As the countdown to the opening crosses the 100-day mark, the atmosphere of the Beijing Winter Olympics has grown stronger. The ice and snow sports, which are both competitive, interesting and fashionable, follow the footsteps of the “Northern Ice South Exhibition, eastward expansion and westward advancement”, and have become popular across the country.
In the eyes of Li Yan, chairman of the Chinese Skating Association, with the bid and success of the Beijing Winter Olympics, winter sports in China ushered in an unprecedented development opportunity in a century. She hopes that skating can participate in the work of transforming the healthy genes of Chinese children and bring positive changes to both the mind and the body. This is exactly the purpose of physical education.
Li Yan is an outstanding representative of China’s first generation of short track speed skaters. In the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics, she won gold in the exhibition competition and won the runner-up in the Albertville Winter Olympics after the short track speed skating event was officially set up, and achieved the “zero breakthrough” in the short track medal for China.
After retiring, she has coached in many places in Europe and America. In 2006, she served as the head coach of the Chinese short track speed skating team. Li Yan led the team with outstanding results in the Five Winter Olympics, and the disciples trained won 8 golds. After serving as the chairman of the Chinese Skating Association, she devoted herself to the promotion of skating and the practice of integrating sports and education, and planted the foundation of ice and snow sports.
China News Agency reporter Lu Yan recently had an exclusive dialogue with Li Yan on the “Questions about East and West·Chinese Athletes” column of China News Agency.
Data map: Sochi Winter Olympics, Li Yan and Han Tianyu.Photo by Liu Guanguan
The following is an excerpt from the full text of the dialogue:
China News Agency reporter: Can the ice and snow culture produced by ice and snow sports and dependent sports be considered to have originated in the West? How did the first generation Chinese winter athletes explore?
Li Yan:As long as there is ice and snow, ice and snow sports are born. From North America, Europe, to Northeast China and Xinjiang, ice and snow sports are spontaneous lifestyles, whether for fishing, hunting or life needs. The view that ice and snow sports culture originated from the West is biased.
Thousands of years ago, the ancestors of Altay in Xinjiang used snowboarding. However, from the perspective of competitive sports, taking speed skating and short track speed skating under the charge of the China Skating Association as examples, we have not participated in the Olympics for a long time. Counting from the first in 1924, the Winter Olympics has gone through nearly a hundred years, and China’s first participation in it was in 1980.
But before that, since the 1950s, China’s speed skating had already developed very well. In 1963, Luo Zhihuan won the men’s 1500m championship at the World Speed Skating Championships, winning China’s first gold medal in the world ice and snow sports competition.
Wang Jinyu was the first Chinese speed skater to win an international championship. I heard a story about him when I was a child. Wang Jinyu didn’t sit on stools in class, and always listened to class in a half-squatting posture-in order to exercise leg muscle strength. The old generation of Chinese ice and snowmen have achieved results step by step with their love and resilience, and their excellent style has been carved into their bones.
China News Agency reporter: What kind of explorations and attempts have been made by generations of skaters to develop, break through and stay ahead of the project? How to absorb and use advanced foreign experience in this, and how to “localize” and transform it into the combat effectiveness of Chinese athletes?
Li Yan:Back then, in the Northeast, the ice rink was all outdoors, and the winter was so cold that the shoelaces could not be untied. The conditions were difficult and the experience was lacking. But it was these physical education teachers who trained China’s first batch of world champions. The contributions of the first few generations of ice and snowmen laid the foundation for future growth.
Short track speed skating originated from speed skating. I was born in speed skating. The first batch of trainers in China also came from speed skating. In 1980, Japanese short track speed skating came to China for friendly exchanges. Athletes demonstrated on the ice. I was watching on my stomach next to the board wall. Since then, short track speed skating has really been set up in the country, but the understanding of the project is not deep, and there is no way forward in training.
From the opening of the event in 1980 to the gold medal in the 1988 Winter Olympics exhibition, China’s short track performances have improved by leaps and bounds. Under the leadership of coach Xin Qingshan, the short-path man inherited the tradition of hard work from his predecessors. At the same time, it also maintains close exchanges with foreign countries, and long-term training in Japan is very helpful. In the past few years, we didn’t know anything. By winning the Universiade in 1985 and surpassing the world record in 1987, this project became more and more important.
