(Face to face with China focus) How will the Winter Olympics affect China's ice and snow sports?
China News Agency, Beijing, January 25th: How will the holding of the Winter Olympics affect China's ice and snow sports?
——Interview with Li Jiajun, China's first men's Winter Olympics medalist
Author Wang Hao
The Beijing Winter Olympics will be unveiled on February 4, and the "city of double Olympics" will focus on the world.
Li Jiajun played an important role in the development of ice and snow sports in China.
He is China's first men's Winter Olympics medalist, and he still devotes himself to the field of ice and snow after retiring.
During the collection of fire seeds for the Beijing Winter Olympics, Li Jiajun, as China's first torchbearer, participated in the transfer of fire seeds in Greece.
At the same time, as a member of the Athletes Committee of the Beijing Winter Olympics Organizing Committee, he was also deeply involved in the preparations for the event.
How much do you expect from the Chinese athletes competing in the Beijing Winter Olympics?
What positive effects will hosting the Winter Olympics have on the development of ice and snow sports in China?
How to attract more people to participate in ice and snow sports?
A few days ago, Li Jiajun accepted an exclusive interview with China News Agency "China Focus Face to Face" to respond to these hot issues.
China News Agency "China Focus Face to Face" interviewed Li Jiajun, China's first men's Winter Olympics medalist.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Tomita
Excerpts from the interview are as follows:
China News Service reporter: As the first torchbearer of China in the Beijing Winter Olympics, you participated in the process of relaying the fire. How do you feel when you hold the torch "flying"?
Li Jiajun:
Tinder symbolizes peace, friendship and light.
I am very honored to be able to represent China to participate in the collection and transmission of fire, and it also gives me a deeper understanding of Olympic culture and sports itself.
Many African athletes have also participated in winter sports. As long as they have such an opportunity, even if they may be the last, they have to participate and finish the competition, and they have to rush to Beijing no matter how hard they are.
This also shows that many people and forces can be gathered through sports.
Data map: On October 18, 2021 local time, the fire for the Beijing Winter Olympics was successfully collected in Ancient Olympia, the birthplace of the Olympic movement, in the Peloponnese Peninsula, Greece.
Li Jiajun is passing the torch.
China News Agency reporter: Compared with your athlete days, how is the world pattern of short track speed skating different now? Has there been a significant change in the strength of players from different countries?
Li Jiajun:
Whether in terms of venue, equipment, or staffing, the overall changes are very big.
For example, when I started to learn ice skating in 1981, I remembered that there were very few indoor ice rinks in the country at that time.
If we can be put on ice in the second half of the night, we will all be so excited that we can’t sleep, feeling that “pie is falling from the sky”, so that we can have the opportunity to practice in the indoor venue.
According to statistics, the national standard ice rink will reach 654 at the beginning of 2021.
After the overall environment has changed, the number of sports teams and personnel participating in this project has increased on a large scale.
In terms of competition, although the early competition is also very fierce, due to the relatively small number of participating regions, our main opponents are South Korea, Canada, the United States and individual countries in Europe.
It is completely different now. If there are 10 events in the competition, the final champion may be divided among 10 countries, and the overall strength of athletes from various countries is still on the rise.
China News Service: China's short track speed skating level has always been in the top echelon in the world. But after the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, the team experienced a period of lows. However, in the four World Cup matches this season, the Chinese team has performed well. Where do you think the competitive advantages of the Chinese players are, and how do you look forward to the prospects of the junior and junior brothers and sisters in the Beijing Winter Olympics?
Li Jiajun:
Although China achieved a gold medal breakthrough in the men's short track speed skating event in the last Winter Olympics, I personally think that there are some shortcomings.
In the era when we were athletes, the Chinese men's and women's teams each had 4 to 5 main players. Whether it was relay or individual events, they were highly competitive from long distances to short distances.
Although our overall level is good now, and individual athletes are more prominent, there is still a lack of comprehensive strength.
For the past two years, the Chinese team has focused on the men's short-distance events, but we lack competitiveness in other areas.
This is where I think the team needs to improve at the moment, including after the Winter Olympics.
For the achievements that you have achieved in the previous period, I think it should be affirmed.
But if you want to achieve better results in the Beijing Winter Olympics, the players need to better control the details and mentality.
