Zhang Hong took a photo at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. Photo courtesy of Zhang Hong
On February 13, 2014, at the Sochi Winter Olympics, Zhang Hong won the women's speed skating 1000 meters championship with a time of 1 minute 14.02 seconds, achieving a breakthrough of zero gold medals in the Chinese Winter Olympics. Four years later, she moved to PyeongChang, and although she failed to stand on the podium, she still turned gorgeously and became a member of the International Olympic Committee. A few days ago, Zhang Hong wrote an article on her WeChat public account "Zhang Hong IOC MEMBER" about the journey of the conquest of Pyeongchang and the "inside story" of being elected to the International Olympic Committee.
The following is Zhang Hong's self-described article (slightly deleted):
After more than a year of physical and mental challenges, every day in the face of a variety of therapeutic equipment, ice packs, acupuncture, muscle patches; complaints about team doctors, rehabilitationists, dissatisfaction with themselves, every morning to get up on the knee expectations, all the pain, fear, entanglement, in this moment to Pyeongchang suddenly relieved. The pain of the needle sticking into the bone slit seems to have no feeling; the worry of getting up every day to see the knee disappear is not so deliberate; the kind of load that can't be borne by going down the stairs, but having to do 220 kilograms of strength per week, can also be temporarily over.
My second Winter Olympics arrived as scheduled, and in the same way as Sochi, I still got the two Winter Olympic qualifications for the speed skating women's 500m and 1000m, except that this time I lacked the confidence of the newborn calf not to be afraid of tigers and the focus on the finish. The 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang will run from February 9 to 25, with the 1000m and 500m races taking place on February 14 and February 18, respectively.
In the 1000m race, I was placed in Group 11 with polish runners, Outer Road. Although I tried to adjust my pre-match state and do the same preparation process as I did 4 years ago, I could no longer feel the self that had been distracted and desperate, both mentally and physically. I couldn't control the impact my knees had on me, it was like a "ticking time bomb" that could explode at any time, and I no longer had the inner strength and encouragement that the team gave me. Standing on the starting line, the biggest expectation is that the knee can complete the race, the outside start is my Achilles heel, and I can only use one leg to exert power, whether the big curve can be accelerated, these questions are too late to consider.
The starting gun rang out, and I rushed out with the Polish players, and I regarded this game as the final battle, with no way out but to rush forward. The starting line plus two big corners, after one lap in the lane change zone, I obviously felt that the opponent in the same group was a little overtake me. At this moment, the pain in my knee had been left behind, and the desire to win filled every cell in my body, and I was desperately accelerating in the small bend, which was my only chance to catch up with her. In the last lane change zone, 200 meters away, I gritted my teeth and gasped for air, but just before entering the last bend, suddenly, my knees were soft and the ice knife was empty. At this point I was close to exhaustion, I subconsciously told myself that I could not fall, all the Chinese audiences were watching me in front of the scene and in front of the TV, this is my ice rink, this is my Winter Olympics. A force forced me to pull my right leg back, but this mistake also made me feel that my opponent was behind me, and I heard her breathing getting closer and closer to me. I didn't hesitate to swing my arms, pedal the ice, make corners, and finally 50 meters later I saw her on my side with the afterglow.
Zhang Hong at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. Photo courtesy of Zhang Hong
The word "admit defeat" did not exist in my consciousness, I felt my movements deformed, my legs had no strength to continue pedaling the ice, I could only speed up the rhythm as much as possible to maintain speed, and finally 5 meters, I finally crossed the finish line in front of her, 1 minute 15 seconds 67, she 1 minute 15 seconds 77. It was a full 1.5 seconds slower than when sochi was, but I was very content, very content, because I used all my strength to complete this race.
