Jackson compete.
▲ On February 13, Eileen Jackson hugged teammate Brittany Ball after winning the women's 500m speed skating championship
On the day of the game, Ball was the first to congratulate Jackson. Jackson said to the camera, "I think the whole world is watching Bauer through me." She was a great athlete, the leader of the American speed skating team, and an amazing friend. ”
▲ On February 13, the beijing Winter Olympics speed skating women's 500 meters final, the United States' Erin Jackson in the competition
Bauer, 33, is the world record holder for the women's 1,000 meters in speed skating and has won eight world championship gold medals. She won a bronze medal at the Winter Olympics. Both she and Jackson are from warm, humid Florida, and after starting their careers in the winter sport of speed skating, they both moved to the cold city.
"How cool is that! Two girls from Central Florida, on the ice at the other end of the world, hung up their medals! Jackson said.
Some moments that transcend national boundaries
For American skier Mikaela Severin, the Winter Olympics experience wasn't so good. Severin, who has two gold medals in the Winter Olympics and 73 crowns in the World Cup, failed to finish three of her five competitions this year because of multiple falls, but did not finish both medals.
Her best Moments of the Winter Olympics came from The Italian Sofia Gogia. Before her last individual race, she borrowed a pair of skis from Olympic champion Gogia at the suggestion of skier Lindsa Vaughan. Gogia's race was all done, and she generously gave her skis and left a note on it: "Take off Mikaela, you can." ”
"I almost cried when I saw this line, and she wished me that I would be able to take off after putting on this pair of skis." Severin said.
▲ On February 20, the alpine skiing team competition of the Beijing Winter Olympics, American Michaela Severin left the stadium with a ski Photo/Visual China
This sharing that transcends national boundaries also appeared in the women's steeplechase finals for snowboarding. When the final results were announced, American Marino and Australia's Cody pounced on New Zealand's Sinot to congratulate Signot on winning the championship. The three champions and runners-up hugged each other and screamed in celebration.
In the 15 km classical ski race, Finland's Igbo Niskanen was the first to cross the finish line. He didn't leave immediately, but stayed at the finish line. 18 minutes later, Colombian Carlos Quintana reached the finish line, and Igbo held out his hand to Carlos and punched in congratulations. Two players from both sides of the globe – Northern Europe and South America – hugged each other.
▲ On February 11, the Men's 15 km (traditional technique) race of cross-country skiing at the Beijing Winter Olympics, Finland's Igbo Niskanen (right) greeted Colombian Carlos Quintana at the finish line / Visual China
The hug comforted Carlos. In the last place, he said he didn't feel good at all, but Igbo turned the moment into a beautiful memory.
"At the Olympic Games, every athlete and every achievement is valuable and appreciated." Igbo said.
The disobedient Gu Ailing
This is Gu Ailing's first Olympic final. After the first two rounds, Gu Ailing ranked third and was determined to stand on the podium of the Olympic Games.
For the third jump, she had two options: "Do another 1440 and hopefully get a silver medal, or I can challenge a big move that I've never done before, but have the potential to get a gold medal." ”
She called her mother, who was a ski instructor. Mom advised her not to take risks, to make a safe move, and to get a medal. "But I feel like if I don't try it, it's not a complete 'me', I want to show myself the best, I don't want to win in the game, I want to win myself."
In the third jump, Gu Ailing made a reverse foot deflection rotation that had never been successful in public training at 1620 degrees, reversing the gold medal of the freestyle ski women's big jump at the Beijing Winter Olympics. In pre-match training, this action made Gu Ailing fall again and again, and his shoulder was repeatedly injured. The day before she arrived in Beijing, she fell into tears because of this action.
▲ On February 8, the final of the freestyle ski women's big jump at the Beijing Winter Olympics, Gu Ailing, a player from the Chinese team, competed in the competition
"I was the first girl to do this and I'm very proud of myself," she said after the game, hoping to convey the spirit of challenging herself:
"This is the Winter Olympics, so a lot of different people, people all over the world can see this, and I think it's a very important second to represent yourself, to represent your own sport and the spirit of the game." I'm not here to beat other athletes, I'm trying to push my boundaries and do something that I used to think was impossible. I want to slide to my best.
