Long Love for Ice and Snow Sports
Long Love for Ice and Snow Sports
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In the early years after the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, winter sports were mainly played in northern China’s cold winters and gained popularity slowly. After China’s reform and opening up in 1978, the introduction of snow and ice-making machinery provided greater flexibility and helped popularize winter sports across the country. Also since then, Chinese ice and snow athletes began to step onto international stages successively. Chinese teams first participated in the Winter Olympic Games in 1980, and Chinese athletes won the country’s first silver and gold medals at the Winter Games in 1992 and 2002, respectively. In a few months, China will host the 2022 Winter Olympic Games with an eye on “cultivating 300 million Chinese winter-sports enthusiasts.”
Looking back, ice and snow sports have already facilitated some Chinese people’s sweetest memories.
Two ice hockey players from the Harbin Railway Factory in northeastern China’s Heilongjiang Province in 1954. Ice hockey flourished at grassroots levels in China in the 1950s and 1960s. The sport requires superb skating skills and immense body strength. by Zhang Jinian/China Pictorial
A group of teenagers skiing in a winter camp in Jilin City,northeastern China’s Jilin Province, in 1954. Originated from Northern Europe, modern ski skill was introduced to China at the beginning of the 20th century. by Wu Yinbo/China Pictorial
A skier on the slope at China’s first National Ski Games in Tonghua City, Jilin Province, in 1957. Heavy snowfall, long winters, and minimal wind helped Tonghua emerge as a pioneering city for ice and snow events. by He Shiyao/China Pictorial
Figure skaters performing freestyle movements of jumps and spins in 1962.Figure skating started and grew quickly after the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949.The country has held national figure skating games almost yearly since 1953. by He Shiyao/China Pictorial
Skaters on a rink in Heilongjiang Province in 1962. Thanks to its natural advantages, northeastern China has nurtured many excellent ice
and snow athletes and laid the foundation for the further development of winter sports in China. by He Shiyao/China Pictorial
A training session for speed skaters in Jilin in 1973. Speed skating requires extreme agility. by Gao Mingyi/China Pictorial
Zhang Wenxian, a figure skater from Changchun City, Jilin Province, performing spins at the National Figure Skating Competition held in Urumqi, capital city of northwestern China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, in 1978. She won the first place in the Junior Girls Group B. More than 120 athletes from across the country participated in the event. CFB
Chinese athlete Ye Qiaobo (first left) standing on the podium after clinching the silver medal in women’s 500-meter speed skating with a time of 40.51 seconds at the 1992 Albertville Winter Olympics in France. This is the first Winter Olympics medal that China ever won. by Yue Pengfei/China Pictorial
February 16, 2002: Chinese athlete Yang Yang wins China’s first Winter Olympics gold medal in women’s 500-meter short track speed skating at the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah. VCG