Why Qitaihe? The highlight moment of a northeast coal city
Walking into the Qitaihe Short Track Speed Skating Championship Hall, the first thing that catches your eye is the "Gold Medal List" above the hall on the first floor - 535 national gold medals, 177 world-class gold medals, 16 world-class gold medals... These are all It is the achievement achieved by the athletes trained by Qitaihe
On the other side, there is a "skate wall" - more than a thousand pairs of skates worn by athletes are neatly arranged, witnessing the rough road behind these halos
"The moonlight falls on the ice, illuminating the dreams of generations... A small town person's wish is to make the Champions Corridor decorate the north..."
During the Beijing Winter Olympics, Qitaihe City, Heilongjiang Province, a small northeastern city with a population of less than 700,000, became the focus of attention. A Winter Olympics theme song expressed the indissoluble bond between Qitaihe people and the Winter Olympics .
Yang Yang, Wang Meng, Sun Linlin, Fan Kexin... Since the 1970s, 10 Winter Olympic and world champions have been trained and delivered here, creating the city business card of "Hometown of Winter Olympic Champions" and "Cradle of Winter Olympic Champions".
As of 15:00 on February 15, 7 of the 19 gold medals won by China in the previous Winter Olympics were related to Qitai River.
Today, Qitaihe is known as "the city with a stopwatch in hand".
There is not only the glory of the "tip of the pyramid", but also a solid "base", which continuously delivers new blood for China's short track speed skating career.
Looking at the moment, on the road of transformation of a resource-based city, the champion culture of "dare to be the first to strive for the first-class" is injecting new momentum into the revitalization and development of this small northeastern city.
Small town highlights
On the evening of February 5, Fan Kexin and his teammates won the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics short track speed skating mixed relay championship in 2:37.348, taking the first gold for the Chinese delegation.
On the evening of February 13, in the women's 3000-meter relay final of short track speed skating at the Beijing Winter Olympics, Fan Kexin went out again and won another precious bronze medal for the Chinese team together with four other girls.
At the media meeting after winning the first gold medal, Fan Kexin said: "Short track speed skating is a kind of inheritance, we are all from Qitaihe, I hope there will be more children from Qitaihe in the future, who can pick me up. this one."
At this moment, Qitaihe, a small town in northeast China, once again entered everyone's field of vision.
She is proud of Qitaihe, and Qitaihe is proud of her.
Qitai River is located in the northeastern border of China, at the western end of the Wanda Mountains. The Waken River and the Naoli River meander through. The temperature is below minus 20 degrees Celsius for 4 months a year, providing a unique opportunity to carry out various ice sports. climatic and geographical conditions.
"Go to the Woken River and see why Qitai River has won the championship. The river is full of skating." A netizen said.
In the snow-covered winter, children from four to five years old, and elderly people in their sixties and seventies, will walk on the ice and in the snow to enjoy the happiness brought by ice and snow sports.
The local people's love for ice and snow sports has become a living habit and way of life, which has laid a solid foundation for the development of Qitaihe ice and snow sports.
Up to now, athletes trained by Qitaihe City have won 177 world-level gold medals and 535 national-level gold medals, breaking world records 16 times.
In 2017, it was awarded the honorary titles of "National Key High-level Sports Reserve Talent Base" and "National Short Track Speed Skating Qitaihe Sports Training Base" by the State Sports General Administration.
Qitaihe, why?
Back in 2002, the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, USA.
The Chinese delegation won two gold medals in the women's 500m and 1000m short track speed skating, achieving a breakthrough of "zero" gold medals since their first participation in the Winter Olympics in 1980. It was short track speed skater Yang Yang who made this history.
When he was 9 years old, Yang Yang began to learn ice skating and studied under coach Dong Yanhai in Qitaihe.
In a diary displayed at the Qitaihe Short Track Speed Skating Championship Hall, Yang Yang wrote: "As an athlete, you should not be afraid of hardship or fatigue, and you should use your brains. When you grow up, you will become an excellent player. of athletes. Whenever I see those athletes who won gold medals crying excitedly on the podium, I am so envious! I think if I stand on the podium too, with hardship and fatigue hanging on my chest When the golden gold medal comes, others will look at me with envy. At that time I will be very proud, I am the happiest person in the world."
She said and did it.
Subsequently, Wang Meng took over the baton.
