A gold medal – this is the medal harvest of the Chinese speed skating team at the Beijing Winter Olympics, Gao Tingyu, the flag bearer of the Chinese sports delegation at the opening and closing ceremonies, won the championship in the men's 500 meters competition, and won the first gold medal in the men's event of the Winter Olympics for Chinese speed skating.
Judging from the number of medals, the performance of the Chinese speed skating team may not be satisfactory to everyone, after all, before the race, everyone expected our speed skaters to challenge themselves on the "fastest ice" of the National Speed Skating Hall "Ice Ribbon" and stand on the podium of more projects. However, the Chinese speed skating team has also made great gains in addition to the results of this Winter Olympics, and many projects have qualified for the first time and many young players have been trained in the Winter Olympics, which have laid the foundation for us to impact good results in the future.
A gold medal is the best in history
Before the Beijing Winter Olympics, Chinese speed skaters won a total of 1 gold, 3 silver and 3 bronze in the 11 Winter Olympic Games. It can be seen that in the speed skating event where European and American athletes dominate, it is not easy for Chinese athletes to stand on the podium. The only gold medal came at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, where Zhang Hong won the women's 1,000m title. In addition, only the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France (Ye Qiaobo won two silver medals in the women's 500 meters and 1000 meters), and the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy (Wang Manli and Ren Hui won the second and third places in the women's 500 meters) two Winter Olympics won more than one medal in speed skating.
Gao Tingyu won the gold medal in the men's 500 meters. Beijing Daily client reporter Deng Wei photographed
Four years ago at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, the Chinese team won a bronze medal only for Gao Tingyu's outstanding performance in the men's 500m event. In this "home battle", Gao Tingyu realized his promise of "changing the medal for color", stood on the highest podium in the men's 500 meters, and won the only gold medal and medal for the Chinese speed skating team in this Winter Olympics. At this point, the Beijing Winter Olympics became the first Time after the Sochi Winter Olympics that Chinese athletes won the speed skating gold medal. From this point of view, the record of the Chinese speed skating team at this Winter Olympics can be called one of the "best in history".
The difficulty of winning gold is beyond imagination
At the Beijing Winter Olympics, a total of 14 gold medals were awarded in the speed skating event, of which Asian athletes/sports teams won only two of them. Outside of The Men's 500 meters, only Japan's Miho Takagi won the gold medal in the women's 1,000 meters. Although the Japanese team accidentally "lost gold" in the women's team chase final, from the results, the Chinese team can be like the Japanese team that has made rapid progress in recent years, and it is not easy to "grab" the next gold medal in speed skating, a sport dominated by European and American athletes.
Gao Tingyu in the game. Beijing Daily client reporter Deng Wei photographed
At the same time, 500 meters as the shortest track of speed skating, accidental and fierce competition are extremely high, Gao Tingyu himself also admitted after the game, after the skating (Gao Tingyu in the relatively front of the seventh group of competitions) is not even sure whether he can get on the podium, this project has more than 10 athletes have the strength to compete for medals. In the final results list, Gao Tingyu was only 0.07 seconds ahead of runner-up and South Korea's Che Minkui, and the gap between the top 5 was only 0.20 seconds.
Gao Tingyu was able to win this history-making, hard-won gold medal, behind the overall improvement of the level of the Chinese speed skating team, as well as a strong support work. Gao Tingyu said that his gold medal was dedicated to the motherland and thanked the entire team behind him for their support. Ning Zhongyan also said during the Winter Olympics that under the new crown epidemic, athletes from many countries cannot even train, and Chinese athletes should thank the state for providing excellent training conditions.
Some of the projects turned out to be unfortunate
In fact, Chinese players have the strength and opportunity to stand on the podium in other events. Among them, the most regrettable is Ning Zhongyan, who is called "China's Golden Boy" by the official website of the International Skating Federation, in the final of the personal main event 1500 meters, Ning Zhongyan, who has participated in the World Cup 3 times this season and has all stood on the podium, has played abnormally and only ranked 7th.
