Can the Olympics use new projects to "tide" young people
"Skateboarding can broaden your horizons and make your temperament more'tide'. I hope you like skateboarding and hope that more Chinese skaters can fight alongside me in the future." July 26th, Tokyo Olympic Skateboarding Women's Street Competition, 2005 Chinese teenager Zeng Wenhui, who was born in 2010, entered the final. Although he was ranked sixth, his achievement also created the Olympic history of Chinese skateboarding.
The 16-year-old Chinese girl's appeal after the game is fully in line with the original intention of the IOC to reform "younger".
In 2016, the International Olympic Committee officially announced that the five major events of baseball and softball, karate, skateboarding, competitive rock climbing and surfing will become the official events of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. These events are labeled as "young" and "fashionable". In other words, It is in line with the "tide" that Zeng Wenhui values.
"Young people now have a lot of opportunities to choose, and we cannot expect them to come here. We must take the initiative." IOC President Bach has long realized that under the "competition" of commercial films, entertainment programs and video games, "Who else will look at" is already a big problem encountered in the development of modern Olympics.
When these youthful projects have really made their way onto the Olympic stage, Bach's vision has begun to bear fruit.
The young contestants are here
At the press conference of the Tokyo Olympic Women’s Skateboarding Competition, a reporter asked the three winners on the stage: "You chose to skate when you were young..." When the word "young" was heard, the silver-haired host couldn't help laughing. "They are not young enough now?" He spread his hands and made an expression of surprise. The laughter of the reporters revealed the fact that almost all the really young contestants are here-all three on the podium are " After 05".
The winner of the championship, Nishiya Nishiya was born on August 30, 2007. She became the youngest gold medalist in the Olympic Games in 51 years, while the silver medalist Brazil's Ressa Lyle was even younger, born on January 4, 2008. day.
Even Nakayama Kaedana, the oldest bronze medalist of the three, is only 16 years old.
When this group of underage athletes walked into the press hall, almost all the adults put down their busy manuscripts and stood up to applaud them.
It is undeniable that the performance of this group of young people on the field captured the hearts of the audience. Regardless of whether they knew about the sport before, as long as they watched them rise in the air every time, they would be frightened, watching them land steadily or fall to their feet. There was a tacit understanding of "Wow" and distressed "Oh" on the court.
But the girls on the court looked like "playing", especially after the failure of the "big trick", almost no one was downhearted. The female skater from the Philippines, Maglin Didal, fell from the props and "sit down hard." "It was on the concrete floor, but she immediately turned her hands up into the sky, showing her white teeth and laughing, like a comedian's "rescue field".
This girl from a small city in the Philippines is already famous because she relied on skateboarding to change the life of her family. Previously, the family was supported by her mother’s meager income from selling fried quail eggs. The family conditions were so simple that she didn’t even have a decent sofa. But in a corner of the room, her skateboard and shoes are neatly arranged.
After winning the Asian Games, Didal immediately became the focus of the Philippines and also entered the vision of sponsors. Since then, the family moved into a truly decent home.
Optimistic, confident, and relaxed enough, there is constant music on this field. Players who dance to the melody can also be captured by the camera at any time. There are even "Great God" players who are still playing with their mobile phones when they are sliding.
Only the Olympic rings in the middle of the stadium remind the audience that this is an Olympic game.
Zeng Wenhui also kept smiling after repeated falls, "Falls and injuries are normal things." In an interview after the game, Zeng Wenhui's pants showed a faint redness on his right leg and knee. "Just touched off the previous scar. Nothing." She smiled and patted the ash on her trouser legs. No one seemed to mention it, and she didn't even notice the pain.
But what she can remember is that this is the first time she has entered the finals in an international competition since she went from martial arts to skateboarding in 2017, and there was also a female skater Nishimura that she admired in the same field. "She is in the state of sliding. And the speed is very comfortable."
Zeng Wenhui told reporters from China Youth Daily and China Youth Daily that because of her shy personality and language differences, she hardly took the initiative to greet the famous Japanese skater on the field, but she would watch the game every time. Today, they In the final of the Olympic Games, Zeng Wenhui took the initiative to go forward and punch Nishimura, "I said, come on."
