Wheelchair curlers leave no stone unturned in quest for glory

Entering the newly built wheelchair curling venue for the Beijing Winter Paralympics, Wang Haitao was immediately impressed by the gleaming facility's ease of use.

Featuring automatic doors, carefully arced, barrier-free surfaces, and wheelchair-accessible elevators, restrooms and toilets, the building is a far cry from the venues he struggled with during his early days in the sport.

Wang was one of the original members of China's first wheelchair curling team, established in 2007, when training sessions often took place in run-of-the-mill skating rinks. "At that time, we didn't have special venues and we lived on the fifth floor, and there was no elevator," said Wang.

"The coach carried us up and down the stairs in our wheelchairs."

Teammate Liu Wei recalled similar hardships."Back then, the internet was not as popular. We didn't know how foreign players trained, so we devised our own training methods－tying bicycle tires together with rubber bands and practicing on the grass."

Despite the difficulties of those formative years, Wang and Liu have gone on to reach the pinnacle of the sport, helping China to gold at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Paralympics.

More success followed at the 2019 World Wheelchair Curling Championships in Finland, where China defeated the host to win gold and achieve the sport's "grand slam".

Wang has witnessed Chinese wheelchair curling go from strength to strength, with the improvements in the country's facilities mirroring results on the ice.

He believes China is continuously advancing its efforts to cater to disabled people, with Beijing's Paralympic curling venue providing yet more evidence of the progress.

In the training hall, banners hanging on the walls underline Beijing's lofty ambitions for 2022, with one reading: "Pyeongchang has become history. Run to Beijing from scratch."

It's a sentiment one of the older members of the team, Zhang Qiang, can apply to his own personal journey in the sport.

Zhang previously worked as a supermarket cashier and manager of an internet cafe, and credits curling with transforming almost every aspect of his life. "Since mastering curling, my whole state has changed, and I do not feel as inferior as before," he said.

In recent years, Zhang has not only racked up achievements on the ice, but also used his spare time to gain college qualifications and learn the guitar.

As one of the few female players on the team, Wang Meng was a table tennis player before taking up wheelchair curling.

"In eight years of playing table tennis, I didn't get ideal results. Later, I switched to curling and finally found a sport that suits me," she said.

The team's training methods became more advanced when Yue Qingshuang was installed as head coach in 2017. She introduced rehabilitation and psychological elements to the squad.

"Wheelchair curlers mainly rely on upper-limb strength, which can also cause them a certain degree of damage. Appropriate physical rehabilitation, therefore, improves their performance," Yue said.

Mental stability is also important in Yue's eyes－particularly this year amid the pandemic.

"The closed environment and concern for family members had an impact on the team members," she said."Weekly psychological lectures have helped guide them and reassured them in these uncertain times."

Now the Chinese wheelchair curling team boasts four coaches, who hope to identify the characteristics of each athlete and combine them to create the best lineup.

"The moment you come down from the podium, it is time to prepare for bigger things," Yue said."Many countries have begun to analyze us. We are also studying strong teams from various countries. Our common wish is to live up to the hardships and efforts. In 2022, we plan to keep this gold medal at 'home'."

Zhang Mingliang, who was selected to the national team from the Hebei province squad, made a New Year's wish: "I hope the pandemic will pass quickly and the world will return to normal. I'll throw every stone earnestly in 2021 and strive to win the gold medal on behalf of China in 2022."