In February 2006, Wang Meng participated in the Turin Winter Olympics and won the short track speed skating women's 500-meter championship with a time of 44.345 seconds.
At the Winter Olympics, she won one gold, one silver and one bronze.
Four years later, the Vancouver Winter Olympics.
Wang Meng broke the Olympic record twice in the preliminaries and semi-finals of the 500-meter event, and achieved consecutive gold medals in the women's short track speed skating 500-meter in the final, and then won the women's 1,000-meter and 3,000-meter relay championships.
This made her the first Winter Olympics "Triple Crown Champion" in the history of short track speed skating in China, and opened the "Mongolian Era" that inspired Qitaihe people.
As the former captain of the Chinese short track speed skating team, although she no longer "scrambles" the battlefield, during the Beijing Winter Olympics, "my eyes are feet!" "Don't watch the replay!" "I am a lucky general!" ...a series of immersive and chatty Northeastern dialects, exuding unique magic and charm all the time, making her "popular" countless again.
When Wang Meng competed in the Vancouver Winter Olympics, 17-year-old Fan Kexin was sitting at home watching TV broadcasts.
Two years later, her name first appeared in the public eye.
Her appearance provided an answer to a question - "In the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, who can provoke the Chinese short track team?" But at that time, she always said: "I'm still young."
In 2014, Fan Kexin was 21 years old and was the gold favorite of the Chinese team in the Sochi Winter Olympics in the women's 500m, but she suddenly lost her balance shortly after the second group of the semifinals and fell off the track.
At the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, she was 25 years old and was ruled out for a foul in the women's 500m short track speed skating semifinals, which is a pity.
2022, Beijing.
From ignorant and immature to firm and mature, this girl who once choked after a fall on the field has grown into an experienced veteran and is the leader of the women's short track speed skating team.
Ups and downs, blood and tears, ups and downs, always walk with success, joy and glory.
Generations of short-track speed skating athletes continue to write about the deep and inseparable relationship between the Winter Olympics and Qitaihe on the white ice surface and the fierce competition.
As the "King's Teacher" of China's ice and snow sports, the short track speed skating team is like the sharpest sword in the hands of the warriors.
As of 15:00 on the 15th, among the 19 gold medals won by China in the previous Winter Olympics, 7 of them are related to Qitaihe.
This small northeastern city has never enjoyed such a glorious moment.
The "ice-breaking" road of Coal City
People often say, "Qitai River has two treasures, one is high-quality coal, and the other is short-track speed skating masters." The former is naturally formed, while the latter is built.
The former enriches the city's "money bags", while the latter enriches the citizens' brains.
Before the birth of the Winter Olympics champion, Qitaihe was actually an industrial city that was born and prospered by coal.
Since its development and construction in 1958, Qitaihe has contributed more than 600 million tons of high-quality raw coal to the country. It is an important coal and power production base in the country and the largest high-quality coking coal and coke production base and coal chemical industry base in Northeast China.
In 1983, Qitaihe was promoted to a provincial municipality, and together with Jixi, Shuangyashan and Hegang, it was called the "Four Coal City" in Heilongjiang.
How is the former coal city related to short track speed skating?
How to open up a new road of silver ice and snow sports in the "black and gold era"?
The transformation starts with Meng Qingyu.
This meritorious coach is known as the founder and pioneer of the short track speed skating career in Qitaihe City.
Meng Qingyu was born into a working-class family in Harbin.
In 1969, at the age of 18, he was assigned to Qitaihe as a coal miner in a new coal mine.
Meng Qingyu's wife, Han Pingyun, recalled that Meng Qingyu loved skating since she was a student.
In 1972, he represented Qitaihe in the Ice Games and won three championships in the 1500m, 3000m and 5000m races.
Later, because of his outstanding performance in this competition, he was transferred to the Municipal Sports Commission, became the skating coach of Qitaihe City and began to set up a speed skating team.
The new history of Qitaihe began to be written from that moment.
"At that time, many people thought that engaging in sports was not a proper job, but he couldn't control it. He reported to the Municipal Sports Commission by himself." Han Pingyun said that after stepping into the coaching position, Meng Qingyu suddenly became busy and left it to his family. Time is running out.
Meng Qingyu is nicknamed "Zi Zi".
"Yuzi" is often referred to as a bull.
