After 16 days of fierce competition, all 84 gold medals at the 20th Winter Olympics held in Turin were divided up, and a new world pattern of ice and snow sports was also presented to the world.

From a three-legged confrontation to a confrontation between the top six

Four years ago at the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, Norway, Germany, and the United States all won double-digit gold medals, forming a three-legged team

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The momentum of a tripartite confrontation.

At this Turin Winter Olympics, the first thing that surprised the experts was the disastrous defeat of the previous hegemonic Norwegian Army. Norway is a traditional ice and snow powerhouse in the world. In the past 19 Winter Olympics, the country has won 96 gold medals, ranking first in the world. In the last Winter Olympics, they still dominated the crowd with 13 gold medals. This year, Norway only won two gold medals and was squeezed to 13th place.

The main reason for the Norwegian's defeat was that most of the veterans who had high hopes were out of shape. At the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, the country had four gold medals from biathlon. Among them, Bjorndalen won three gold medals in individual events. Including the relay event, all four men's gold medals in biathlon at this Winter Olympics went to Norway. This year, Bjorndalen fell short of his standards and only received two silvers and one bronze; the Norwegians also didn't get any gold in this event.

Germany and the United States ranked second and third in the last gold medal list. The Norwegians withdrew from the competition, and they naturally did their part. Especially Germany, after eight years, once again topped the list of Winter Olympics with 11 gold medals.

In stark contrast to Norway, Germany's veterans were all in excellent shape in Turin. The 29-year-old biathlete Grace's best result in the last Winter Olympics was only 15th; this time, he won his first gold medal at the Turin Winter Olympics, and then won two gold medals in a row.

In addition to maintaining their traditional advantages in bobsleigh, speed skating and other events, the Germans are also constantly expanding into new areas for gold medals. This Winter Olympics has added six individual events for the first time. Among them, the gold medals in two new events, men's 15 kilometers and women's 12.5 collective start kilometers, in biathlon, both went to the Germans.

The United States can maintain its third place in Winter Olympics gold medals with 9 gold medals, thanks to the emergence of many newcomers. Five of the country's gold medals came from young players under the age of 23, and two of the champions were only 19 years old.

Russia, Austria and Sweden are the three teams that have made significant progress in this Winter Olympics. Especially Austria and Sweden: Austria ranked tenth in the medal list with only 3 gold medals in the last Winter Olympics; this time they won 4 gold medals in alpine skiing, plus 3 gold medals in Nordic combined, ski jumping and luge competitions. With the income, the number of gold medals soared to 9, ranking second in the medal list. Sweden did not have any gold medals in the last edition, but this time it made enough "articles" in collective events such as men's ice hockey, women's curling and cross-country skiing team racing, and finally squeezed into the top six with 7 gold medals.

Russia ranked fifth in the last Winter Olympics with only 5 gold medals. This year, with outstanding performance in figure skating, cross-country skiing, etc., they ranked fourth in the medal list with 8 gold medals. Including Canada, which won 7 gold medals, the six countries of Germany, Austria, the United States, Russia, Canada, and Switzerland have different numbers of gold medals, but all have more than 14 medals, forming a strong six-strong confrontation in this Winter Olympics. pattern.

The strength of various countries shows a close trend

In the last Winter Olympics, 18 countries won gold medals and 24 countries were on the medal list. The most broad-based session. At the Turin Winter Olympics, the number of medal-winning countries reached 26, more countries than ever before; although the number of gold medals was still 18, the distribution of gold medals became more balanced.

At the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics four years ago, Norway, Germany, and the United States won more than 40% of all gold medals. In Turin this year, Germany, Austria, and the United States, the top three in the medal list, have a total of 29 gold medals, accounting for less than one-third of all gold medals.

The characteristics of ice and snow events determine that it is difficult for the number of countries to win gold and medals in the Winter Olympics to increase significantly in a short period of time. However, it is not difficult to find from this Winter Olympics that those countries that have become the Winter Olympics The strength of the countries that are members of the "Gold Medal Club" shows a trend of getting closer and closer. There are 15 countries with less than 10 gold medals at the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, and the number this year has increased to 17 is another proof.

