In 2015, Beijing won the right to host the 2022 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. Chongli County, Zhangjiakou, near Beijing, will host most snow sports.
Also in 2015, Guo Yujie, an 11-year-old girl from Shangyi County in Zhangjiakou, came to Chongli County to participate in the athlete selection of the National Paralympic Cross-Country Skiing and Biathlon Training Team. Having never skied before in snow, she stood out from a few days of training and was successfully selected. Seven years later, Guo Yujie will stand on the field of the Beijing Winter Paralympic Games and will hold high the national flag and walk at the forefront of the Chinese delegation.
Congenital disabilities cannot stop the love of sports
In March 2004, Guo Yujie was born into an ordinary family in Nandao Town, Shangyi County, Hebei Province. The congenital left-handed disability did not hinder her growth, and under the care of her parents, she was not only able to live independently, but also achieved good results in school. What is even more gratifying is that Guo Yujie has also shown a certain talent in sports. Before choosing to ski, she had also participated in the selection of the provincial paralympic gymnastics team and the paralympic swimming team, and also successfully passed the examination, but the parents were really relieved about their young daughter at that time and did not let go.
However, when faced with the opportunity to participate in ice and snow sports, Guo Yujie's persistence finally impressed her parents.
"The wind whistles in my ears, I gallop in the snow, the feeling of my heart beating faster, accompanied by a free and happy mood, is unforgettable."
Just a few days of snow training left such an impression on Guo Yujie, and it was this dashing and exciting feeling that attracted her when she first met skiing. The 11-year-old girl insisted on fighting for ice and snow sports, and her parents respected her choice this time. Since then, this girl who grew up on the southern edge of the Inner Mongolian Plateau has begun a life with wind and snow.
Can once be wet with rain and dew do not change the yang heart
Training and life for athletes with disabilities is more difficult than that of able-bodied athletes. In addition to the same high-intensity, high-load training, disabled athletes also have to overcome their physical deficiencies in training and competition. The strength development and power mode of disabled athletes are limited by their physical conditions - unbalanced force, uncontrollable balance, incomplete force chain, are all difficulties on their competitive sports road.
In order to help Guo Yujie quickly improve her special skills and basic physical fitness, the coach combined her physical conditions and tailored a training plan for her. However, at the beginning, the arduous project of cross-country skiing still gave Guo Yujie a way to get off the horse. According to her recollection, when she first came into contact with cross-country skiing, she would feel her legs weak when facing a long ramp. But the girl persevered, not afraid of fatigue and pain, and conquered the ramp in front of her step by step. The thrill of galloping all the way across the finish line made her yearn for it, and it also supported her to stand on the starting point again and again.
Disabled cross-country skiers often have to do both winter events, and hand disability can bring great obstacles to the shooting process - the stability of the gun, the feeling of firing, is a great obstacle for athletes with hand disabilities. After being exposed to biathlon, Guo Yujie trained hard, repeatedly pondered this technique, experienced the mystery between breathing and shooting frequency, and eventually became a sharpshooter.
But the road to competitive sports has never been smooth, and in 2016, Guo Yujie, who had just received a year of professional training, was injured during training and was diagnosed with a torn paraligament. At that time, she did not dare to easily delay her training, so she chose conservative treatment and spent three years with the injury. It wasn't until the end of the 2019 National Para Games that she underwent surgery and rehabilitation training.
Kung Fu pays off. In five years, Guo Yujie has grown from a "skier" to an experienced athlete, and has also achieved many achievements in domestic competitions: the runner-up of the women's standing long distance traditional technique of the 2021 National Paralympic Cross-country Skiing and Biathlon Games 10.4 km, the runner-up of the women's standing medium distance traditional technique of 5.2 km, the champion of the women's standing short distance free technique of 1.3 km, the runner-up of the 2021 National Paralympic Women's Standing Long Distance 13 km, the champion of the women's standing posture of 6.5 km, Women's Standing Short Distance 3.9 km Champion.
In the international arena, the girl also stood on the podium - in the 2021 Paralympic Nordic Skiing European Championships, Guo Yujie won the third place in the biathlon women's 6 km and the sixth place in the cross-country skiing station in the 10 km.
These excellent results also made her a member of the Chinese delegation to the Beijing 2022 Winter Paralympic Games.
I hope to continue to break through myself and drive more disabled friends to enjoy the joy of sports
The Beijing Winter Paralympic Games For cross-country skiing and Paralympic biathlon will be held at the National Biathlon Center in Chongli, Zhangjiakou. Chongli is exactly where Guo Yujie's dream began, but with the deepening of the preparations for the Winter Olympics and Paralympic Games, it has changed from the original Chongli County to the current Chongli District.
Back here again, the heart of "snow veteran" Guo Yujie is not just "heart racing". Standing on the stage of the world's highest competitive sports, she knows that the opportunity is not easy to come by: "I am very proud to stand on the big stage of the Winter Paralympic Games, and I look forward to making breakthroughs in the project and achieving good results." ”
However, this optimistic girl has not forgotten her original intention of skiing - "freedom and happiness". She smiled and accepted the interview, smiling and introducing the preparation situation: "I trained in Zhangjiakou before, and I am more adaptable. However, this time from Gansu, it is still necessary to fully adapt to the track and snow quality. ”
She believes that the Paralympic biathlon is her main sport at this Winter Paralympic Games, and carefully analyzes her current weak links: "Zhangjiakou's wind is stronger than Gansu, and the gun is not easy to control. ”
In addition to preparing for the war, Guo Yujie also hopes that the other memories of the Winter Paralympic Games will be beautiful. In the Winter Paralympic Village, the 18-year-old optimistic girl bought two flowers and placed them on the table – even though she had a birth defect, she never gave up her pursuit of beauty and happiness.
In the past five years, she has deeply felt the joy and fulfillment that sports have brought to herself, and gradually understood her social responsibility as an elite athlete. Guo Yujie's thinking is no longer limited to her own competitive achievements and personal development, this girl hopes that her experience can encourage those friends who are in the same or similar situation as her: "I hope to continue to break through myself, show the spirit of self-improvement and tenacious struggle on the field, and drive more disabled friends to participate in social life, participate in ice and snow sports, and enjoy the joy of sports." ”
Written by/Ruda
Editor/Li Xu Liang Lina
Visual/Wang Ye