Acting proactively in social interactions was an "absolutely impossible" behavior by Zeng Wenhui.
Zeng Wenhui is 16 years old and comes from Zeng Village, Hengshan Town, Guangning County, Zhaoqing City, Guangdong Province. She was a martial arts athlete and was selected as a Chinese skateboarding team through cross-sports selection at the end of 2017.
Because of his good physical fitness, flexible response, and strong physical coordination, he completed the cross-athlete transition from martial arts to skateboarding in just over half a year.
But what is more difficult to change is the character.
At first, she was introverted and didn’t know how to communicate with other skaters. She even gave encouragement to strangers. “I don’t know how to respond to others, and I am afraid that others will think you are impolite.” But the enthusiasm, bravery and freedom of the skateboarding project gradually Zeng Wenhui had to approach the crowd. In the beginning, he learned their gestures and dressing style. Gradually, he became more and more proficient in technical movements, and his confidence also matured his courage.
She remembered that every time before a big competition, she adjusted to the venue temporarily and other players left the court. She was always embarrassed to "humbly", but slowly discovered that in skateboarding, it is important to stick to and express yourself. Such "humility" only Will make yourself suffer from lack of preparation in the game.
She has to learn to treat the arena as her home.
Before the age of 12, Zeng Wenhui's home court was martial arts, but she was afraid of being watched, and cheers occasionally made her frighten, "therefore, martial arts performance has not broken through."
Unexpectedly, the home court turned into a skateboarding arena, and the cheers continued unabated. She still had to stand in the middle of the court. What's amazing is that as the talent of practicing skateboarding turned into a "super handsome action", she was actually used to this. The atmosphere has even begun to look forward to the applause of the audience.
Groping in doubt and affirmation
After the adjustment of the new projects for the Tokyo Olympics, Professor Huang Yaling of Beijing Sport University told the China Youth Daily and China Youth Daily that the growing scale of the Olympic Games has placed increasing pressure on the host country and has also caused some weak countries. Wang Yang sighed, therefore, Rogge once had a "slimming" reform in the Olympic Games.
After Bach came to power, the Summer Olympics broke through the restrictions of 28 major events. The host will also have more initiative in setting events, instead of several other "quantity caps", such as Xia Ao’s limit of 10,500 athletes, 5000 registered officials, 310 small events, "Such a plan makes room for the Olympic Games to attract young people to join in sports."
In Bach's view, these five projects are an innovation for the youth group. "They were very popular in Japan, and they will become important Olympic heritage after the Olympics."
But as the high-profile skateboarding two gold medals fell into the hands of Japanese players, doubts also surfaced.
At today's press conference, some European and American reporters asked: "Is the level of skateboarding in Japan really that high after winning two gold medals in a row?"
Questioning is not unrelated to the particularity of the skateboarding project.
As a "niche" project that was once popular on the street, it is different from other Olympic events with highly unified standards. In addition to the difficulty and completion of technical movements, skateboarding also focuses on the creativity and style of the athletes. And this part, It is not only a space prone to subjective influence, but also an irreversible position for skateboarding "street culture".
The most important thing is that there are few uniform standards for skateboarding venues, and the design of each competition is also part of the "creative". "We are used to 400-meter track and football 12-yard penalty points, but there are few fixed skateboarding venues. Standards, this is also a major feature of the project." In 2017, when Chinese skateboarding "made from scratch" in preparation for the Olympics, Huang Qiang, secretary general of the China Roller Skating Association, who was in charge of the skateboarding project at the time, told the China Youth Daily and China Youth Daily reporter that the design of each competition venue The picture will not be released very early in advance, in order to reduce the chance for the players to "model preparation".
On July 25th, the American player Houston, known as the “skateboard robot” in the men’s street competition, only succeeded once in the five “big tricks” show in the finals. Many famous players also made mistakes. “In terms of the familiarity of the venue, the host Will it have an advantage?" Such questions are rampant.
