From athlete to coach, Zhao Hongbo did not have much discomfort.
Listen to those familiar melodies, watch the disciples fly on the ice, lift, spin, take off... These have long been deeply rooted in his brain and become a part of his body.
The Pyeongchang Winter Olympics is only the first lesson of head coach Zhao Hongbo. After 4 years, it is the real debriefing performance.
On February 7, 2018, the Chinese delegation held a flag-raising ceremony, and Zhao Hongbo was interviewed. The pictures in this article are all from Visual China
He took over the banner of his mentor Yao Bin
Taking over the burden of the head of the figure skating coach from the hands of his mentor Yao Bin, the young marshal Zhao Hongbo's heart was not worried.
Five years ago, when he first took over the pair skating, he was bottomless. But Sui Wenjing/Han Cong's birth, like himself and Shen Xue more than ten years ago, also gave him great confidence. This carefully crafted combination for him to win the 2017 World Championships also made Zhao Hongbo more confident about his coaching level.
Therefore, Zhao Hongbo, who stood in the position of head coach, began to change his brand.
He took the lead in making adjustments to the coaching team, while ensuring that each group had two coaches, and constantly expanding the "foreign aid".
In addition, the figure skating team also tried to maintain long-term exchanges with The russian two-time Winter Olympic champion Galteva, as well as Pushshenko's coach Mishen and others, borrowing and learning a lot of training methods and training concepts from them.
Figure skating at the Vancouver Winter Olympics, Shen Xue/Zhao Hongbo won the gold medal.
If it is said that integrating with the international model and enriching the coaching team is only the first step to break through, zhao Hongbo has a bigger idea in China's women's singles that have been weak for many years - to select materials for chinese descent around the world.
"We are not only selecting chinese at home, but also considering the selection of Chinese nationals internationally, and this plan is still underway, but this is already an open secret."
Zhao Hongbo is more aware that if Chinese figure skating wants to continue its fine tradition, more young people must stand up.
Therefore, in the youth training and selection summer camp organized by the Figure Skating Department last year, there was not only the previous single skating selection, but also the double skating selection was added for the first time, and the selection team composed of 9 experts examined, scored and finally made selection.
"We must start now to cultivate reserve talents for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics."
Zhao Hongbo hugged his disciples Sui Wenjing and Han Cong.
"There are still 4 years to go, and there is still a lot to do"
Zhao Hongbo is very rigorous, facing the Beijing Winter Olympics 4 years later, he said the most, that is, "there are still many things to do." ”
The first big exam after becoming the head of figure skating was last year's ISU Figure Skating Grand Prix in China, and his debut result was good, one gold and two silver.
After the first day of the two-person skating short program In China, Zhao Hongbo, who returned to the rest area, still stared at the monitor on the side. There, the rankings and data of the players are updated at any time.
Zhao Hongbo looked at the specific scores of the first two Chinese groups, and there were words in his mouth. When Yu Xiaoyu came over, Zhao Hongbo smiled and asked his disciple about a detail just now—"In the end, did you help the ice?" ”
He stared at the players from other countries on the TV again, and from time to time he had a few discussions with the coach next to him. "The women's singles of this pair are now making so much progress", "No, they still have a lot of mistakes"...
When a reporter wanted to interview him, his answer was gentle and forceful, "Wait until I finish the game." ”
From beginning to end, his line of sight never left the screen.
Although he has a rigor beyond ordinary people for the competition, for his disciples, Zhao Hongbo is as warm as a big brother or even a father.
Zhao Hongbo, who has an excellent personality, even if the disciple's performance is even worse, he will only frown. You will see Zhao Hongbo, who has a lot of white hair on his sideburns, and from time to time he will say a few words to the team members, and after the game, the team members also like to hug Zhao Jiaotou.
"I just put my work a little more carefully and think a little more."
The Chinese duo Sui Wenjing/Han Cong picked up silver.
"Hopefully they'll be champions soon"
When Vancouver realized his dream, Zhao Hongbo was 37 years old, becoming the oldest player to win a gold medal at the Winter Olympics since 1920.
After eighteen years of fighting for the dream of olympic champions, he couldn't help but shed tears, "We finally won the gold medal, it is really too much and too much." ”
From athletes to coaches, Zhao Hongbo once told the surging news reporter that his biggest dream is to make his athletes become world champions and Olympic champions earlier.
"Because I didn't win the Olympics until I was 37 years old, it's too long for an athlete. I hope they can achieve their dreams a little earlier when they are young. ”
Unfortunately, Sui Wenjing/Han Cong, who were most likely to bring gold medals to China's figure skating, eventually lost the championship with 0.43 points due to mistakes.
Speaking of the disciples who won silver medals in the First Olympic Games, Zhao Hongbo said that even if they play normally, they have also tried their best. However, Zhao Hongbo still has regrets.
"They won the World Championship last year, and they occupied a good place in the Olympic games, but in the end they grasped it..." Zhao Hongbo paused and said slightly self-deprecatingly, "If you can get the Olympic championship after five years of coaching, this is also a miracle." ”
However, for Zhao Hongbo, he still has enough time.