When the speed skating team was first formed, there was no decent ice rink in the team, so Meng Qingyu poured the ice rink by himself.
He designed his own "ice-watering truck", putting a large iron bucket on the sledge as a water tank, and going out every day before dawn, like an old scalper pulling a ton of sledge to pour the ice little by little.
"In winter, the weather is freezing cold, and an ice storm is poured down. People are so cold that their hands are like a cat's bite, their face is like a knife, and the water droplets that splash on their bodies turn into ice. When they walk, they make a rustling noise, and they almost become ice men." Wang Hongbin, a third-level researcher of Qitaihe Sports Bureau, said that even so, Meng Qingyu still insisted.
At first, he chose the training location in a simple open-air lighted stadium.
"It's a room, it's better to say it's a 'bird cage' that is ventilated from all sides. Lying on the bed at night, you can see the stars and moon in the sky along the cracks in the wall." Han Pingyun said that because there is no heating equipment, there are always knots on the walls in winter. A thick layer of hoarfrost.
Meng Qingyu led the children to build houses, build stoves, run canteens, and pour ice rinks.
When the funds were insufficient, he brought the pots and pans at home, bought food for the team members with his own wages, and even brought in the full-length mirrors given by his friends when they got married to help the team members correct their posture... In short, what is the training team lacking? He takes whatever from home.
"Starting from scratch", he just pushed skating from a hobby of Qitaihe people to competitive sports.
Since 1985, as the players gradually achieved some achievements in national and provincial competitions, the Sports Bureau of Heilongjiang Province provided free indoor skating venues for the Qitaihe Speed Skating Team.
Meng Qingyu was finally able to lead the players to the Harbin Indoor Skating Stadium for training.
Due to the shortage of training funds, Meng Qingyu and the team rented private houses near the training base, whichever was the cheapest.
The room he initially rented was a 16-square-meter shanty, and he crowded together with more than 30 children.
It was not until later that Qitaihe Sports Bureau purchased housing near the training base that the accommodation conditions of the team members improved.
1987 was a key turning point for Qitaihe.
Meng Qingyu proposed to change Qitaihe's key events from speed skating to short track speed skating, and focus on women's events.
People around him felt unsure, and even publicly opposed it, but when the "Zi Zi" got angry, no one could stop him.
At that time, international short-track speed skating was just emerging, and Qitaihe had already shifted its focus to short-track speed skating before it was included in the official Olympic competition.
Facts have proved that this is a golden key to open the door to a new world for Qitaihe.
In 1991, Zhang Jie, who was selected for the national team under the tutelage of Meng Qingyu, and his teammates won the short track speed skating women's 3000-meter relay at the World Winter Games that year, becoming the first world champion out of Qitaihe.
Since then, Yang Yang, Wang Meng, Sun Linlin, and Fan Kexin, the four Winter Olympic champions, are all disciples of Meng Qingyu.
"In private, we call him the 'Devil Coach'." Zhang Jie said that training courage, endurance, skills, and style are all peculiar and harsh tricks he often use.
Wang Meng said in an interview, "During the three-year master-apprentice relationship with Coach Meng Qingyu, he has been with us day and night, putting all his attention on us, and caring little about his family. Our sacrifices and dedication have made our achievements.”
Unfortunately, on August 2, 2006, on the way from Qitaihe to Harbin for a training class for students, Meng Qingyu bid farewell to the career he loves and the children he loves forever due to a traffic accident.
After his death, Zhao Xiaobing, Zhang Jie, Dong Yanhai, Zhang Lizeng... a group of excellent coaches and athletes who were selected and cultivated by him, took over the stopwatch in his hand and continued to whip the ice rink to help more children achieve championships dream.
In 1984, Zhao Xiaobing regretted his retirement due to an accidental injury, and was excavated by Meng Qingyu.
In 1989, she officially started her short track speed skating coaching career.
"Because of injuries, my dream of being a champion has been shattered. I will try my best to make my teammates realize the dream of being a short track speed skating champion for me." For more than 30 years, Zhao Xiaobing has trained Sun Linlin, Wang Wei and Li Hongshuang successively. Waiting for the Winter Olympics champion and the world champion.
The cradle of champions dreaming
In 2013, with the support of relevant parties, the indoor ice rink of Qitaihe Sports Center was put into use, ending the decades-long history of no indoor ice rink.
The regret that Meng Qingyu could not complete during his lifetime finally came to an end.