So I thought, (the third jump) I win whether I land or not. Because I can let the world see my spirit, and then I hope that through this, girls from all over the world can break their boundaries, and I hope that girls feel: 'She can do it, I can do it.' ’”
A group photo
On February 20, the Capital Gymnasium held a figure skating show. This is the post-match tradition of figure skating competitions: invited contestants in men's singles, women's singles, pair skating and ice dance present a set of their favorite shows to the audience. In this scoreless free performance, the contestants often show themselves in their own strange ways, conveying joy and gratitude to the audience. In the performance of the Beijing Winter Olympics, they either played Aladdin's lamp, Wonder Woman, or imitated retro aerobics, boxing matches, or used the songs of "Angel", "Spring Come" and "Ode to the Virgin" as their names to express their inner emotions, and some players showed backflips that would not appear in the game.
After the solo competition, all the contestants returned with their own signature moves, gathered in the center, danced to the music of "A Bright Future with You", and completed the curtain performance as a community. On the ice rink at that moment, the players clapped, improvised, hugged, took photos, and expressed love and respect to each other.
▲ On February 20, the players interacted with the "ice pier" after the figure skating show
This is a unique party, a historic moment. Such a picture will be even more precious in the future: young players are flourishing, a bright future is beckoning; veterans are about to say goodbye to the field with joy or regret. This will be the only group photo of the group: here are former Olympic champions, current Olympic champions, and even more future Olympic champions.
Just as ice fans often mention the 2009 Figure Skating Grand Prix Finals, in that final group photo, five future Olympic champions were gathered: Kim Yeon-na in 2010, Shin Xue/Cho Hong-bo, Resacek and Yusheng in 2014, Yusheng in 2018, and Sui Wenjing/Han Cong in 2020.
Who knows what kind of moment this group photo of the Beijing Winter Olympics will be in history?
One hundred ice piers of the "Righteous Pier"
The day after the beijing Winter Olympics closed, Japanese television reporter Yoshido Tsujioka completed the last live broadcast of the Winter Olympics at the entrance of the main news center. Suddenly, the Olympic mascot, the ice pier, appeared behind him: the fat pier was stuck in the door frame of the press center, unable to get out.
Tsujioka Yoshido excitedly ran to the ice pier, trying to drag the ice pier while shouting, "It's all right, can you come out?" This live broadcast ended with Tsujigang Yitang standing next to the ice pier, and with tears in his eyes, he said, "Goodbye, Beijing!" ”
The nickname more well known to Chinese and Japanese audiences is "Yidun Dun". He worked for 13 years on Japanese television and was ranked third in the Japanese public trust list Oricon's "Favorite Male Announcer" online survey. During the Beijing Winter Olympics, Yidundun was selling ice piers to people all over the world every day.
"I'm sorry, but today there is only information about the ice pier." In the live broadcast before the opening, Tsuji pulled open the zipper of his clothes, revealing the ice pier badge pinned to the ID pendant: "This is the ice pier for skating, this is the ice pier for refueling... I'm sorry I bought six ice piers today. ”
▲ Because he loves the Mascot of the Beijing Winter Olympics too much, Japanese TELEVISION reporter Yoshido Tsujioka accidentally became popular on social media in China and Japan Photo/Visual China
On the opening day, Tsuji Tsuji carried a small school bag from the ice pier and connected to The Japanese Television station and asked, "Did I receive the ice pier I sent you?" His eyes widened, almost in a growling manner, and he shouted in the middle of the wire: "You must be careful to open!" ”
Soon, Tsujigang had more than a hundred ice piers: "Ice Pier" T-shirt, "Ice Pier" badge, "Ice Pier" doll, "Ice Pier" headphones, "Ice Pier" and so on. Initially, he encountered an ice pier for the first time at an airport in Beijing. Tsujigang's thick down jacket fell on the plane, but due to epidemic prevention and control, it could not be retrieved on the plane.
"In that desperate mood, I saw the ice piers. I felt that no matter how difficult and hard the Olympic news interview was, I was completely healed. He said.
"Brother Yitang, your righteous pier is hot now!" On the closing day, the host of the Japanese studio said online.
"I am now a symbol of Sino-Japanese friendship. That's not what I said. Tsuji replied proudly, "I'm all starting to learn now Chinese!" ”
"You've worked hard! I'm Yoshido Tsujioka, thank you! He said with Chinese.