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THE 2010 Vancouver Olympic Winter Games ended on February 28, after two snow-and-ice-filled weeks of joy and peace. The Chinese delegation produced proof of their growing winter sports excellence, bringing home a sizable haul of five gold, two silver and four bronze medals. It was an impressive achievement from a country that had only won four gold medals in all the past winter Olympics combined.
Go Figure
After an 18-year partnership in pairs figure skating, the comeback couple Shen Xue, 31, and Zhao Hongbo, 37, poured their hearts into what was to be a consummate farewell performance, which earned them a score of 216.57 points. The duo was awarded the gold, a first for China in figure skating. The feat also managed to end a 46-year run by the former Soviet Union and Russia, and the lock they held on Olympic pair skating gold. China has been building toward this moment since skater Chen Lu took the bronze in the women’s single category at both the 1994 and 1998 Winter Games. The pair of Zhang Dan and Zhang Hao were able to grab the silver at the 2006 Olympics in Turin.Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo, China’s newest golden couple, had previously won bronzes at the 2002 and 2006 Winter Olympics, as well as three golds at the World Championships and six cups for the Grand Prix finals.
The duo formalized their relationship by marrying in 2007 after winning their 3rd World Championships and annoucing their retirement from the sport. They decided to return after a two-year rest in an effort to achieve gold at the Olympics, and fufill their long held dream. “We are fully confident with our two compiled programs. However the practices were not as smooth as we had anticipated,” Zhao recalled prior to the competition. “Sometimes,Shen and I would have to rehearse at least 10 times a move that might take others only two or three goes to master. The intensity of all these practices caused me to require hours of additional therapy for chronic pain from head to toe.”
Shen and Zhao’s compatriots, Pang Qing and Tong Jian, followed closely behind the front runners with a performance of seamless grace on freestyle skating, winning them a score of 141.81 points and their first silver in their third Olympic outing. Tong is excited to see that more and more young Chinese people are warming up to figure skating, initiating many new local training clubs. “The outstanding achievements made at this year’s games will hopefully galvanize the younger generations to get involved in this sport, and cement China’s position as a real powerhouse in the world of figure skating.”
Blades of Chinese Steel
China retains its advantage in short track speed skating. In women’s 500 m speed skating, Wang Meng won the gold. In the women’s 1,500 m final, 19-year-old Zhou Yang stunned spectators by easily overtaking three veteran Korean skaters to win the gold. This led the way for a sweep of all four women’s short track titles, three of which were earned by Wang Meng. This made China the first team to win all the golds in the event at one single Games since short track speed skating was formally ratified in 1992 Winter Olympics.
Wang Meng, Zhou Yang and their two teammates won the first gold medal of the team event with a world-record-breaking time of 4 min 06.610 sec in the 3,000-meter relay, after the South Korean team was summarily disqualified. The Koreans have claimed the gold in that event for the past four winter Olympics. Then when Wang Meng topped both her own records in women’s 500 and 1,000 meter events, she made herself the first Chinese speed skater to win three gold medals at one Olympic Games.
In contrast, the performance of the Chinese men’s short track speed skating team was not up to par. Among all the individual events, only Liang Wenhao qualified in the 1,500 m, but eventually saw the medal slip away with a sixth place performance. In the men’s 5,000m relay, the Chinese team just missed the podium, finishing fourth.
Building Winter Steam
The Vancouver Olympics gave Chinese athletes a chance to showcase their growing strengths in a variety of new events.
Curling, a sport that was introduced in China in 2003, has already spawned a powerful national women’s team. In 2009 they won the title at the World Championships. They went on to defeat long time contenders Switzerland to claim the bronze, the first medal won at the winter Olympic Games.
At the women’s’ snowboarding half-pipe event, 18-year-old Liu Jiayu ranked fourth with a score of 39.3 points, which was the best ever result for China in this field. Professional snowboarding is still in its infancy in China. The sport itself has only a 6-year history in the country, with Liu herself only taking it up five years ago. She opened her last season with wins at both the World Cup and World Championships. Along with Liu Jiayu, her teammates Cai Xuetong and Sun Zhifeng also competed in women’s snowboarding half-pipe event at the Vancouver Games.
In a unique approach to finding suitable athletes for freestyle skiing in China, coaches recruited former acrobats, as they share certain skill sets.Li Nina and Guo Xinxin fared well in women’s aerials with silver and bronze. While in men’s aerials Liu Zhongqing won a bronze, and Jia Zongyang and Qi Guangpu were in the sixth and seventh positions. “Our team has improved on the whole, compared with our performance four years ago. They are still young, but they have ample room to advance,” added Coach Ji Dong.
