The 2024 Gangwon-do Winter Youth Olympic Games are in full swing, and the Chinese team has already won three golds and three silvers in the short track speed skating event.
In the women's 1500m final, two Chinese athletes, Yang Jingru and Li Jinhao, executed the "rabbit tactic" perfectly, sweeping the first and second place in the event, and Yang Jingru's gold medal was also the first gold medal for the Chinese delegation at this Winter Youth Olympic Games.
In the women's 1500m final at the Winter Youth Olympic Games, all seven skaters skated at extremely slow speeds after the starting gun was fired, and it was clear that no one wanted to be the leader at the start. Short track speed skating is a small field, with a circumference of only 111.12 meters, and 13 and a half laps of 1500 meters.
But the excitement of this game lies precisely in the "doing the opposite".
Less than half a lap after the start of the race, Yang Jingru took the lead in accelerating from the outside road, and her start time was even a little earlier than the live announcer's event broadcast.
Yang Jingru slowed down her speed after a lap of leading the skate, and obediently skated at the end of the team.
At this time, except for Yang Jingru and her teammate Li Jinqi on the field, as well as the coaching staff of the Chinese team, everyone may not realize that the last place visually is actually one lap ahead of the other players.
As the game progressed, the players began to slowly accelerate, and the game gradually entered a tense rhythm.
The bell ringing for the last lap left on the field was actually ringing for Yang Jingru, the "last place" in the queue, but except for another Chinese player Li Jinhao, the other players all took the bell as a signal to sprint, and sprinted with all their strength and hit the line with "two laps" left!
After the sprint, the other competitors relaxed, and even the broadcast camera did not move to the finish line, but Li Jinqian did not stop after crossing the line, she overtook the other competitors, continued to skate the last lap, and successfully finished second.
To some extent, the Chinese team's successful use of "rabbit tactics" to win the championship and runner-up was due to the fact that the players of each team were not very familiar with each other, and they did not mainly focus on Yang Jingru, who was outstanding in the final.
Traditionally, in short track speed skating, if one of the competitors suddenly accelerates, the main competitor has to send one of the athletes to catch up, exerting physical strength and fighting bayonets, while the other person stays in a large group to play the established tactics, and if the main competitor has only one competitor, then do not hesitate to follow.
So no one followed Yang Jingru after she accelerated, and this gold medal was actually in hand.
Although the gold medal was a tactical victory, Yang Jingru actually has a lot of strength, and as the 1000m champion of the 14th Winter Youth Group, it is rare for her to be able to maintain the same speed as the other competitors after accelerating.
Although teammate Lee Kim Ho fought alone, he still fought back and forth with his South Korean opponent, ensuring that he did not make mistakes or fall in the fierce competition, and of course, more importantly, he was clear-headed, did not slow down after crossing the line with his Korean opponent, and took advantage of the opponent's illusion to win the runner-up.
In this competition, the two Chinese athletes won very smartly, and at the same time, it is also a reflection of their individual strength.
In short track speed skating, the "rabbit tactic" is not uncommon. China's first Winter Olympic gold medallist, short track speed skater Yang Yang recalls that when she competed as an athlete, opponents such as the Korean team often used "rabbit tactics" against her, with the aim of disrupting her rhythm and even dragging her down her fitness.
In 2015, Ren Ziwei made his short track speed skating World Cup debut, in the men's 1500m final, a South Korean athlete wanted to break through from the group skating, and the astute Ren Ziwei followed and overtook him, and then Ren Ziwei accelerated, opened the distance from all opponents, and won his first World Cup title with "anti-rabbit tactics".
Today, two Chinese short track speed skaters have successfully used the "rabbit tactic" at the Gangneung Ice Rink in South Korea, showing the style of China's rising stars in ice and snow sports.
Of course, the Chinese short track speed skating team competing in the Gangwon Winter Youth Olympic Games does not only have "rabbit tactics", in the short track speed skating women's 1000m final on the 21st, Yang Jingru and Li Jinhao did not use "rabbit tactics" again. This time, the two places were reversed, Li Jinkai won the gold medal, and Yang Jingru won the silver medal.
In the men's 1000m and men's 1500m finals, teenager Zhang Xinzhe added another gold and silver to the Chinese delegation.
Short track speed skating has long been regarded as the "trump card" of South Korea's ice and snow, and the short track competition between China and South Korea has never stopped. In the opponent's home field, the Chinese short track speed skaters dared to fight, showing the demeanor of China's ice and snow rising stars. Although the victory of the Chinese short track team was coldly handled by the South Korean media, intentionally or unintentionally, it is believed that the Chinese athletes will be remembered by their South Korean opponents for the rest of their lives......