Estonia is a small country on the Baltic Sea coast of Europe, with a population of just over 1.4 million. At the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, the country's Verparu won the men's 15-kilometer cross-country skiing championship. This is the first Winter Olympics gold medal in the country's history. In this Winter Olympics, the 34-year-old Verpalu successfully won the 15-kilometer crown; the country’s female athlete Smigun also emerged and won two gold medals in cross-country skiing in the 10-kilometer and 15-kilometer skiing. Estonia thus entered the top 12 in the Winter Olympics medal list for the first time with three gold medals.

Since the 1980 Lake Placid Winter Olympics in the United States, a speed skating or short track speed skating world record has been set at every Winter Olympics; the 15th and last Winter Olympics in 1988 At the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, there were 8 new world records. The Turin Winter Olympics did not break a world record, only two Winter Olympics records, which has never happened in 26 years.

In the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics, the speed skating event was able to completely rewrite the world record, mainly due to the fact that it entered a fully enclosed stadium for the first time and was not affected by external natural conditions. The reason why the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics is called the "world record-high productivity" ice and snow event has something to do with Salt Lake City's high altitude of 1,307 meters.

Turin is a low-altitude venue, which naturally restricts the occurrence of new records.

Failed to rewrite the world record, the ambitious world record holders will not be able to bring back the championship in Turin, because the level of opponents from various countries is getting higher and higher, and everyone’s strength is between them. , the competition for each project is very fierce. Hedrick of the United States is the world record holder in men's 1,500-meter speed skating. In this competition at the Turin Winter Olympics, he lost to a little-known Italian college student, 24-year-old Fabrice, and only won the bronze medal.

Germany's Paige Stein is the "three consecutive champions" of the women's 5,000-meter speed skating at the Winter Olympics and the world record holder. At the Turin Winter Olympics, the 32-year-old "regular Shengfeijian” also lost to Dutch player Hughes.

Asia’s multi-faceted breakthroughs are full of vitality

At the Turin Winter Olympics, although Asia’s participation and success in events are still relatively limited, in short track speed skating, figure skating, freestyle Skiing and other fronts are full of vitality and their upward momentum is irreversible.

The first is South Korea’s short track speed skating. They won 6 gold medals in all 8 individual events of this event in one fell swoop, setting a record for the highest number of gold medals won by an Asian country in one Winter Olympics. In addition to China's Wang Meng's women's 500-meter short track speed skating championship, Asian athletes have won seven gold medals in short track speed skating for the first time.

Koreans have also created two "Triple Crown Champions" in short track speed skating - Chen Shanyou and Ahn Hyun-soo. The 17-year-old former won the women's 1000m, 1500m and 3000m relay championships; the 20-year-old latter wore the men's 1000m, 1500m and 5000m relay gold medals on his chest. South Korea has two of the only three "Triple Crowns" in this Winter Olympics, which is also unprecedented in Asia.

Asia’s second breakthrough came in the men’s freestyle skiing aerials. China's 21-year-old Han Xiaopeng beat many top European players to win the gold medal in this event. It breaks the 12-year dominance of European and American male athletes in this event since it entered the Winter Olympics. This is also a historic breakthrough for China’s snow sports.

Figure skating is one of the earliest events established in the Winter Olympics. In the previous 19 Winter Olympics, Asia's best result in this event came from women's single skating, which was only a silver medal - at the 16th Winter Olympics held in Albertville in 1992, Japanese player Midori Ito won Runner-up in this project.

At this Turin Winter Olympics, the biggest favorite to win the gold medal in women's single skating was Russia's Slutskaya. Unexpectedly, Japan's 24-year-old Shizuka Arakawa performed at a superb level in the competition. Although she only ranked third in the short program, her performance in the free skate was almost perfect, scoring a high score of 125.32, and "forced" Slutskaya to appear. Mistakes. As a result, Shizuka Arakawa unexpectedly ascended to the "lower position" of the event and became the first Asian champion in single skating and even figure skating history at the Winter Olympics.