Ning Zhongyan only ranked 7th in the men's 1500 meters. Beijing Daily client reporter Deng Wei photographed
When summarizing the results, 22-year-old Ning Zhongyan said that the pressure was too much because he failed to show his full strength, he revealed that he felt heavy at the beginning of the 1500-meter race, "The first time he participated in the Winter Olympics, it was still a home battle, it was really tense." Later, in the 1000 meters race, Ning Zhongyan, who had won the World Cup once, also lost the podium and ranked 5th, but because many masters of the World Cup won the championship were absent, Ning Zhongyan's achievement was also expected. In the final men's group race, Ning Zhongyan, who laid down his baggage, became the first Chinese male athlete to advance to the final of this event (and finally ranked 12th).
The Chinese team failed to go any further in the women's team chase. Beijing Daily client reporter Deng Wei photographed
In addition to Ning Zhongyan's men's 1500m and 1000m, the Chinese team's performance in the women's team chase event (the final ranking 5th) is also a pity. At the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, the Chinese team also won the fifth place in this event, setting a record for the best result in team history. In this season's World Cup, the girls won the bronze medal in Canada and showed good form. However, this time in the "Ice Ribbon", the Chinese team composed of Han Mei, Li Qishi and Ahanal Adak ranked 5th, missing the final four. Since then, in qualifying, the Chinese team has slipped faster and equaled the Olympic results created four years ago.
Young players gain experience
At the Beijing Winter Olympics, the Chinese team participated in 12 of the 14 events, and a total of 14 athletes (6 men and 8 women) appeared on the Winter Olympic games. The majority of these team members are "post-95s" (9 people), of which the oldest of the women's team is Guo Dan, born in 1990, and the largest of the men's team is Xu Fu, born in 1995.
Han Mei participated in many sports at the Winter Olympics. Beijing Daily client reporter Deng Wei photographed
This age structure means that four years later, at the Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, most of the athletes of the Chinese team participating in the Beijing Winter Olympics, including "main players" Gao Tingyu (1997), Ning Zhongyan (1999), Han Mei (1998), etc. are not yet 30 years old, the peak of their integrity careers.
Ning Zhongyan said in an interview that the Chinese speed skating team achieved the goal of participating for the first time in the men's team chase, which is a good experience in itself. He said that going back will sum up the experience and lessons of this Winter Olympics, and please look forward to his performance in the next Winter Olympics with the Chinese speed skating team. Akhnar Adak, who also participated in the Winter Olympics for the first time, also told reporters that the first time she participated in the Winter Olympics, after the tension, she enjoyed the game and accumulated experience, and she and her teammates learned a lot in high-level competitions, laying a foundation for good results in the future.
Attached: Speed skating results of The Beijing Winter Olympics by Chinese athletes
Women's 3000m: Han Mei (15th), Ahanar Adak (17th)
Women's 1500m: Han Mei (11th), Yin Qi (15th), Agenar Adak (17th)
Men's 1500m: Ning Zhongyan (7th), Wang Haotian (20th), Lian Ziwen (27th)
Women's 5000m: Han Mei (11th)
Men's 500m: Gao Tingyu (1st), Yang Tao (21st)
Women's 500m: Kim Kyung-joo (12th), Tian Ruining (14th)
Women's Team Chase: Han Mei, Li Qishi, Ahanar Adak (5th)
Men's Team Chase: Lian Ziwen, Wang Haotian, Xu Fu (8th)
Women's 1000m: Li Qishi (14th), Yin Qi (15th), Kim Kyung-joo (22nd)
Men's 1000m: Ning Zhongyan (5th), Lian Ziwen (19th)
Men's Group Departure: Ning Zhongyan (12th), Wang Haotian (Stopped semi-finals)
Women's Group Departure: Guo Dan (13th), Li Qishi (no result in the final foul)