At noon, 11-year-old Yang Xiubo and more than 20 companions practiced skating on the ice here.
Some are fast and cherish every minute and every second; some accidentally fall down and get up and continue to "run".
Yang Xiubo's home is in Kaili, Guizhou. He liked roller skating when he was a child. Under the recommendation of his roller skating coach, he made a special trip to Qitaihe to learn short track speed skating.
"I heard that I can be a champion here, so I came."
The coach who taught Yang Xiubo was Zhang Jie.
In 2014, Zhang Jie returned to his hometown Qitaihe to teach.
With their efforts, Qitaihe won 4 golds and 2 silvers in the speed skating event of the 11th World Winter Special Olympics in 2017, and won 3 golds in the speed skating event of the 15th World Summer Special Olympics in 2019. The good results of gold, 2 silver and 2 bronze have drawn a strong stroke for the city card of "City of Champions".
Today, Zhang Jie is the coach of the Short Track Speed Skating Training Center of Qitaihe Vocational College.
Her team includes not only local children from Qitaihe, but also athletes from Guizhou, Gansu, Henan, Hebei and other provinces.
"Only by accumulating and practicing skating skills steadily can we really cultivate high-level skating talents." Zhang Jie said.
She skates more than ten kilometers a day on the ice, her voice is always hoarse, but her eyes are always firm - sending children to the top podium of the World Series.
In terms of talent training mode, Qitaihe City adheres to the "combination of sports and education", and has established a short track speed skating characteristic school, a basic class of children's short track speed skating amateur sports school - a key class of children's short track speed skating amateur sports school - Heilongjiang Province The echelon training mode of the youth short track speed skating team has formed a training, delivery and selection mechanism from school to professional team, from amateur to professional.
Today, the number of short track speed skating schools has increased from 5 to 11.
"All these efforts are aimed at allowing athletes to receive regular and professional guidance and training from the very beginning," said Li Bing, mayor of Qitaihe City.
Since last year, through the establishment of the "provincial team and city-run" base, the youth short track speed skating team of Heilongjiang has landed in Qitaihe, and the short track speed skating training here has been upgraded from a prefecture-level semi-professional team to a provincial-level professional training team. Opened a channel to directly push outstanding athletes to the national team, opened the door to the international arena, and once again achieved a historic leap.
According to statistics, Qitaihe City currently has more than 500 athletes in training and more than 20 coaches. In six major sports such as speed skating, ski jumping, and snowboarding, more than 300 outstanding athletes have been sent to the country and the province. , the number of registered athletes in the national short track speed skating event has reached more than 1,300, and it is the city with the most abundant reserve talents for short track speed skating in the country.
"The city's primary and secondary school physical education has listed the ice and snow project as a compulsory course, and strive to make a big base for the ice and snow talent 'pyramid'." said Lv Guodong, deputy director of the Qitaihe Education Bureau.
Since 2014, Qitaihe City has included skating in the senior high school entrance examination. Out of the total score of 80 in physical education, skating accounts for 40 points.
This also makes skating more valued by teachers, students and parents, and more and more students put on skates and walk on the ice rink.
Qitaihe has held ice and snow activities for teenagers for 23 consecutive years, and has held 23 primary and secondary school students' speed skating competitions.
Almost every school waters the ice rink in winter.
Since 2014, the local government has provided financial support, subsidizing the school 30,000 yuan for each ice rink.
Primary and secondary schools carry out ice skating classes extensively, and at the same time strengthen the Olympic spirit education of the Winter Olympics and the Winter Paralympics, and improve students’ understanding and cognition of the common sense and etiquette of the Winter Olympics.
Relying on curriculum resources such as physical education, history, and Chinese, and using methods such as flag raising, class meetings, storytelling of champions, recitations, handwritten newspapers, and painting displays, students are guided to establish a belief in hard work and climbing from an early age.
According to statistics, nearly 60,000 students in Qitaihe City participate in winter ice and snow activities every year, accounting for more than 90% of the city's students.
The local government also regularly provides short track speed skating schools with skates, helmets, clothing and other equipment according to the situation.
"My idol is Sister Fan Kexin. I want to be like her, standing on the podium of the Winter Olympics and winning the world championship!" Li Xuexin is a third-grade student at No. 15 Primary School in Qitaihe City. She has loved skating since she was a child. A member of the key class of Qitaihe Children's Short Track Speed Skating Amateur Sports School.