In the past, Japan, South Korea, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and China have won gold medals in the Winter Olympics in Asia. The total number of gold medals in the entire Asian Winter Olympics is 23. Among them, Asia won the most gold medals at the 18th Winter Olympics held in Nagano in 1998, with 8. At the Turin Winter Olympics, Asia won a total of 9 gold medals, setting a new "record" for winning gold medals in a Winter Olympics.

Asia’s gold medal winners in Turin include many newcomers with unlimited potential; Asia’s projects are also unique, with strong impact and a lineup structure that continues to develop and improve. Moreover, the number of countries and regions in Asia participating in the Winter Olympics has shown an increasing trend; the number of participants is also becoming wider and wider.

The performance and results of the Turin Winter Olympics have once again proved that Asia will be one of the most active growth points for gold medals in the Winter Olympics for quite some time to come.

2 gold, 4 silver and 5 bronze - although China’s gold medals at the Turin Winter Olympics are the same as the previous one, the 11 medals have already made history. In the seven previous Winter Olympics it has participated in, the Chinese Ice and Snow Corps has won a total of 22 medals. The most successful one was the 19th Winter Olympics held in Salt Lake City, USA four years ago, when it only won 8 medals. medal.

Wide participation in snow events earns gold for the first time

In ice and snow events, China has always been "snow is not as good as ice" in terms of level and performance. At the Turin Winter Olympics, this imbalance has begun to change due to Han Xiaopeng's "blockbuster" gold medal in the men's aerials event of freestyle skiing.

Freestyle skiing is a "long-planned" breakthrough in China's snow sports. As early as the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics, Xu Nannan won the silver medal in women's aerials, changing China's embarrassment that the Winter Olympics and medals in snow sports did not match up. This time in Turin, China's "Four Golden Flowers" all made it to the top twelve finals in aerials. Li Nina, Xu Nannan, and Guo Xinxin finished 2nd, 4th, and 6th respectively, showing a strong overall advantage.

In men’s aerials, China’s previous best result was only 17th place. In this Winter Olympics, not only did Han Xiaopeng and Qiu Sen reach the finals at the same time, the former also ranked first in both the qualifying rounds and the finals, taking home the gold medal undisputedly. This is not only the first time that an Asian athlete has won a freestyle skiing gold medal, but also the first time that a Chinese male ice and snow athlete has taken the lead in the Winter Olympics.

At the last Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, China only participated in 17 events in three snow sports: biathlon, cross-country skiing and freestyle skiing.

At the Turin Winter Olympics, in addition to the above three sports, Chinese athletes also appeared in alpine skiing, ski jumping, and snowboarding. The number of snow sports they participated in increased to six for the first time; the number of minor sports soared to 27.

Moreover, the number of participants in China’s snow sports has exceeded that of ice sports for the first time. Among the 84 individual events at the Turin Winter Olympics, snow events account for two-thirds. China has significantly increased its participation in snow sports, showing its original intention and attitude of fully entering the Winter Olympics.

Participated in 15 events in both this Turin Games and the last Salt Lake City Winter Olympics. If you compare, you will find that two-thirds of the projects this year have better results. Among them, there are 7 comparable events in the biathlon, and the results in 4 events were better than those in the previous session. In the men's 10-kilometer individual event, the previous best ranking was only 41st. This time, 23-year-old Zhang Chengye ranked 18th. In the women's 10-kilometer individual event, the best result of a Chinese athlete last year was 44th; this year, 28-year-old Liu Xianying ranked 9th. If China improves its shooting level, its ranking will increase significantly.

The women’s 12.5-kilometer collective start is a newly established event in this winter biathlon. Liu Xianying ranked 7th, and the top six were all European athletes. This is China’s best ranking in biathlon at this Winter Olympics.

