(Beijing Winter Olympics) Funding opponents to engage in "wolf raising plan", but he is still invincible in the field of snowmobiles
Chinanews.com, Beijing, February 16 (Reporter Guo Chaokai) The men's double snowmobiles at the Beijing Winter Olympics ended the competition on the evening of the 15th. The legendary German star Francesco Friedrich, known as the "King of Snowmobiles", led his partner to support him. Sten Magis took the lead all the way, won the championship with almost no suspense and successfully defended his title with a good score of 3:56.89 in four rounds.
Friedrich's main rival, Austrian star Benjamin Meier and his partner Marcus Sommer, finished fifth in the race that night, but missed out on the medal.
However, what is less known is that for the past four snow seasons, Friedrich has been supporting Meier's team and helping Meier achieve good results.
Funding opponents and engaging in a "wolf raising plan", what kind of medicine is Friedrich's gourd selling?
In fact, the snowmobile, known as "F1 on ice", is one of the most expensive sports.
Each snowmobile is worth a lot of money, ranging from hundreds of thousands to millions of yuan. It takes a certain amount of economic strength to engage in this sport.
According to reports, in the four-year Olympic cycle, it will cost at least 1.15 million euros (about 8.27 million yuan) to maintain the normal operation of a four-person snow team.
A few years ago, Meier's team didn't have any sponsors, and they were struggling to raise money for the season.
For this, they can only carry out crowdfunding campaigns.
Friedrich, who was informed of the news, immediately helped.
Meier said, "Friedrich supported us at first, and it was more of a joke", and it was only after the two talked about it that it developed into a real sponsorship.
Friedrich has now become Meyer's longest-running sponsor.
In order to thank Friedrich, Meier deliberately printed the words "Friedrich Snow Team" on the body of the snowmobile.
While providing financial support to Meier, Friedrich also actively shared snowmobile driving skills and personal experience with Meier.
And Meier, who was funded, regarded Friedrich as his strongest competitor, but was also grateful to the "King of Snowmobiles".
The two were close friends in private, and would only be rivals on the day of the match.
Friedrich also gave an explanation for his behavior.
In recent years, he has noticed that the high cost of snowmobiles has discouraged many athletes. Coupled with the perennial dominance of the German team in the field of snowmobiles, the number of countries and regions where snowmobiles are popular has decreased in recent years.
Therefore, he hopes to subsidize those athletes who are relatively lacking in funds and equipment, and help them solve the problems of sponsors and coaches.
"The sport of tobogganing has to stay alive. We have to take care not to let it disappear. If in the end only the Germans are left, the sport will be unsustainable," Friedrich said.
With Friedrich's help, the Meyer team is becoming more and more competitive, and last year's World Championships Meyer lost to Friedrich to win the silver medal.
Known as the "King of Snowmobiles", Friedrich won two gold medals in the men's doubles and men's quadruple events at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics. This trip to Beijing is aimed at defending his title.
Since the 2018-2019 season, the German has ranked first in the men's double and four-person snowmobiles for four consecutive seasons.
This season's World Cup, Friedrich won 14 championships in 8 stops and 16 games, and his strength is evident.
In the eyes of the outside world, Friedrich has funded his opponent to engage in the "Wolf Raising Program", which is somewhat similar to the "Wolf Raising Program" proposed by the China Table Tennis Association.
In the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, the Chinese table tennis team won an unbeaten competition and won all 4 gold medals. This kind of brilliance has accelerated many people's sense of urgency in the sport of table tennis.
To this end, in 2009, the China Table Tennis Association launched the "Wolf Raising Program". On the one hand, it gave up the goal of taking everything in international competitions and cultivated newcomers as much as possible; on the other hand, it carried out as many two-way exchanges as possible to maximize the Activate the vitality of table tennis on a global scale.
As netizens said, "It is better to be happy alone than to be happy", the Olympics is a big family.
From a certain point of view, Friedrich's "capitalizing the enemy" behavior is not only a powerful measure to make snowmobiles develop and grow, but also a vivid portrayal of the pursuit of higher, faster, stronger and more united.
Since it was listed as an official event in the first Winter Olympics in 1924, the snowmobile has been in the Olympic family for nearly a hundred years, and Germany has dominated the event.
In recent years, Switzerland, the United States, Canada and other countries have launched attacks on Germany; snowmobile sports have also received attention in more countries and regions.
Taking advantage of the successful bid for the Beijing Winter Olympics, China also established a national snowmobile team in 2015, which has made great progress in the past few years.
Although there is still a big gap with the European and American powers, the Chinese team Sun Kaizhi/Wu Qingze ranked 14th in the men's double snowmobile competition in this "home door" battle, and Chinese player Huai Mingming in the women's single snowmobile competition Ranked 6th, all of which have refreshed the best results in history.
As Ivo Ferriani, President of the International Snowmobile Federation, said, it is important to trace the origin and celebrate the origin, but at the same time, it must also face the future and carry forward it.
With the efforts of the International Snowmobile Federation and Friedrich, more and more people are realizing the charm of snowmobiles.
(Finish)