Go Figure
After an 18-year partnership in pairs figure skating, the comeback couple Shen Xue, 31, and Zhao Hongbo, 37, poured their hearts into what was to be a consummate farewell performance, which earned them a score of 216.57 points. The duo was awarded the gold, a first for China in figure skating. The feat also managed to end a 46-year run by the former Soviet Union and Russia, and the lock they held on Olympic pair skating gold. China has been building toward this moment since skater Chen Lu took the bronze in the women’s single category at both the 1994 and 1998 Winter Games. The pair of Zhang Dan and Zhang Hao were able to grab the silver at the 2006 Olympics in Turin.Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo, China’s newest golden couple, had previously won bronzes at the 2002 and 2006 Winter Olympics, as well as three golds at the World Championships and six cups for the Grand Prix finals.
The duo formalized their relationship by marrying in 2007 after winning their 3rd World Championships and annoucing their retirement from the sport. They decided to return after a two-year rest in an effort to achieve gold at the Olympics, and fufill their long held dream. “We are fully confident with our two compiled programs. However the practices were not as smooth as we had anticipated,” Zhao recalled prior to the competition. “Sometimes,Shen and I would have to rehearse at least 10 times a move that might take others only two or three goes to master. The intensity of all these practices caused me to require hours of additional therapy for chronic pain from head to toe.”
Shen and Zhao’s compatriots, Pang Qing and Tong Jian, followed closely behind the front runners with a performance of seamless grace on freestyle skating, winning them a score of 141.81 points and their first silver in their third Olympic outing. Tong is excited to see that more and more young Chinese people are warming up to figure skating, initiating many new local training clubs. “The outstanding achievements made at this year’s games will hopefully galvanize the younger generations to get involved in this sport, and cement China’s position as a real powerhouse in the world of figure skating.”
Blades of Chinese Steel
China retains its advantage in short track speed skating. In women’s 500 m speed skating, Wang Meng won the gold. In the women’s 1,500 m final, 19-year-old Zhou Yang stunned spectators by easily overtaking three veteran Korean skaters to win the gold. This led the way for a sweep of all four women’s short track titles, three of which were earned by Wang Meng. This made China the first team to win all the golds in the event at one single Games since short track speed skating was formally ratified in 1992 Winter Olympics.
Wang Meng, Zhou Yang and their two teammates won the first gold medal of the team event with a world-record-breaking time of 4 min 06.610 sec in the 3,000-meter relay, after the South Korean team was summarily disqualified. The Koreans have claimed the gold in that event for the past four winter Olympics. Then when Wang Meng topped both her own records in women’s 500 and 1,000 meter events, she made herself the first Chinese speed skater to win three gold medals at one Olympic Games.
In contrast, the performance of the Chinese men’s short track speed skating team was not up to par. Among all the individual events, only Liang Wenhao qualified in the 1,500 m, but eventually saw the medal slip away with a sixth place performance. In the men’s 5,000m relay, the Chinese team just missed the podium, finishing fourth.
Building Winter Steam
The Vancouver Olympics gave Chinese athletes a chance to showcase their growing strengths in a variety of new events.
Curling, a sport that was introduced in China in 2003, has already spawned a powerful national women’s team. In 2009 they won the title at the World Championships. They went on to defeat long time contenders Switzerland to claim the bronze, the first medal won at the winter Olympic Games.
At the women’s’ snowboarding half-pipe event, 18-year-old Liu Jiayu ranked fourth with a score of 39.3 points, which was the best ever result for China in this field. Professional snowboarding is still in its infancy in China. The sport itself has only a 6-year history in the country, with Liu herself only taking it up five years ago. She opened her last season with wins at both the World Cup and World Championships. Along with Liu Jiayu, her teammates Cai Xuetong and Sun Zhifeng also competed in women’s snowboarding half-pipe event at the Vancouver Games.
In a unique approach to finding suitable athletes for freestyle skiing in China, coaches recruited former acrobats, as they share certain skill sets.Li Nina and Guo Xinxin fared well in women’s aerials with silver and bronze. While in men’s aerials Liu Zhongqing won a bronze, and Jia Zongyang and Qi Guangpu were in the sixth and seventh positions. “Our team has improved on the whole, compared with our performance four years ago. They are still young, but they have ample room to advance,” added Coach Ji Dong.