Like Li Xuexin, winning the Olympic championship is the dream of many Qitaihe athletes since childhood.
Inheritance of the Champion Spirit
Entering the Qitaihe Short Track Speed Skating Championship Hall, the first thing that catches your eye is the "Gold Medal List" above the hall on the first floor - 535 national gold medals, 177 world-class gold medals, 16 world-class gold medals... These are all It is the achievement achieved by the athletes trained by Qitaihe.
On the other side, there is a "skate wall" - more than a thousand pairs of skates worn by athletes are neatly arranged, witnessing the rough road behind these halos.
Some people say that these shoes may be heavier and more convincing than any awards and trophies.
The inheritance of short track speed skating is inseparable from the encouragement of champion culture.
The short track speed skating championship hall built in Qitaihe City is a concentrated display of championship culture.
The Champion Hall has 8 floors and houses "the founder of the champion city - Meng Qingyu and the coaches of the past", "the first Chinese Winter Olympic champion - Yang Yang", "the founder of the short track speed skating 'Mongolian era' - Wang Meng" and "Zhe". Wings of Wing Angels - Zhang Jie" and other 6 main exhibition halls.
A piece of real object, a statue, a picture, tells the history of Qitaihe's short track speed skating career for more than 40 years.
When the pavilion opened in 2019, Wang Meng donated dozens of his medals to the championship pavilion, including 4 precious Winter Olympic gold medals.
"The small town of Qitaihe is not big, but the light of the championship is flashing everywhere." Li Bing said.
The short-track speed skating championship hall, which bears the glory, Qitaihe West Station, the Champion Bridge, Yangyang Street, etc., which are shaped like ice skates, are all manifestations of the "champion culture" here. The ice and snow sports business represented by it has strong feelings.
Today, in addition to sports, the championship culture has been integrated into the blood of Qitaihe people, and is becoming a real productivity, creativity and catch-up force, driving Qitaihe forward on the road of transformation and development.
In the past, coal and coal-related industries once accounted for more than 50% of the total GDP of Qitaihe City, 90% of the industrial added value above designated size, 70% of tax revenue, and 60% of the employed population.
Qitaihe was identified as a national resource-exhausted city in 2009 due to a significant reduction in mineable coal resources.
How to get rid of the industrial development model of "one coal dominates" and realize the conversion of old and new kinetic energy is an unavoidable "must-answer" for Qitaihe, an old coal city.
Based on its own resource endowments, Qitaihe City turns its attention to emerging industries such as coal intensive processing, new materials and new energy, and seeks a path for economic transformation.
In June 2019, Heilongjiang Lianshun Biotechnology Co., Ltd. was registered and established in the Jianghe Integrated Green Intelligent Manufacturing Industrial Park in Qitaihe City. It is the first project of over 10 billion in Qitaihe City. The transformation and upgrading is a milestone.
In order to improve the business environment, the Qitaihe Municipal Government has formulated and issued a series of "Golden Ten" policies to support the development of the real economy, and set up a special class for service enterprises to provide convenience and services for enterprises.
"Enterprises enjoy 'nanny-style' services. Through new product research and development, they continuously optimize product structure, extend the pharmaceutical industry chain, and enhance the added value of products." Zhang Jiangfei, general manager of Heilongjiang Lianshun Biotechnology Co., Ltd. said.
Transformation and development carry the people's yearning for a better future.
Holding tweezers, stick the eyelashes neatly on the tape according to the mold... In Qitaihe Zhongsheng Eyelash Processing Factory, dozens of female workers learn while doing it.
Xu Ruihan, deputy director of the Human Resources and Social Security Bureau of Qitaihe City, said that in response to the demand and willingness of "mine sisters" for flexible employment, home employment, and nearby employment, Qitaihe City introduced wig weaving from Henan, Shandong and other places. And the false eyelashes production industry, organized the "Mine's Wife" training and took up the post.
From "Bao Mom" and housewife to going to work, "Mine's Sister-in-law" Qi Liying is very happy. Not only has she found employment nearby, she can not only take care of her family, but also increase her income and experience the new benefits of coal city transformation.
Under the light of the champions, the city of champions will move towards new glory and conquer new dreams.
(Reporters Yang Siqi and Xie Jianfei)