Ye Qiaobo used to set the rink alight with her dazzling skating. Now she's more concerned with fire than ice.
Ye, a three-time Olympic medalist and a five-time torchbearer for the Games, is a consultant at the Torch Relay Center for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
"The efforts we made for the torch relay are no less than what it took to actually compete," said the 43-year-old, who won China its first ever Winter Olympic medals in Albertville in 1992 by finishing second in both the women's 500 and 1,000 speed skating events.
The Beijing Olympic torch relay is the longest and most ambitious ever planned, lasting 130 days and and covering 137,000 kilometers across five continents. One of the highlights in its global journey is the world's highest peak.
After retiring in 1994 due to injury, Ye was selected as the torchbearer for the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics.
"During my 20 years of sporting career, my greatest ambition was to win, but after I retired I had no chance to win honor for my country in competitions," Ye said.
"However, when I passed the Olympic flame at the Winter Games in 1998, I found I got that feeling back."
She was also appointed torchbearer in Turin last year and at three Asian Games.
"Olympic torchbearers should not be limited to officials or stars they can be but also regular people who have their own stories to tell," Ye said. "Their stories and experience can move everybody."
Ye's story is no less dramatic.
Picking up speed skating at the age of nine and joining the People's Liberation Army team three years later, Ye has a career filled with highlights.
The first Asian skater who won the overall speed-skating championship, Ye had 23 world titles to her credit.
The 1994 Lillehammer Games further highlighted her fighting spirit.
Despite having major knee surgery six months before the Games, Ye resumed training within weeks and earned bronze at the 1,000.
"That was my second Olympic Games and I expected too much," Ye said. "It was very risky having the operation so close to the Games but I insisted that I wanted to compete."
The Olympic gold medal that eluded her for two decades continues to haunt her in her retirement.
"I still regret that I never stood on the top of the Olympic podium, as it was my lifetime ambition," she said, adding that it spurred her on for more achievements after retirement.
After earning an MBA degree at Tsinghua University, one of China's most prestigious colleges, Ye set up the Qiaobo International Sports Club Co Ltd. to help promote winter sports inthe country.
She juggles with her timetable between Olympic duties, business and study.
"I spent too much time on the ice before and not enough time building up my knowledge of the world," she said. "Now I want to learn more and I don't want to stop."
Source:Xinhua
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