Efforts promised for winter sports

Winning its first ever snow event Winter Olympic gold medal at the Turin Games, China has vowed to put more efforts into developing winter sports.

"Compared with summer Olympic sports, winter sports in China is much weaker," said Xiao Tian, deputy chef-de-mission of the Chinese delegation. "Our achievements in the Turin Games are a big encouragement. We will strengthen the disciplines we are traditionally strong at and try to make breakthroughs in the weak ones."

China won a total of 11 medals with two golds, four silvers and five bronzes - recording its best ever results since its debut at the Winter Olympics in 1980 - ranking 14th in the medals tally.

German led the medals tally with 11 golds, 12 silvers and six bronzes, followed by the United States and Austria.

Although the number of gold medals equalled those won at the last Games in 2002, China, considered strong only on ice, made a great breakthrough in the snow events by clinching one gold and one silver in the men's and women's freestyle skiing aerials respectively.

Han Xiaopeng, with no previous international title, took the gold in the men's event, while Li Nina, the reigning world champion and world cup leader, won the silver in the women's event.

"The gold medal in the men's aerials is not only the first gold in snow events for China, but also the first gold from Chinese male athletes at the Winter Games," Xiao said. "It strengthens the confidence of all Chinese athletes who are doing snow sports."

At the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Games, China took its first ever Winter Olympic gold medal with Yang Yang (A) winning it for short track speed skating.

Before the Turin Games, the only medal in a snow event was a silver won by Xu Nannan in the women's freestyle skiing aerials at the 1998 Nagano Games.

With the uptrend in China's winter sports, said Xiao, more money would come in from the private sector to further support the athletes.

"Our athletes' performance in Turin will help us forge partnership with more international and domestic companies," Xiao said. "Company sponsorship and the sports lottery should be important financial sources for China's winter sports."

He also called on more people in southern China, which has few avenues for ice and snow events because of the warmer weather, to participate in winter sports.

"If some cities in southern China could set up ice rinks or indoor ski resorts and involve more people, the reserve force of the country's winter sportsmen will become larger," Xiao said.

However, the sports official admitted that the dominance of summer sports in China would continue.

"China is still a developing country. Owing to our social and economic development as well as the weather and geographical conditions, it's impossible for China to devote fully to developing winter sports," Xiao said.

"Therefore, we still lag behind many countries, especially in classical winter sports including Alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, and speed skating in the middle and long distance events."

With an eye on the 2010 Vancouver Games, Xiao said China would try to learn advanced training methods from, and draw on the experience of, other countries.

"The Turin Olympics made us further realize that to develop winter sports is a long-drawn and arduous task," Xiao said. "Since we have achieved satisfactory results in the foreign-coached events, such as the freestyle aerials and cross-country skiing, we are considering inviting more high-level foreign coaches to help us in the future."

Rising young talents

One reason for the upbeat mood among sports officials is the potential shown by young athletes.

With an average age of 23.05, China sent a relatively young team to Turin. Nearly a third of the members were making their Olympic debut.

Among them, short track speedskater Wang Meng was undoubtedly the biggest draw. Winning one medal in each colour, Wang pocketed the most medals in the delegation.

Seen as the new leader of the women's short track team, Wang, 20, is ready to take on the responsibility.

"The Olympic Games is a valuable experience for me," she said. "On returning to China, I will train harder than before with my team-mates and try to regain our country's glory on the short track."

The freestyle aerials team, which showed strong overall strength at the Turin Games, also comprises promising young talents.

Led by 23-year-old silver medallist Li, the women's team has Guo Xinxin, 22, who finished sixth, Wang Jiao, 22, who finished 11th and the two substitutes, Cheng Shuang and Zhang Xin.

The men's gold medallist Han is also just 22 years old..

In the speed skating team, 23-year-old Ren Hui performed her best to take the bronze in the women's 500m event, compensating for big favourite, veteran Wang Manli failing to take the gold after buckling under pressure.

The Chinese team's most attractive athletes were figure skaters Zhang Dan and Zhang Hao.

Despite crashing after an attempted throw quadruple salchow went wrong, Zhang Dan recovered quickly against all odds to skate beautifully and claim a silver medal with her partner. Their courage moved the whole world and even overshadowed the gold medallists, Russia's Tatiana Totmianina and Maxim Marinin.

"The young athletes have show their strong potential at the Games and their steady performances have boosted our hope in the winter sports," Xiao said.

Veterans' farewell

The Turin Games also marked an end to the careers of several veterans.

Recovering from a serious tendon injury with surprising speed, Zhao Hongbo, China's figure skating pair's star skater, went through an elegant routine with his partner Shen Xue, to win them the bronze.

"It should be my last Olympic Games," said Zhao, 32. "Although I failed to reach the gold, I have tried my best."

Turin's Palavela ice rink also saw the last Olympic appearances for China's short track speed skaters Yang (A) and Li Jiajun.

Li, the bronze medallist at the men's 1,500m, decided to say goodbye to his 20 years' skating career after competing in his fourth Olympic Games, while Yang (A), who settled for a bronze at the women's 1,000m race, also declared her retirement.

"This should be my last Olympic competition and I'm happy that our team has welcomed the new leader Wang," said Yang (A) after the 1,000m race. "I love short track skating, so all I did for it is worthwhile."

Yang (A) has also decided to donate her prize money from the bronze medal to the "Right to Play" foundation. "Since I'm going to retire, I want to leave something for sports," she said.

Veteran skater Wang Manli has not decided about her plans. A silver medal in the women's 500m speed skating race left the 33-year-old in tears as she was expected to take the gold on the basis of her consistently good performance in the recent two seasons.

"I want a good rest now," Wang said after returning from Turin. "I will decide whether to retire later."

Source: China Daily