CCTV news: On the evening of February 19, 2022, Chinese figure skaters Sui Wenjing and Han Cong won the gold medal in the Figure Skating Pairs Free Skating Competition at the Beijing Winter Olympics with a total score of 239.88 points, which is also the Chinese figure skating team winning the gold medal in the Winter Olympics pair skating after 12 years.
It is interesting to note that Zhao Hongbo, as the head coach of pair skating, was one of the champions of pair skating at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. From champion to champion coach, Zhao Hongbo is working hard to create the next glory of Chinese figure skating.
Zhao Hongbo is from Harbin, Heilongjiang, and in 1992 he became a partner with his compatriot Shen Xue. At the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, they finished historicly 5th; at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, they won the bronze medal, the first Winter Olympic medal won by Chinese pair skating. By 2005, Shen Xue Zhao Hongbo had won the World Championships and world cups several times, but on August 5, 2005, Zhao Hongbo, who was preparing for the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, suddenly broke his left Achilles tendon during training.
This was just 190 days away from the start of the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin. For the pair skating project, a person's Achilles tendon break is tantamount to making two people lose their direction on all four feet. However, with the encouragement and careful care of his partner Shen Xue, two months before the 2006 Winter Olympics, Zhao Hongbo miraculously got back on his feet and won the bronze medal of the Winter Olympics again with his left leg, which had not fully recovered.
In May 2009, Zhao Hongbo and Shen Xue, who had been retired for two years, decided to return to the arena to participate in the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics in order to realize their dreams. This year, Zhao Hongbo was 37 years old. After unremitting efforts, on February 16, 2010, Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo, who went to the Winter Olympics for the fourth time, finally came true. It was also the first figure skating Olympic champion in Chinese history.
After retiring from the army, Zhao Hongbo still can't give up this ice and snow love. On May 13, 2013, the Winter Sports Management Center officially announced the list of the new figure skating national team, and on May 21, 2013, Zhao Hongbo was officially appointed as the head coach of the new figure skating national team pair skating.
At that time, the overall advantage of China's pair skating project dropped sharply, and the players either increased in age, injuries increased, their competitive status was affected, or the degree of tacit understanding did not reach the ideal height. In this regard, Zhao Hongbo on the one hand strengthened the cultivation of reserve talents, on the other hand, continued to enhance the artistic expression of Chinese athletes.
After nine years of unremitting efforts, Zhao Hongbo finally led his disciples Sui Wenjing and Han Cong to win the gold medal in figure skating at the Winter Olympics again. From champion to champion coach, Zhao Hongbo has always worked hard to create the next glory of China's figure skating project.