"I don't regret going, and I don't regret those dreams that I once had. I still believe that anything is possible, I will still challenge the seemingly impossible, and my love of skiing and my persistent pursuit of my dreams will not change in the future. ”
—Zhang Jiahao
From pastry chef to Chinese snowboard professional athlete, in 10 years, the road to pursuing dreams is full of bumps and thorns, training alone, injured and sick, self-funded competition... But none of this made him stop pursuing his dreams.
How much can a person fight for the sake of dreams? In the case of Zhang Jiahao, a young man after the "post-90s", perhaps we can find the answer.
If it weren't for his love of skiing, Zhang Jiahao today might still be in the Bakery at kempinski Hotel, repeating the same action every day to make bread.
"If I hadn't been exposed to skiing, I don't know what I would be like now." For Zhang Jiahao, 2012 was the year that changed his life. At the age of 17, he was invited by several high school classmates to go skiing together. That was the first time he walked into the ski slopes. On the first day of skiing, Zhang Jiahao fell more than 40 heels on the snow field. "It's so cool to watch someone else slip up!" The next day, he called shangfa boy Rong Getao to go to the ski resort again. According to the posture of others, after sliding three or four times, Zhang Jiahao found the confidence to ski, learned to push the slope with the back blade, and could do "falling leaves" on the mountain. It was a magical feeling, and the freedom and passion that went all the way forward fascinated him deeply. In Zhang Jiahao's words, skiing allowed him to find the direction of life.
Since then, Zhang Jiahao's love and love for skiing has never stopped. Night shift in the bakery in the evening to make bread. After work in the morning, he held a ski, set off from Liangma Bridge, hurriedly transferred to the subway and bus, and spent more than 2 hours to the indoor ski hall to practice. Gradually, Zhang Jiahao's skiing friends increased. Everyone competed with each other and pooled their money to buy a trampoline to practice movements. Sometimes when everyone goes skiing together in the suburbs of Beijing, he often stays at the highway entrance, rubs his friend's car to the ski resort, and frantically practices various flip techniques until the ski field closes.
Later, at the Changping Ski Resort, Zhang Jiahao squatted down to lead the team training to Coach Dong Mingjie of the Heilongjiang Provincial Snow Training Center. Every time he went to the snow field, Zhang Jiahao would bring a bag of self-made bread to the coaches and team members and rub it with them. Immersed in the fun of skiing, Zhang Jiahao was once tireless, and his daily sleep time was compressed to three or four hours. At night, when he kneads dough and bakes bread, he will study the technology in his head, open his mobile phone when he has a little free time, learn the movements with the masters in the video, and even practice turning while walking. Once went to the freezer to pick up the goods, because he was too tired, he directly lay down on the noodle bag at the door of the freezer and fell asleep.
Such a life, Zhang Jiahao insisted on two years. In 2016, studying Western cuisine, he decided to quit his job from the bakery and devote himself to skiing. For this reason, he and his father had an unpleasant affair for half a year. Without a stable economic income, if he wants to ski, Zhang Jiahao can only save money on his own. In order to save money, at that time, he would go to qingfeng bun shop in the morning to eat 9 buns, 1 bowl of fried liver, 1 egg, eat himself very full, and then go to the ski slope to ski all day without eating. Eat a big meal when you get home in the evening. Friends use the term "ski maniac" to describe him, which is really not an exaggeration at all.
Zhang Jiahao, who stood on snowboarding, was all on the snow. Arms, knees, heels... The various parts of the body work together, and any slight change will affect the whole body. Sliding down again and again, crossing obstacles, flying, spinning, churning again and again, in this free thrilling sport, Zhang Jiahao found the goal of life with firm love and faith.
"At that time, there was a men's open tournament every year in the country, and I wanted to try it." In 2015, Zhang Jiahao participated in the 13th Red Bull Nanshan Open. In the qualifiers, he successfully completed the difficult moves, successfully advanced to the final, and won the second place in the domestic group. "At that time, I took the 8,000 yuan prize, and Titus was very happy, thinking about how many times I could go to the snow!"
In 2015, Beijing successfully bid to host the Winter Olympic Games, and the domestic snowboard jumping and slope obstacle courses ushered in leapfrog development, and professional teams began to be formed everywhere to prepare for the Winter Olympics. At this time, Zhang Jiahao may not have thought that one day in the future, he will do his best to realize the dream of the Winter Olympics.
For Zhang Jiahao, 2016 is definitely a year of great significance. At the age of 21, he was invited by coach Dong Mingjie to join the Heilongjiang provincial team and become a professional athlete.
From an amateur to a professional skier, Zhang Jiahao only took 4 years. Next, however, age became a major obstacle in front of him. For someone who wants to get on the pro track, being exposed to skiing at the age of 17 is really too "old". Compared with professional athletes, Zhang Jiahao started at least 10 years late and has fallen behind too much, and he can only work harder to catch up with them. Because of this, Zhang Jiahao was often injured during training, with fractures of both hands, fractures of his right leg, 3 concussions, 10 stitches in his mouth, and once even caused lung injuries... However, every time he was injured, Zhang Jiahao thought not about the pain, but about how long he could not ski, which would affect the competition. He was often injured and went to the snow every few days. Once, Fa Xiao'er Rong Getao could not stand his "soft grinding hard bubble", and he went to the snow field with an injury that was not good, saying that he would only slide ordinary ski tracks, but when he got to the snow field to help him put on his equipment, he disappeared without paying attention. After a while, Rong Getao listened to the other people in the snow field say, "There is a person over there with a plaster cast and a hand flipping in the back."
Fortunately, "self-helpers, god help". Unremitting efforts and efforts, in exchange for one impressive results, Zhang Jiahao began to emerge in various competitions.