Source: Qinhuangdao Release
13-year-old Song Zhenglin has been famous in the roller skating, but now he found himself in trouble on the ice rink. He spent more than a week to be himself in skating, and began to enjoy the fun on the ice rink. He dreamed to be a professional speed skater when he grew up.
There are many other young players like Song Zhenglin in Qinhuangdao Junior Skating Team. Wang Bo has been working there as a coach for many years, and he has witnessed the changes in ice and snow sports in this city adjacent to the northeast China.
“My team members used to get trained on a temporarily-built ice rink, and our training time was limited, because the ice surface was about to melt within two months. Now we have professional ice rink, and our training conditions have been greatly improved.”
What impressed Wang Bo was the changes in the public’s concept about ice and snow sports. “In the past, parents were afraid that their children would get hurt or leave behind in study, so they did not want their children to be in our team. Actually, the skating is the kind of sports that will improve children’s resistance, courage, and willpower, which is good for their physical and mental growth. As long as they find the balance between their academic and training time, they will not be left behind in study at all. In recent years, this concept has been eliminated a little bit, and many parents have actively allow their children to participate in ice and snow sports, and many of them are involved too,” said Wang Bo, adding that with the approach of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, the participation of the people in the ice and snow sports is continuously increasing, and the enthusiasm of the citizens going to the ice and snow rink is also heating up.
At the Olympic Sports Center, the completion and operation of the Qinlv Air Film Ice Hockey Rink do add a flame to the torch of the city’s ice and snow sports. As the first directly-cooled air film ice hockey rink, it has received 20,000 ice enthusiasts since its official operation in January 2019. Liu Meihe, the manager of the rink, said that it is really a surprise that the rink has attracted so many people in the first year of operation.
Ice enthusiasts exercise in the air film ice hockey rink. Photo by Zeng Xianxu
Qinhuangdao has a long history as a city of sports, which is the only prefecture-level city that has co-hosted the Asian Games and the Olympic Games. There are many national level sports facilities such as the Qinhuangdao Training Base of State Sports General Administration, and the National Swimming and Diving Training Base. As a sub-field of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, the giant football sculpture standing in the urban area carries the Olympic memories shared by generations. Today, actively promoting and participating in the ice and snow sports is becoming a way for Qinhuangdao people to support the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. In recent years, Qinhuangdao has issued a series of policy documents, such as the Implementation Plan for the Development of Ice and Snow Sports in Qinhuangdao City, taking measures to promote and develop the ice and snow sports, speed up the construction of ice and snow venues such as ice skating rinks and ski resorts, launch activities such as ice and snow in schools, government units, households, communities, and villages, organize the ice and snow competitions, and carry out the training of amateur ice and snow sports instructors. According to statistics, the total number of people participating in the ice and snow activities during the ice and snow season from 2018 to 2019 reached 589,000, and the actual number of participants in ice and snow sports has steadily increased.
It is not only a dream for Song Zhenglin to become a professional speed skater. With the promotion of ice and snow sports in recent years, the athletes of Qinhuangdao have made great achievements in ice and snow sports in the province and even in the whole country. As far as Wang Bo is concerned, only with more and more people participating in ice and snow sports, can we find more talents of ice and snow sports, and more importantly, the charm and fun of ice and snow sports can always be passed on among the citizens, just like the continuous love for the Olympic Games.
Source: China Youth Online
Reporter: Zeng Xianxu
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