She has too many labels on her: China's first Winter Olympic champion, vice president of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, founder of the Feiyang Ice Sports Center...
As the Winter Olympics approached, as the chairman of the Athletes Committee of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics Organizing Committee, she ushered in a busy period of sprinting.
She is Yang Yang, China's "Ice Queen".
Recalling the thrilling days and nights when bidding for the bid, I sighed that China's ice and snow sports had undergone earth-shaking changes... On the first anniversary of the countdown to the Beijing Winter Olympic Games, this reporter exclusively interviewed Yang Yang, from her eloquent words, let us relive the story of more than 5 years after the successful bid for the Olympic Games.
Bid for a baby
On July 31, 2015, Yang Yang, a member of the International Olympic Committee and former Olympic champion, appeared outside the bid presentation hall wearing delicate light makeup and a uniform light blue suit. The bulging abdomen has been quite large, and Yang Yang, who is pregnant for more than 6 months, as a narrator, after Yao Ming, came to the stage to introduce the Olympic bid statement.
The Olympic bidding delegation is a total of 12 members, before playing, Yang Yang and Li Nina next to him laughed: "Let's have one more person, it is 13 people on the stage - many people are powerful." After saying that, Yang Yang stroked his stomach and also amused the members of the delegation next to him.
Yang Yang's daughter was born in November 2015, and was called "Olympic Bid Baby" by familiar friends around her, and the time of conceiving her daughter was the busiest day for Yang Yang to bid for the Beijing Winter Olympics.
In March 2015, a delegation from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Evaluation Committee came to Beijing. From the bird's nest to the first body, from Beijing to Yanqing, accompanied by the inspection, Yang Yang's pregnancy reaction was particularly large in those days. During the evaluation mission, the IOC colleagues thought she was nervous. A strong relief for her. "Only I know that there is a little guy who wants to be involved in this big thing together."
Pictured: Yang Yang (right) in the Olympic bid statement Xinhua News Agency
In July 2015, Yang Yang came to Kuala Lumpur a week early to prepare for the Olympic bid. At that time, the members of China's Olympic bid delegation uniformly customized light blue suits. However, Yang Yang's already pregnant belly gave her a problem - 7 months of pregnancy, which is the fastest period of fetal development in the abdomen, and within a few days of Malaysia, the tailored suit when she set off could not be worn.
Urgently asked for a new set of uniforms to be mailed in China, and this time, Yang Yang left a heart - according to the size of the enlargement, she prepared an extra set. Double insurance has proven to be effective. On the day of the presentation, the second uniform was also unbuttoned. The three sets of uniforms became the most special memory of Yang Yang's olympic statement.
On July 31, she only remembered that her daughter in the womb was particularly well-behaved, "There was almost no fuss that day, which made me play very well." Stepping off the presentation podium, an IOC colleague who knew her gave her a thumbs up and said, "Today is your day!" (Today is your good day!) ）”
Pictured: Yang Yang and Bach shook hands, when her stomach bulge was very obvious Xinhua Photo
China Speed
On December 31, 2019, the Beijing-Zhangjiang high-speed railway was opened to traffic. On the first train, Yang Yang, Zhang Hong and some famous winter sports athletes were present. Gone are the days of the snow season weekend when the roadblocks are boundless, and the original three- or four-hour drive from Beijing to Zhangjiakou has been shortened to one hour. Yang Yangzhi, who was excited about taking a selfie, said that this is our "Chinese pride".
Yang Yang also remembers that in March 2015, when she first came to the current Yanqing Division, it was still a desolate bald mountain. Snow experts need to hike for hours to get to the site of the Yanqing Alpine Ski Resort. Standing on top of bald hills, Yang Yang described Beijing's plans for the Olympic Bid to the IOC officials behind him. Use stories to impress the hearts of experts.
Today, the vision that was originally depicted has become a reality. In the Chongli area, the National Ski Jumping Center is connected with the cross-country ski center and the biathlon center through the boardwalk, forming a beautiful scene of "ice jade ring holding hands with snow ruyi", and the Chinese cultural power transmitted by the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics will once again amaze the world.
