Han Tongyuan, who is over eighty years old, is photographed by Cang Yan
Jilin, November 6 (China News Network) (Reporter Cang Yan Shi Hongyu) In the face of the upcoming ski season, the 83-year-old Won Tongyuan has long been ready - the snowboard has been waxed, the pre-sale snow ticket has been bought, and the details of the "group" have been discussed with his partners. He also increased the intensity of rollerblading training to maintain a strong state of exercise, "every day to skate for a morning." ”
Han Tongyuan grew up at the foot of Beishan Mountain in Jilin City, Jilin Province, and as the winner of the first national ski competition in New China, he has been racing on the slopes for more than half a century.
Pictured by The Young Won won Won won
Because of its unique ice and snow resources, Jilin City has cultivated a number of world champions such as Li Jianrou, Wu Dajing, Han Yutong, and Zang Ruxin. The local Olympic spirit and ice and snow champion genes can be traced back to more than 60 years of Won Tongyuan.
In 1957, China hosted the first Ski Games, and the 18-year-old Won Dong-won defeated a group of domestic masters to win the men's 20 km cross-country skiing championship. In the national competition the following year, he won the championship again. The black-and-white photographs taken at the time recorded the highlight moments of the elderly man's youth.
"I like alpine, cross-country, and platform jumping, and I want to do better than my opponents." Won Tong-won said that faster and stronger will always be his goal.
In fact, The Korean Tongyuan connection with ice and snow is very accidental. At that time, when herding sheep for the family in the winter, he took advantage of the gap to make simple wooden skis to "facilitate racing with the sheep". In order to gather the sheep and let the sheep walk on a fixed route, they honed their superb skills, and the sheep herders grew into ski masters.
Won Dong Won (first from right) and his siblings both love skiing Courtesy of Han Dong Won
At that time, the equipment and training conditions were very limited, but Han Tongyuan could still appreciate the joy of sports. "Improve snowboarding in the spring, skate grass in the summer, and play for half a year in the winter." Later, Jilin set up an ice and snow sports team, and Han Tongyuan was not only a "seed player" on the field, but also a coach of the ski women's team.
Unfortunately, Han Tongyuan's ice and snow dream could not continue due to various factors, and in 1963 he left the sports team and went to a state-owned enterprise to work as a bulldozer driver. "It's a shame I haven't competed internationally." Won Said that was his biggest regret as an athlete.
In 1980, when a Chinese sports delegation went to the Winter Olympics for the first time, Han Tongyuan watched the broadcast through various channels. At that time, the Winter Olympics set off a boom in ice and snow sports. Later, when Han Tongyuan was watching a ski competition in Heilongjiang, he met an old colleague who, at the invitation of the other party, returned to the ice and snow project again and became a professional ski instructor at the Fengman District Sports School in Jilin City. There, he worked for another three years.
Won Won in the match Won won courtesy of Won Won
For Han Tongyuan, athletes and coaches always have a moment to say goodbye to the ice and snow team, but his ice and snow dreams are always there, "never leave and never give up". Aside from last year's leg fall, he never missed a winter when he could ski.
Every winter, Won Tong won will bring ski equipment to many snow fields in Jilin City. In the Jilin Beidahu Snow Field, Han Tongyuan, who is over eighty years old, can still conquer the high-level ski slopes there. Take off your goggles and gear, and "ashes enthusiasts" from all over the world will find out that this is an elderly person. In other seasons, he was a "roller skater" on the slopes of the local park and mentored the children who asked him for advice.
Han Tongyuan said that the development of the times is still too fast, and his snowboard is stacked from wood, metal, aluminum alloy to composite material, "the center of gravity is stable, not deformed."
The Beijing Winter Olympics, which are just around the corner, make the old man excited. "I hope to be able to go and watch it live." Han Tongyuan said that only at the scene can we see the technical characteristics of players from all over the world more carefully. Spanning half a century, his dream of ice and snow has never changed. (End)
Source: China News Network