I watched the last few groups of runners finish on the field, and in the end it was the Dutch moss who won the championship. It is still the 12,000 square meters of speed skating hall, still full of spectators, but unfortunately the cheers at this moment are not for me. I stood in the middle of the venue and sighed, I don't know if the tears blurred my vision, this year I have endured too much pressure and pain, it is finally over! Calming down the mood came to the interview area, saw CCTV's old friend Li Jie, she witnessed my ten years of speed skating, from the first national championship, the first Asian championship to the first golden moment in Sochi, her consistent smile brought me great comfort. I said at the time: "My performance today is worthy of my 23-year athletic career, and the only thing I am sorry for is the expectations of hundreds of millions of viewers and friends!" ”
The next 500m race on February 18th I finished 15th. But my journey to the PyeongChang Olympics isn't over yet – it's the election of the IOC Athletes' Committee. According to the IOC Constitution, candidates must be the current or previous Winter Olympics players, selected by the national (or regional) Olympic Committee and then selected by the IOC Executive Committee to enter the candidate stage, from the beginning to the end of the Winter Olympic Games from the penultimate 3 days for the voting stage, the new members will be voted by all the athletes participating in the current competition. There will be 6 candidates for this Winter Olympics, and the top two people in the final voting will be elected. Before the results were announced on February 23, I was far more nervous than the competition, because the result of the game can be predicted, but the vote is unknown. From the analysis of the participating teams, we do not have an advantage, the Chinese delegation has 82 athletes, while Norway, Canada and these delegations have more than 200 people. When the answer was announced, the result was as no miracle as my knees, and my votes were tied for third place, because the first and third place players were from the same project, and the elected committee members had to be from different projects, although the votes did not differ much, but in the end I lost.
At that time, I heard a lot of negative voices that I did not do a good job of handing over the baton to Chinese athletes. When I came to Pyeongchang, I endured the pain of my knees and understood great pressure, and I suffered silently alone. Am I just an athlete who used two hundred percent of my efforts to get from Sochi to Pyeongchang and ended my career that way? I was in deep pain and couldn't extricate myself.
In PyeongChang, Zhang Hong was elected as a member of the International Olympic Committee and a member of the Athletes Committee. Photo courtesy of Zhang Hong
Two days later, on 25 February 2018, I was invited to the closing plenary session of the International Olympic Committee. I sat downstage and looked at President Bach, who had a relationship, wondering if he remembered the moment I shook hands with him on July 31, 2015, when he successfully bid for the Winter Olympics in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I wore a translator and listened to him preside over the meeting, nervously anticipating the impending moment. The IOC Athletes' Committee has 15 seats, 12 of which are voted, 3 are appointed as presidents, and the members serve one term of office every eight years. According to the proportion of the Winter and Summer Olympics, each Winter Olympics will have two arrivals and two elected, and the Summer Olympics will be four. The President appoints members according to the equality of the project, gender, and five continents.
Maybe it was because there were too many disappointments, there were just a nomination quota, just a tie for third in my vote, just when China was going to host the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, just when China was getting stronger in international sports organizations, just right for speed skating no one had ever been elected to the committee. President Bach gave me the quota of appointees, and there are too many stories behind the luck of this moment, and I held the Olympic flag in my hand, solemnly swore an oath, excited and grateful. On that day, I officially became a member of the International Olympic Committee and a member of the Athletes Committee, and began another Olympic journey, and I finally lived up to the cultivation and expectations of the motherland.
At the age of 7, he chose ice and snow sports, at the age of 12 he became a professional short track speed skater, at the age of 20 he turned to speed skating, at the age of 26 he won the first gold medal for the Chinese Winter Olympics in speed skating, and at the age of 30 he served on the International Olympic Committee. Thanks to my parents for encouraging me to choose a sports career, grateful for the Olympics for changing my life, I am willing to spend my life to follow the Olympic sports I love.
On February 18, 2018, I don't want to say it, but I still have to say "goodbye". Goodbye, my favorite speed skating, my favorite ice rink, my favorite teammates, my opponents. It's all over 23 years, but maybe, maybe we'll see you again.
□ Zhang Hong (Olympic Champion, Member of the International Olympic Committee)
The original article is published on the WeChat public account "Zhang Hong IOC MEMBER"
Edited by Wang Chunqiu, proofread by Wu Xingfa