We have a lot of kids who love skating, and there were a lot of inter-school grassroots competitions at that time. Bring together outstanding athletes through talent channels and invite foreign coaches to communicate. This kind of communication is very important. We must learn advanced concepts, including coaching concepts, and use others’ knowledge to help ourselves. Short track speed skating has risen in a short time because of finding the right path. Competitive sports pay attention to the path, and you are not afraid of going far when the road is right.
China News Service: Based on your experience of coaching and living in Europe and the United States, how did European and American countries nurture and form a strong winter sports culture? What is the reference for the cultivation of Chinese ice and snow culture and even sports culture?
Li Yan:My intuitive feeling after going abroad is that the development model is very different. In foreign countries, more interest is the link. Small societies and clubs are the initial stage. After achieving results, they will set higher goals step by step. The drive of love makes athletes more self-disciplined. Of course, you must also endure hard training before you can go to the international arena.
At that time, the country was mainly supported by a few provinces with relatively good winter projects, and the seedlings depended on the selection of materials and the transportation of talents depended on a professional system. Of course, one cannot deny oneself because of this. After all, China’s winter sports started from a poor one, and the European and American system has a history of hundreds of years.
In Europe and the United States, winter sports are part of people’s lives and are integrated into daily entertainment. Until the 1990s, we were still groping forward. As people’s living standards have greatly improved and their participation in and love for sports has increased, China is now catching up. Sports have become a major demand for the people to pursue a happy life, and “part of life” came into being.
Taking the China Skating Association as an example, we have established a talent training system, including a national skating competition for elementary and middle school students, “summer and winter skating”, professional competitions, etc., as well as an activity system of “300 million with me, skate up”. . Through the three major systems, while training is standardized, safe and orderly, skating is getting closer to the people.
China News Service: From the perspective of the head of the Skating Association, with the Beijing Winter Olympics as an opportunity, what is the prospect of winter sports development in China? What are your expectations for future development?
Li Yan:After Beijing’s successful bid to host the Winter Olympics, whether in terms of policies, infrastructure, or the concept of “driving 300 million people to participate in ice and snow sports“, winter sports ushered in an opportunity for rapid development. In the past, only children in the Northeast were exposed to ice and snow. Now, children from all over the country, including those in the South, can come into contact with it. This is a good starting point.
After the Winter Olympics, the Chinese will undoubtedly love ice and snow sports more. In 2035, China will become a sports power, and the development of sports events also requires long-term planning, one step at a time. In the next ten years, with the support of the three major systems, it is believed that China’s skating will have great changes in terms of participation and reserve forces.
The charm of ice and snow sports is not only “good-looking”, but also fascinating after participating. Even if you skate for a while, or even put on a sledge, keeping fit will make you feel cool and exciting at the same time. We hope that more people will understand and participate, through parents and children to lead parents, to form a healthy lifestyle from family to society.
We have a saying called “small associations, great achievements”, hoping to use skating to participate in the work of transforming the healthy genes of Chinese children. Through the system we have built, we connect the government and the market, and truly open up the “last mile” for children to participate in skating. This is the vision we are working hard for. I look forward to seeing more “little stars” around me, and I look forward to everyone becoming a participant. I believe that as long as the Chinese Snowman works in the right direction, he will not be afraid of the long way.
China News Agency reporter: Sports culture is one of the important carriers of national culture. How to make ice and snow culture better guide, shape Chinese sports culture, and integrate into the blood of Chinese culture?
Li Yan:When living abroad, I noticed that many regions have distinctive sports culture, which is a public life habit that has gradually formed in the development of cities. China’s participation in the Winter Olympics is not long, but there are still many memorable and inherited. From the old generation to the current athletes, they are all symbols of conveying ice and snow culture and sports culture. At the same time, we hope that more people will try winter sports and fall in love with it. More and more people are doing this now.
The significance of sports is not only the ability to get the first place in the competition, but more importantly, the training of the participants’ will and qualities in the exercise process, including persistence in the face of difficulties and maturity of mentality. As long as the gene of daring to challenge is injected, it is the sublimation of life experience for an individual and the forging of cultural genes for a nation.
In this process, ice and snow sports can be regarded as platforms and accelerators. With economic development and social progress, the horizons and lives of Chinese people have become more diversified. The standardization, technology and health of various winter sports have provided us with more choices. Regardless of history or reality, the passion of ice and snow sports combined with the traditional Chinese spirit of struggle is a portrayal. Who can stop it?
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