Niu Xuesong, Professor of Shenyang Institute of Physical Education – Deeply cultivating teaching and scientific research to cultivate sports talents (the most beautiful teacher)
At the Winter Olympics, when the national anthem of the People’s Republic of China is played and the five-star red flag is flying high, there is a person behind the scenes who often burst into tears. He is Niu Xuesong, a professor at Shenyang Institute of Physical Education and a fitness coach for the Chinese freestyle ski aerial skills team.
“It is my pursuit to build a ladder for athletes to achieve their Olympic dreams and to strive for a lifetime of sports,” said Niu Xuesong.
“Because we all have a common belief, to win glory for the country”
On February 14, 2022, Chinese athlete Xu Mengtao won the gold medal in the women’s freestyle skiing women’s aerial skills final at the Beijing Winter Olympics at the Yunding Ski Park in Zhangjiakou. In the 2018-2022 season, Xu Mengtao was not troubled by injuries and showed his best competitive state. And this achievement is inseparable from the efforts of Niu Xuesong.
In 2016, Xu Mengtao fell during the competition, causing anterior cruciate ligament rupture, meniscus tear and multiple bone contusions, and then underwent anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction and 70% meniscectomy. Niu Xuesong summed up his experience in rehabilitation training and formulated a set of efficient and scientific rehabilitation training programs. Seven months after the operation, Xu Mengtao recovered and returned to special training; 10 months after the operation, Xu Mengtao participated in the World Cup and won the championship.
There are many more stories like this. After the Sochi Winter Olympics, Zhang Xin, a key national team athlete, suffered severe (fourth-degree) knee cartilage injuries on both sides. Niu Xuesong formulated a one-year rehabilitation training plan for her according to the situation.
During the rehabilitation training, Zhang Xin experienced a lot of pain. Niu Xuesong always patiently enlightened her, encouraged her, and helped her analyze the technical difficulty and technical style of her opponents in the international arena at that time. With Niu Xuesong’s persistence and efforts, Zhang Xin strengthened his determination to return to the field and won the silver medal in the individual competition at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics.
Beginning in 2008, for 14 years, Niu Xuesong was seconded to the national team in every preparation period to be in charge of physical fitness training and rehabilitation training for athletes.
“Freestyle skiing aerial skills have training tasks almost every day, and the ice and snow competitions are basically in winter, so I spent most of the Spring Festival in the training field and competition field in the past 10 years.” Niu Xuesong said, “But I I never thought of giving up, because we all have a common belief to win glory for the country. Combine our professional expertise and use scientific means and methods to help athletes improve their physical fitness, fight injuries, prolong sports life, and cultivate more talents for the country. Competitive sports talents are the driving force behind my persistence.”
“Seeing the students grow and become talents and play a role in their respective positions is the happiest thing for me”
“Mr. Niu in the classroom is funny and humorous, and Mr. Niu is serious and practical during training. Thanks to meeting Mr. Niu, my education concept has changed a lot. As a physical education teacher, I will continue to contribute to physical education.” Knowing that Niu Xuesong was named “the most beautiful teacher”, his students wrote this in the circle of friends.
Niu Xuesong is a coach who serves athletes in the national team for preparation and training, and is also a teacher engaged in physical training. He has been deeply involved in education and teaching for 26 years. He has created a physical training professional course system in Shenyang Institute of Physical Education, established a practical teaching system integrating classroom training, extracurricular practice and social service, and established a physical training team for teachers and students to combine classroom teaching with practice. Teaching is organically combined.
While teaching professional knowledge, Niu Xuesong also attaches great importance to integrating ideological and political education into curriculum teaching. “In the course of special physical fitness design and arrangement, Mr. Niu explained the characteristics of aerial skills and the glorious history of the team. The veterans of the aerial skills team, who have shed many tears in the four Winter Olympics, Although they were injured, they still persisted and pursued their dreams.” Zhao Xueshan, a student of Niu Xuesong, recalled, “Everyone was very moved when they heard this. No matter what difficulties they encounter in the future, I will rise to the challenge.”
Today, all the students in the physical training direction trained by Niu Xuesong have obtained the qualifications of physical trainers, and many graduates work as trainers in sports teams and physical training centers. The 26 graduate students he has trained have served as physical coaches for more than 10 national teams. They have applied what they have learned in their majors to contribute to the construction of a strong sports country. “Seeing the students grow into talents and play a role in their respective positions is the happiest thing for me.” Niu Xuesong said.
“I will put more energy into the training of high-quality sports talents in the future”
In 2015, Jia Zongyang, a key national team player, suffered three comminuted fractures in his calf in an accident. In order to formulate a safe, effective and scientific rehabilitation training plan, Niu Xuesong consulted a large number of materials, consulted orthopaedic medical experts, and rethought and revised the training plan with the help of X-ray films, muscle state tests, and daily calculated training load.
After 15 months of careful care, Jia Zongyang fully recovered and returned to training. In the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, Jia Zongyang won the silver medal in the individual competition. At the Beijing Winter Olympics this year, Jia Zongyang won the silver medal in the mixed team competition. He suffered three comminuted fractures of the tibia, fibula and ankle of the lower leg. After recovery, he returned to the field and achieved excellent results in a row. Jia Zongyang’s experience created a rare case of rehabilitation at home and abroad.
“In modern competitive sports, in order to achieve excellent results, advanced science and technology and scientific training methods are inseparable.” For this reason, Niu Xuesong devoted himself to scientific research, kept improving, and constantly surpassed.
Every spring and autumn physical training period, Niu Xuesong should study and explore the project rules and technical characteristics, and scientifically grasp the entire training process and the load arrangement of the season; every summer and winter technical training period, Niu Xuesong should carefully observe the technical movements of each athlete and characteristics, to design a specialized strength training method that is more in line with the technical force structure…
In order to promote the construction of a world-renowned sports university and cultivate high-quality sports talents, Niu Xuesong planned and built a modern physical training center in the school. New concepts, new equipment and new methods have greatly improved the level of sports injury rehabilitation and prevention, not only providing a strong guarantee for national team training and competition, but also for the development of school physical training theory and practice, and for the health and well-being of the whole people. Mass Fitness provides a scientific research platform.
Serving the society is an important function of colleges and universities. As a college teacher, Niu Xuesong goes to sports teams and schools every year, teaching theories and methods of physical training and rehabilitation training. Niu Xuesong said: “I will put more energy into the training of high-quality sports talents in the future, further improve the curriculum system, and drive more people to participate in national fitness.”