Short track speed skating is a particularly accident-prone event.
Now many elite athletes have achieved excellent results, I hope they will pay more attention to details in the competition.
China News Service reporter: In addition to short track speed skating, Chinese athletes have also performed well in snow sports this season. What do you expect from the overall performance of the Chinese sports delegation? Does home play have an impact on athletes?
Li Jiajun:
Although some achievements have been made, we still have to put more difficulties in front of us.
Some opponents may not have played well before, some opponents may not play, and some hidden high-level athletes may not be discovered by us.
We can't think we've won just based on the results of one race.
I hope our athletes can continue to stay in shape, not be affected by injuries, overcome unexpected challenges, and work hard towards the goal of raising the national flag and playing the national anthem. I think everyone will recognize and understand you.
On the other hand, it's even more stressful for athletes because they play outside their homes.
I think the national audience must give athletes special tolerance and understanding.
Before the bid to host the Beijing Winter Olympics, we had three thirds.
One-third are advantage sports, such as freestyle skiing aerial skills, short track speed skating, figure skating, etc.
The other third is lagging behind, and the other third has not been carried out.
In just a few short years, we have completed the formation of the national team for the Beijing (Winter) Olympic Games in 7 major events, 15 sub-events, and 109 sub-events.
Under the normalization of epidemic prevention and control, due to relatively little information about the competition, everyone may not know enough about the newly formed team, and they all want to test the players of the Chinese delegation through the Beijing Winter Olympics.
In this situation, many athletes are more nervous and stressed.
China News Service reporter: As a member of the Athletes Committee of the Beijing Winter Olympics Organizing Committee, what tasks do you need to complete during the preparation process?
Li Jiajun:
The International Olympic Committee has always focused on athletes.
Create a better environment for them as much as possible in terms of food, housing, transportation, training, and competitions.
This requires the members of the Athlete Committee to go to various places to understand the thoughts of the athletes and hear more of their voices.
We hope to make them have a happy and smooth preparation process in all aspects.
Data map: A girl is skiing with snowboards and poles.
Photo by Liu Zhankun
China News Agency reporter: After retiring, you chose to continue to work in the field of ice and snow. What is the current status of China's ice and snow sports grassroots talent pool? In recent years, many children are willing to devote themselves to ice and snow sports. What advice do you have for their future?
Li Jiajun:
China's ice and snow sports have changed a lot as a whole.
The first is the competition. In the past, ice and snow events were only available in the northeast, and they were concentrated in Jilin and Heilongjiang provinces.
Due to the small number of people, the time for each game is also very short.
With the development of domestic ice and snow sports, the scale of the competition has now expanded, and the time has also increased from a single day to multiple days, and athletes from all over the country are participating.
There are many things that make me feel that we are not doing enough.
When many children come to the competition, the eyes and moods of their eagerness to participate in it, especially move me.
However, they don't understand the rules of the sport, which makes me feel helpless.
For example, in ice hockey, wearing figure skating skates.
For them, I think the most important thing is to choose the right coach, we have gone through many detours before.
For example, the ice rink teaches figure skating, but the actual coach is from speed skating, short track, and ice hockey, which is definitely not enough for children.
If professional counterparts, relatively better.
Because it also involves other knowledge, including the use of training equipment, physical training cycles, etc., it requires a learning process.
Data map: "Xue Ruyi" has two tracks, the standard platform and the big diving platform.
Photo by Zhai Yujia
China News Service: You have mentioned the change in the number of ice rinks across the country in recent years. From your own perspective, how do you feel about the changes in the overall participation of ice and snow projects in China? In what ways can we narrow the gap with other ice and snow powers?
Li Jiajun:
In my impression, there are currently more snow rinks in China than ice rinks, reaching 803, and the overall number of participants has changed even more.
As you all know, we have been responding to the country's call to drive 300 million people to participate in ice and snow sports.
As far as we know, our country has already accomplished this goal.
As for narrowing the gap, I think the first thing to do is to start with professional talents. In the past two years, many high-level professional teams are very short of talents.
For example, ski teams and snowboards need waxers, but there is a shortage of corresponding talents in China, and it is almost impossible to see them.
In this area, I think more development is needed.
At the same time, it is hoped that more colleges and universities will carry out relevant professional courses.
(Finish)