|
Young skaters carry new hopes
By Lei Lei (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-02-16 07:46
To regain success in the sport, China began to make more efforts.
"About two years ago, we sent several skaters to train abroad with a foreign
coach, which has been benefiting us a lot," said Xiao. "Our overall strength in
the sport has been raised a lot in recent years."
Despite veteran Wang's dominance of the women's 500m event over the last
three seasons, those young skaters showed their improvement step by step as
well.
In the 2004 World Single Distance Championships, Ren claimed the bronze in
the 500m. She also took two golds and a silver, despite a back injury at the
2005 Winter Universiade, setting a record in the 500m.
"After the Olympics, I will start from the very beginning to take steady
training," said Ren. "I'm still young and the Olympic bronze medal is a big
motivation for me. I will go on to improve myself step by step in the future."
Wang Beixing, 21, who trained with Canadian coach Kevin Crockett, also rose
up the ranks quickly.
She claimed the 500m silver at the 2005 World Single Distances Championships
and finished on the podium in all four of her starts at this year's World Cup
series.
"The foreign coach has taught me a lot, especially some new skills and
ideas," said Wang. "China has a lot of good young skaters, and all of us will
try our best to reach our goals one by one for our country."
On the men's side, the situation is also optimistic, as seen by Xiao after
21-year-old Yu Fengtong finished 5th at the men's 500m race at the Winter Games.
"Some young men skaters improved quickly as well, such as Yu Fengtong," said
Xiao. "Since the competition on the men's side is very fierce, Yu's result could
be called a breakthrough."
Veteran's tears
Despite the potentially bright future for China in speed
skating, a silver medal left the 33-year-old veteran skater Wang Manli in tears
at her 4th and probably her last Olympic Games.
|