But Houston, who lost the game, not only took off his hat to greet the reporters and coaches on the spot, but also took the initiative to congratulate the champion Yuto Hori. Faced with the grievances for him, he firmly stated, “Today there is only one winner, and that is skateboarding.”
For events such as skateboarding, "going into the Olympics" may not necessarily be happy for everyone. Fans of free and casual events are often worried that the Olympics will become a frame, framing inspiration and the vitality that grows from the streets.
Surfing is also in the same situation. Li Chen, a graduate student at Beijing Jiaotong University, is a surfer, but she found that in many coastal areas in China, the waves are very small and not suitable for surfing. The experience price is also more expensive, and many people see it. In the future, surfing is still a very dangerous extreme sport. Therefore, when she learns that there are surfing events in the Olympics, she hopes that more people can learn about the sport and meet more like-minded friends in the future. "If China participates, , I hope to have a good result."
Unfortunately, due to a certain gap with the international high-level athletes, the Chinese team did not qualify for the Tokyo Olympics.
The surfing competition for the Tokyo Olympics will be held in Chiba Prefecture on the Pacific coast. "I saw that the surfing site for the Tokyo Olympics was on the coast of Tiogasaki. I immediately remembered this name in order to go surfing later." Prospective graduate student Xia Dongyang of Fort University said, “Surfing into the Olympic Games will definitely increase the popularity of this sport. Maybe I don’t have so many rules when I go surfing today. With the development and regulation of this sport, there may be more in the future. Rules to restrict, then I don’t like it."
But for projects with stronger competitive sports attributes, the voice of support has become the mainstream.
Even for sports such as baseball and softball and karate, which have the strong advantage of the host, in the eyes of athletes from other countries, being able to get on the Olympic arena is already invaluable.
As a big gold medalist in the new event of the Tokyo Olympics, karate will produce 8 gold medals. The Japanese team has long been ambitious in this event.
Even if they are weak, Yin Xiaoyan and Gong Li, the two female athletes who represent China, also said that even if the competition is fierce, it is a long-awaited opportunity. Yin Xiaoyan told the media before: "I really look forward to the Olympics, because this is the first time in my life. Once, it may be the only time for me, I hope to stand on the highest podium, I am really eager."
Competitive rock climbing with two gold medals for the men's and women's all-arounds has also attracted the attention of young people. At the Olympics, the two "post-00" athletes Pan Yufei and Song Yiling of the Chinese rock climbing team will participate in the men's and women's all-around competitions respectively.
Chen Lingxiao, the current director of the Peking University Shanying Club and former director of the Climbing Department, thinks that “it is of great significance to young rock climbing”. He said that entering the Olympics is very helpful for propagating such niche sports, and it also corrects ordinary people’s inherent tendency to rock climbing. Prejudice, at the same time, is conducive to enhancing the cultural identity of young rock climbers. “Rock climbing is no longer just a game of'wild children', but an official sport recognized by the Olympic Games.” He hopes that entering the Olympic Games will help promote the government and Social organizations lead and assist in building a project environment where more people can participate in rock climbing.
The news that baseball and softball, which can be regarded as a national sport in Japan, will return to the Olympics has long made Chinese baseball people look forward to it. Even if the Chinese baseball team will not appear in the Olympic venues this year, they believe that the increasing number of baseball enthusiasts in China Entering the Olympics can give more attention to baseball and improve the development environment of baseball. "At present, we are not optimistic about continuing to engage in baseball and softball-related careers after graduation. For example, after graduation, I rarely have the opportunity to get in touch with baseball. Softball, after all, is a team sport." Wang Guobiao, the former Bronco baseball team captain of the University of International Business and Economics, said, "Returning baseball and softball to the Olympics" is like extending a road to the future, "let more people understand this. Projects can also give birth to more related industries. I think this is a boost for all young people who love baseball."
Our newspaper, Tokyo, July 26th
China Youth Daily·China Youth Daily Special Correspondent Liang Xuan, Intern Gai Jiaoyi and Li Ziang