"Chinese elements are the most prominent label for Chinese players. Only when the technology reaches a certain level can the most essential part of the national elements be better shown to the world." For "the nation is the world", figure skating star Chen Lu said understand.
Chen Lu, known as the "Butterfly on Ice", won China's first figure skating Winter Olympic medal and was also China's first figure skating world champion.
As a pioneer of figure skating in China, after retiring, she devoted herself to grassroots construction and continued to work hard to promote ice and snow sports.
Chen Lu's other identity is a member of the Athletes Committee of the Beijing Winter Olympics Organizing Committee.
She said that the Beijing Winter Olympics Organizing Committee is committed to hosting an "athlete-centered" sports event.
Recently, China News Agency "Ask East and West·Chinese Athletes" had an exclusive dialogue with Chen Lu on topics such as how Chinese traditional cultural elements contributed to the domestic development of figure skating and Chinese youth ice and snow sports education.
She expressed that she hopes to learn from the development concept of European ice and snow powers, and to promote more Chinese children to fall in love with ice and snow sports through integration with education on the premise of strengthening the construction of grass-roots ice and snow stadiums.
The summary of the dialogue record is as follows:
Reporter from China News Service: At the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics, your song "Blessings of Love" was very rewarding. As a former figure skater, current figure skating coach and promoter, do you think that Chinese elements, including folk music and traditional costumes, are "plus points" for Chinese players?
Chen Lu: The
Chinese element is the most prominent label of Chinese players, and it is also a way to highlight the national style.
Whether it can be a bonus item depends on the skill level of the players.
Only when the technology reaches a certain level can the most quintessence of the national elements be better shown to the world.
Using my personal experience as an example, I chose to use Chinese folk music in the competition. This is in the mature period of my sports career.
I have accumulated a certain degree of popularity on my career path before. At this time, I choose elements with national uniqueness to show my own characteristics while showing the national style.
It is not easy to show the elements with a strong national flavor.
In the process of progress, figure skaters need to receive professional dance technical guidance.
Ballet, Chinese dance, etc., will grow with us.
As Chinese athletes, the profound national cultural heritage gives us unique connotations.
If you choose national music in the competition, it is best to express it to the extreme, so as to give the world a better way to understand Chinese culture.
Data map: Chinese figure skating star Chen Lu lived up to expectations in Harbin and won the Asian Winter Games women's singles gold medal.
Photo by Mao Jianjun sent by China News Agency
China News Agency reporter: Where is the Chinese team in the world of figure skating? The pace of the Beijing Winter Olympics is approaching. What are your expectations for the performance of Chinese figure skating athletes? Especially for women's singles, how can we break through the bottleneck?
Chen Lu: The
Chinese team's current double skating strength is at the world's first-line level.
The other three events are men’s singles skating, women’s singles skating, and ice dancing.
At the Beijing Winter Olympics, the double skating event is more likely to hit the gold medal.
Men's singles skating also has a certain degree of competitiveness, not without hope to get on the podium.
Jin Boyang has won the World Championships medal. Although his state has not been ideal in the past two years, he has such strength after all.
Jin Boyang was the first to complete the four-hook hook jump in early international competitions. At that time, the action astounded the world.
Previously, industry insiders generally believed that men's athletes can complete two quadruple jumps, which is already the limit.
Jin Boyang has made great contributions to world figure skating, breaking through the inherent thinking and breaking through the barriers of athletes on the technical level.
After him, athletes from other countries have learned from us.
At present, the world's top players in men's singles can complete five four-quarter jumps.
This process of learning is going on with each other. The Olympic motto states "faster, higher, stronger, and more united", and everyone is constantly pursuing a better self.
In the mutual learning, the figure skating project will be better developed.
As for the prospects of women's singles skating, it is necessary to further increase the talent pool and increase the popularity of ice and snow sports.
To continue to innovate on the technical level, it is also necessary to consider adding scientific and technological means to improve the quality of athletes' training.
In terms of artistic expression, how to train young athletes so that they can be as comfortable as Russian athletes in artistic expression is a problem that needs to be solved in the future.
Data map: The opening ceremony of the 6th Asian Winter Games was grandly held at the Fifth Ring Gymnasium in Changchun, Jilin.
The famous figure skater Chen Lu slowly ran towards the stands holding the torch.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Du Yang
China News Service: As a member of the Athletes Committee of the Beijing Winter Olympics Organizing Committee, can you introduce your specific job responsibilities? The philosophy of the Beijing Winter Olympics is "Athlete-centered". What details in the preparations confirm this philosophy?
