Although the dream did not come true this night, the three veterans have given everything.

  Xu Mengtao, Jia Zongyang, Qi Guangpu.

When all the dust settled, the three veterans who had passed their thirties hugged each other tightly.

  On the evening of the 10th, the mixed team final of freestyle skiing aerial skills in the Beijing Winter Olympics came to an end, and the Chinese team won the silver medal with a score of 324.22.

  During the game, Jia Zongyang, the second player of the Chinese team, made a mistake when he completed the action with a difficulty factor of 4.425.

  Jia Zongyang shouted angrily, piercing his heart.

He understands that the dream gold medal has gone far.

  But when he walked to the score waiting area, Xu Mengtao, who was already waiting there, gave his teammates a big hug.

This hug is worth more than a thousand words.

  Although the dream did not come true this night, the three veterans have given everything.

This is a silver medal with temperature, and its warmth reaches people's hearts.

In the mixed team final of freestyle skiing aerial skills at the Beijing Winter Olympics on February 10, the Chinese team consisting of Xu Mengtao, Qi Guangpu and Jia Zongyang won the silver medal.

The picture shows Qi Guangpu in the game.

#1 Childhood Sports Dream

Xu Mengtao

  Xu Mengtao, who was born in 1990, has been associated with sports since childhood.

Xu Mengtao's father was a sports fan, and when he found out that his daughter was extremely flexible, he devoted himself to training her as a professional athlete.

  When she was a child, Xu Mengtao's family set up barbecue stalls for business, and her father built a simple training ground to help her daughter train.

  Initially, Xu Mengtao engaged in gymnastics.

At the 9th Liaoning Provincial Games in 2002, 12-year-old Xu Mengtao won 3 golds, 2 silvers and 1 bronze.

But because of her height, it was also in this year that Xu Mengtao's father sent her to Chen Hongbin, who was then a teacher at the Shenyang Sports Institute and the head coach of the national team, to start freestyle skiing.

Qi Guangpu

  Unlike most domestic ice and snow athletes, Qi Guangpu is from Jiangsu.

At the age of 4, he began to learn skills under the guidance of his enlightenment teacher Liu Dezhen, rain or shine.

  Only one year later, Qi Guangpu was selected to be sent to the Xuzhou Skills Team for training.

At the age of 9, he joined the Changchun Freestyle Skiing Aerial Skills Team and began to specialize in freestyle skiing aerial skills training.

  Since then, Qi Guangpu has only spent the Spring Festival at home once.

Even in severe cold weather, he continued to train every day.

Jia Zongyang

  In 1991, Jia Zongyang was born in an ordinary family in Fushun, Liaoning Province.

His father was very fond of sports, and Jia Zongyang started gymnastics training at the age of 5.

  At the age of 7, Jia Zongyang came to Shenyang Institute of Physical Education for further study.

  In 2002, by chance, Jia Zongyang changed to practice freestyle skiing aerial skills.

The first time he stood on the platform, he was only 11 years old.

In the mixed team final of freestyle skiing aerial skills at the Beijing Winter Olympics on February 10, the Chinese team consisting of Xu Mengtao, Qi Guangpu and Jia Zongyang won the silver medal.

The picture shows Xu Mengtao in the game.

#2 Baptism of Injury

  The three of them are so similar.

  From the children with dreams to the "four dynasties veterans" of the Winter Olympics, the three athletes are brilliant on the field.

They have changed from "genius players" in everyone's mouth to seasoned veterans. In accelerating, flying, flipping and landing again and again, they are firmly moving towards their dreams.

  Behind the glorious achievements, the years have passed on them, leaving the mark of injuries.

Xu Mengtao

  After engaging in freestyle skiing aerial skills, Xu Mengtao's progress was astonishing.

Everyone has given her the halo of "genius", but behind this, there is a shocking injury diagnosis report: rupture of the anterior cruciate belt of the knee, sprain of the medial collateral ligament, deformation of the posterior angle of the medial meniscus, multiple bone contusions, joint effusion... …

  Whenever she stretches out in the air, her parents watching in front of the TV are full of worries.

Xu Mengtao rejected the second elder's "request" for her to retire, and she persisted through the darkest moment of injury.

Qi Guangpu

  Qi Guangpu is known for his high technical difficulty, and this is the magic weapon for him to defeat powerful enemies in the competition.

As everyone knows, in this already dangerous project, increasing the difficulty means more attempts in training and competition, which also means more possibility of injury.

  When participating in the competition in Moscow in 2009, Qi Guangpu suffered a concussion, which made him deeply realize the danger of the project.

But in the game, he will still take off confidently and move around.

In the mixed team final of freestyle skiing aerial skills at the Beijing Winter Olympics on February 10, the Chinese team consisting of Xu Mengtao, Qi Guangpu and Jia Zongyang won the silver medal.

The picture shows the Chinese team after the game.

Jia Zongyang

  Behind every jump, the effort that Jia Zongyang needs to put in is unimaginable for ordinary people.

Over the years, injuries have become his biggest enemy on the way.

  In an accident in 2015, Jia Zongyang suffered three comminuted fractures in his left leg, and the X-ray films of 4 steel plates and 22 steel nails embedded in his leg were disturbing.

This almost ruined his career.

  But Jia Zongyang still survived.

In early 2017, he officially returned to the team for training.

The hardships involved may only be appreciated by him.

In the mixed team final of freestyle skiing aerial skills at the Beijing Winter Olympics on February 10, the Chinese team consisting of Xu Mengtao, Qi Guangpu and Jia Zongyang won the silver medal.

The picture shows Jia Zongyang in the game.

#3 THREE GOES GOING TO GO

Xu Mengtao

  In the Sochi Winter Olympics, Xu Mengtao missed the gold medal as the favorite to win the championship and ranked second.

Four years ago in Pyeongchang, she made a mistake in the second jump and missed the Winter Olympics gold medal she was thinking about.

  After that, she announced her retirement on social media.

But Xu Mengtao, who has always been one-of-a-kind, broke her promise this time.

For the sake of her dream, she wanted to fight again.

Qi Guangpu

  Also at the Sochi Winter Olympics, in the men's freestyle skiing aerial skills final, Qi Guangpu ranked fourth with 90 points and missed the podium.

  After the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, Qi Guangpu retired from the national team.

But the love in his heart made him return to his beloved team and continue to fight.

Jia Zongyang

  After struggling with injuries for three years, Jia Zongyang made a great leap at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics and finally won the silver medal in freestyle skiing men's aerial skills with 128.05 points.

  He is only 0.46 points away from the gold medal.

  When the mixed group of freestyle skiing and aerial skills became a new addition to the Beijing Winter Olympics, the three veterans who did not succumb to their fate joined hands in expedition, just to realize their long-cherished wish.

  Xu Mengtao, Qi Guangpu, Jia Zongyang, they are the strongest combination, and they did their best this night.

In the mixed team final of freestyle skiing aerial skills at the Beijing Winter Olympics on February 10, the Chinese team consisting of Xu Mengtao, Qi Guangpu and Jia Zongyang won the silver medal.

The picture shows the Chinese team after the game.

Image source: Visual China

  The arena is cold.

  So people will remember the persistence of the three veterans and the warm hug.

  Author: Liu Xingchen