The city of the Double Olympic Games has been continued not only by sports venues, but also by the love of Beijing citizens for sports. Yang Yang remembers that in 2015, the members of the evaluation committee stayed at the Intercontinental Hotel on the edge of the Olympic Village, where IOC officials were stationed during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, and many of the delegations were "old guests.". In those days, Yang Yang would often take them to the Olympic Park not far away. In the early morning and dusk, you can always see many citizens running, boxing and fitness here. Many people sighed: "National fitness has become the best legacy of Beijing Summer Olympics." ”
Today, under the vision of the Winter Olympics to drive 300 million people to participate in ice and snow sports, ice and snow sports are popular in China's great rivers and rivers, becoming a fitness carrier and lifestyle for more people. In Yang Yang's view, the holding of the Winter Olympic Games will not only leave a huge legacy for China, but also a landmark event for the development of global winter sports.
Sports Ambassadors
On February 2, 2020, in the just-built National Speed Skating Hall "Ice Ribbon", Yang Yang, who was wearing a national team uniform, was "galloping" on the ice. The graceful gliding figure vaguely allows people to see the style of the former "Ice Queen". The ice surface is too good, the venue is too beautiful, Yang Yang can't help but skate a few more laps. "Oops", it turned out that the slide was too happy, Yang Yang actually had a cramp in his feet.
Picture said: "Ice Ribbon" interior view Xinhua News Agency
As the chairman of the Sports Committee of the Beijing Winter Olympics Organizing Committee, Yang Yang admitted that his most important mission is to become a "spokesperson" for athletes, "to protect the rights and needs of athletes, to ensure that they can be supported in the preparatory process; so that athletes can feel the warmth of home at the Beijing Winter Olympics." ”
At last year's meeting of the Athletes' Committee, Yang Yang made more than 40 suggestions on behalf of the Committee to the Organizing Committee. Some of these suggestions, down to small, are all experienced by the athletes' committee members as good athletes.
Among the more than 40 suggestions, there are also suggestions from Yang Yang, "Two or three years ago, I used to take my children as a representative of the International Skating Federation to the venue where salt lake city won the championship that year, trying to find traces of that year but could not find them, and many things could only be left in memory." She suggested whether the athletes could be allowed to leave their own marks in the venue, "these marks may be a signature or a handprint." "For athletes, the Beijing Winter Olympics will become the most memorable chapter in their lives, and because of this imprint, in the future, they will have a different kind of affection for China for Beijing."
Travel like a sports ambassador, taking advantage of the opportunity to participate in events such as the World Athletes' Congress to promote the Beijing Winter Olympics, while also bringing back to Beijing the specific needs of athletes from all over the world.
Dialogue with Yang Yang Q&A
Q: One year later, today is the scheduled opening day of the Beijing Winter Olympics. If the Tokyo Olympics can be held with a one-year delay, it means that the Beijing Winter Olympics will become the shortest interval between the Summer Olympics in history. What does this mean for Beijing?
A: Athletes in a fleeting competitive state do not want to miss the Olympic event, as sports people, we are more willing to actively face difficulties and challenges, and even hope to find new opportunities in the new situation that the summer and winter Olympic Games are only about half a year away, and better promote the Olympic spirit and value. As IOC President Thomas Bach has said, we should turn the reconvened Olympics into a festival to celebrate human solidarity and the world's recovery from the pandemic.
Q: In the coming year, the Beijing Winter Olympics will enter the sprint stage, for you, where will you focus your work in the future?
A: In the coming year, it will enter the full operation and pre-competition testing stage of the Winter Olympic Games, which will involve more and more specific athlete experiences and athletes' feelings. As the Chairman of the Athletes Committee, I will continue to actively cooperate with the organizing committee and give more suggestions to the organizing committee at the operational level. We will make every effort to host athletes from all over the world and the region for the 2022 Winter Olympics.
As vice president of WADA, from the World Anti-Doping Agency, the responsibility is to defend the purity of sports and protect clean athletes. In the next two Olympic Games in the coming year, efforts will be stepped up in doping testing and doping education.
(Li Ranran)
Source: International Online