New breed on right track, says Wang

Legendary skater reckons China's winters sports upgrade lays strong foundation for glory－at Beijing 2022 and beyond

Chinese short-track speed skating legend Wang Meng has backed Team China to make breakthroughs at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, urging the next generation to shine and enjoy the Games.

"We should not give the athletes too much pressure at this stage. I believe they are all ready for the Beijing Winter Olympics. Even without the medals, they are our heroes. We should always encourage them," the four-time Olympic champion told China Daily in an exclusive live chat on social media platform bilibili.com.

"I think winning gold medals is not the only important thing for our athletes. Some of them face pretty big pressure in front of the home fans, but I believe in the strength of Team China to win golds, even against strong foreign rivals."

China underlined its growing winter sports strength on Saturday when its short-track speed skating mixed team relay squad won the nation's first gold of Beijing 2022, fending off Italy and Hungary to triumph in the inaugural competition.

"The future belongs to the next generation. My eyes are fixed on the performances of the young Team China speed skaters," said Wang, who was appointed head coach of the short-track squad in May 2019, a month after being named head coach of the national speed skating team.

"I have coached many of the young Team China talents who are competing now at the Beijing Winter Olympics. I believe in their potential."

Wang believes competing at home is not always necessarily advantageous for athletes, and just as it can bring added motivation, can also bring extra pressure. Wang told China Daily that she always relished racing on home ice.

"I would call all my friends, telling them when I was going to race and I would make sure to give them tickets to the races," she recalled.

Looking at the wider winter sports picture, Wang reckons Beijing 2022 has been a beacon of positivity in difficult times globally amid the pandemic.

"Just like the official motto of the Beijing Winter Olympics and Paralympics says, we go 'Together for a Shared Future'," she said.

"China has delivered on its promise of staging a smooth Winter Olympics. Not just for the Chinese athletes, the Games give all the world's winter sports aces the platform to shine. With the pressure of the pandemic, we emphasized the idea of being together."

Bright future

Compared to her heyday on the ice, Wang believes Chinese athletes are better positioned nowadays to succeed on the world stage thanks to the country's rapidly growing winter sports industry.

"The younger generation of Chinese winter sports athletes are different from my generation. They have their own ways of expressing themselves," she said. "And they have much better training and competing environments. Each national team athlete is supported by a team of coaches, doctors and other support staff."

According to the most recent Beijing 2022 Legacy Report, 346 million Chinese people have participated in winter sports or leisure activities since Beijing won the bid to host the 2022 Games in 2015.That figure exceeds a preset goal of 300 million.

Moreover, as a relatively late starter to many snow-based sports, such as biathlon, Alpine skiing and bobsleigh, China has taken advantage of preparations for the Winter Olympics to improve infrastructure for such disciplines.

The country has built state-of-the-art venues, such as the National Biathlon Center and the National Sliding Center, which will continue to boost Chinese winter sports beyond Beijing 2022, giving Wang good reason to believe the future looks bright.

"Chinese winter sports have enjoyed an obvious boom since we won the bid in 2015 to host the Games. We have a lot more indoor skating venues and ski resorts," she said.

"In the past, we thought many winter sports only belong to European countries. But with the development of our own winter sports scene, many more people are enjoying the ice and snow, and we are producing more and more talents in all these areas.

"Once I filmed a show with a skiing team in Beijing, whose members were all elderly people. I was deeply impressed by how good they were at skiing. Chinese people's passion for winter sports and the speed of winter sports' growth in the nation has exceeded our expectations."

As an icon of her sport, Wang likes to share memories and stories from her career with young people in the hope of inspiring them to lace up their skates and take to the ice.

"I think the environment of my hometown (Qitaihe, Heilongjiang province) decided my passion on the ice. It was really cold outdoors in wintertime. Kids liked to play outside and our best game was skating. We would pour water on the road and make our own wooden skates," she said.

"So when I first stepped into an indoor venue when I was a kid, I instantly fell in love with that feeling. I told myself, I will never leave this place again. At that time I had no idea about the honor of representing your nation or the meaning of the Olympic dream.

"But as I grew step by step, I gradually understood what was on my shoulders. I remember I used to like watching the bigger skaters train. Most of the time, they would train behind closed doors, but I would sneak in and observe them. I liked their way of skating, so I learned from them and I learned fast."