Chen Lu:
China is based on creating an "athlete-centered" Winter Olympics. The Winter Olympics Organizing Committee hopes to consider the details of the details.
The members of the Athletes Committee have participated in several Olympic Games, combined with their own experience, provided substantive suggestions for the competition, so that the Beijing Winter Olympics can be more perfect in terms of clothing, food, housing, transportation, and venue facilities.
For example, how to equip a washing machine to meet the needs of athletes to the greatest extent; how to match meals to meet the pre-match habits and dietary structure of athletes around the world.
In the process of brainstorming, everyone summarized the highlights of the previous Winter Olympics and the details that need to be perfected, and learned from them, in order to make the Beijing Winter Olympics provide players with a more comfortable competition and living environment.
Due to the epidemic, the "Meet in Beijing" test competition encountered many difficulties in the preparation and holding, including time, transportation, and communication problems.
However, after careful planning, the feedback collected from foreign players is very positive.
China News Agency reporter: Your daughter is practicing figure skating. Is this her choice or yours? In the process of accompany her from shallow to deep exposure to ice and snow sports, what insights do you have and hope to share with ordinary fans? "Bringing 300 million people to participate in ice and snow sports" is moving from vision to reality. In your opinion, how can more Chinese children understand and participate in ice and snow sports?
Chen Lu:
Interest is the best teacher.
When learning new things, people are willing to spend time polishing themselves on the premise of interest, otherwise it is difficult to persist.
I have two children, and I will respect their choices in hobbies.
As for whether my daughter will become a professional athlete in the future, in my opinion, this is a natural process.
After all, the times are diversified and children have a wide range of interests.
Becoming a professional player requires many conditions to facilitate, including whether the physical condition and mental quality meet the standards, which takes time to consider.
For beginners in ice and snow sports, it is very important to receive training from professional training institutions.
Professional coaches can bring more authoritative help, so that beginners can gradually learn and improve their skills under the premise of ensuring safety.
This also reflects the importance of "enlightenment". An excellent enlightenment teacher may find a future world champion.
Compared with other projects, everyone has a lot of misunderstandings about ice and snow sports, thinking that it is difficult to get started, and there is a sense of distance.
In the process of promoting the ice and snow business, we are actively changing this understanding.
Sports is the best education. Participating in sports does not necessarily mean becoming a professional athlete.
As a participant, you will gain a lot of fun by participating in it with the mentality of learning to skate.
To encourage young people to participate in ice and snow sports, the integration of sports and education plays a key role.
For young children, excellent qualities can be cultivated through physical training, which is also one of the ideas that are eager to convey when promoting ice and snow sports.
Based on the domestic past experience, many children stopped training after they were 12 years old.
Starting from the age of 4 or 5, children have been exposed to ice and snow sports. After 6 to 7 years of study, the children have a certain foundation.
It is a pity that the training was suspended due to academic pressure or other reasons.
If it can be better integrated with education in the future, I believe that the development of Chinese youth ice and snow sports will be more active and faster to achieve the desired goals.
Data map: Short track speed skater Sun Linlin (right), figure skater Chen Lu (middle), and freestyle skier Guo Dandan (left) appeared at the 24th Winter Olympic Games gold and silver commemorative coin (Group 1) release ceremony.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Han Haidan
China News Service: As of early 2021, there are 654 standard ice rinks and 803 indoor and outdoor ski resorts across the country. What do you think of the current popularity of basic ice and snow sports facilities?
Chen Lu:
After successfully bidding for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, the development of China's ice and snow industry has accelerated significantly.
However, combined with China's population base, the current number of venues and facilities still cannot meet the standards of a strong country with ice and snow.
Canada is a country with a population of tens of millions, but the total number of ice rinks nationwide has reached more than 3,000.
The numbers are very intuitive and show the gap between China and the ice and snow powers.
In terms of hardware quantity, there is still much room for improvement in the development of China's ice and snow industry.
In this regard, we can still talk about the word "learning".
After the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, the local Olympic venues were reused to become a community sports complex for citizens to exercise.
Similar excellent cases in the world are worth learning in future development.
At the Beijing Winter Olympics, many new venues will be transformed into urban cultural and sports complexes that promote national fitness after the event.
This is undoubtedly a positive signal for the long-term development of China's ice and snow industry.