Original title: The veteran is trapped by injuries, and the rookie urgently needs to be sharpened——(Quotation)
Chinese Figure Skating Difficult Restart (Theme)
Workers’ Daily-China Industry Net reporter Zhu Yanan
A few days ago, the 2023 World Figure Skating Championships came to an end in Saitama, Japan. In this year’s tournament, no Chinese team participated in the women’s singles, and the men’s singles, pair skating and ice dance events sent Jin Boyang, Zhang Siyang/Yang Yongchao and Chen Xizi/Xing Jianing respectively. In the end, Jin Boyang won the 22nd place in the men’s singles, Zhang Siyang/Yang Yongchao, who participated in the World Championships for the first time, won the 17th place in the pair skating, Chen Xizi/Xing Jianing ranked 25th in the rhythm dance, and failed to advance to the free dance competition.
As the first world figure skating championship in the Milan Winter Olympics cycle, the Chinese team did not send a main lineup. With the temporary truce of Sui Wenjing/Han Cong, the most competitive pair skating event of the Chinese figure skating team had to withdraw from the competition stage. Although Jin Boyang, who was suffering from injuries, tried his best, he was obviously unable to regain his form. His final score was nearly 97 points behind the champion and Japanese player Uno Shoma. Overall, the restart of Chinese figure skating in the new Winter Olympics cycle is relatively difficult, and will face more severe challenges than the Beijing Winter Olympics cycle.
Take Jin Boyang as an example. According to the reporter’s understanding, following the Beijing Winter Olympics, injuries have plagued Jin Boyang. He first underwent appendicitis surgery, then changed his training location to Canada, and was infected with the new crown virus twice in a row at the end of last year. The sharp decline and serious loss of muscle strength also made Jin Boyang encounter many difficulties in training and life.
In this World Championships, Jin Boyang ranked 19th in the short program. In the free skating competition, he fell in two quadruple jumps one following another, showing that his strength is still lacking. After the game, Jin Boyang also said, “The poor performance was due to lack of training, lack of jumping and ability.”
On the other hand, the Japanese team, the main opponent of the Chinese team, has achieved outstanding results in this local battle, including gold medals in men’s singles, women’s singles and pair skating. The successful defense of Shoma Uno and Hanamoto Sakamoto proves that Japan also has a sufficient level of competition for the men’s and women’s singles events in the new Winter Olympics cycle. Rilai Miura/Ryuichi Kihara won the first gold medal in pair skating for the Japanese team in the history of the World Championships. From the seventh place in the Beijing Winter Olympics to making history and reaching the top of the World Championships, the progress of Japanese pair skating is obvious to all. Looking at the South Korean team, Cha Jun-hwan won the first men’s singles silver medal in the World Championships for South Korea, and Lee Hae-in helped South Korea reach the women’s singles podium once more following 10 years. The overall strength of the South Korean team is also steadily improving.
All the three competitions that the Chinese team participated in this tournament were all defeated. Although there are reasons for not sending all the main players to participate and the strength of the injury has not fully recovered, it is indisputable that the overall strength of the Chinese team is no longer strong in the international competition. fact.
As one of the oldest events in the Winter Olympics, figure skaters not only need outstanding athletic talent, but also have a unique understanding of aesthetics and art. From skill to strength, from choreography to presentation, Chinese athletes once had unique traditions and advantages in this sport. However, how to continue the tradition, how to complete the replacement of the new and old teams and the formation of the lineup as soon as possible will be an important topic for Chinese figure skating in the new Winter Olympics cycle. As Jin Boyang said, a brand new start requires a very difficult process.