China’s most outstanding performer in cross-country skiing is 22-year-old Wang Chunli. She ranked 18th and 21st respectively in the women's 10-kilometer and 20-kilometer individual events, both achieving the best levels in Chinese history.

Most individual results on the ice are bullish

At the last Winter Olympics, Yang Yang won two gold medals in women's short track speed skating, breaking China's record of zero gold medals in the history of the Winter Olympics. deadlock. At the Turin Winter Olympics, China sent 34 athletes to compete in 3 major events and 22 minor events on ice. Although only one gold medal was won by Wang Meng, compared with the 17 ice sports that participated in the two Winter Olympics in Turin and Salt Lake City, except for one of the same rankings, China has 10 results that are better than the previous one. term.

China's speed skating event failed to achieve its goal of winning the gold medal, but the improvement in overall strength is obvious. In Turin, 15 Chinese ice athletes participated in 11 events. Compared with all 7 events they participated in last time and this year, the results of each event this time have improved to varying degrees.

The most noteworthy event for women is the 500-meter event, because China's Wang Manli and Ren Hui took second and third place in this event. At the 16th Winter Olympics in 1992, Ye Qiaobo won the silver medal in the women's 500m speed skating. It is the first time for Chinese speed skating to win two medals in one event. Since the 18th Winter Olympics in 1998, the ranking of 500-meter speed skating has been changed to the total score of two skates, and the difficulty has increased. Wang Manli's silver medal was the first time a Chinese athlete won a 500-meter speed skating medal after the new rules were implemented.

In men’s speed skating, China’s best performance is still the 500-meter event. 21-year-old Yu Fengtong ranked fifth in this Winter Olympics, which is also the best performance of Chinese men's speed skating since Liu Hongbo won fourth place in the 17th Winter Olympics in 1994.

Among the three figure skating events, China’s most eye-catching performance at the Turin Winter Olympics was pairs skating. At the last Winter Olympics, Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo won bronze medals. This is not only the best result in China's history in this individual event, but also one of the best results in Chinese figure skating in the history of the Winter Olympics.

In this Winter Olympics, China sent three pairs of skaters, Zhang Dan/Zhang Hao, Shen Xue/Zhao Hongbo, and Pang Qing/Tong Jian, to compete in the pairs skating competition, and the results were ranked second to fourth in order. This is also rare in the history of the Winter Olympics.

Short track speed skating has always been the focus of China's gold medal win. This time, the number of gold medals and medals failed to exceed that of the previous Winter Olympics. Five of the eight participating events were ranked lower than the previous one. Only The results of the men's 1000 meters and the women's 1500 meters were better than those of the previous session.

Champions mature early and newcomers emerge

Compared with the Summer Olympics, the winners of the Winter Olympics are relatively older. However, China's Turin Winter Olympics gold medalists Wang Meng and Han Xiaopeng are only 20 and 22 years old respectively, so they can be called early bloomers.

Although Wang Meng is participating in the Winter Olympics for the first time, he is already "battle-hardened" and has been almost unbeatable in the women's 500-meter short track speed skating event in the past two years. At this Winter Olympics, he won the 500m championship, the 1000m runner-up, and the 1500m third runner-up. He is the only person in the Chinese Army to win three medals.

In the last Winter Olympics, Han Xiaopeng only ranked 24th among the 30 freestyle skiing men's aerials competitors; and he has never won a gold medal in a world competition. In this Winter Olympics, he went from qualifying to final, and finally won the gold medal, showing a rare psychological quality beyond his age. This is the most valuable thing for a high-level player.

Not only are they the champions, most of the other Chinese athletes who have brought home medals at this Winter Olympics are also very young. Zhang Dan and Zhang Hao are participating in the Winter Olympics for the second time, and they are only 20 and 21 years old respectively. The two won the runner-up in pairs skating, which was a breakthrough for Asian athletes in this event. There are only 20 pairs of athletes participating in this event at the Turin Winter Olympics. Zhang Dan and Zhang Hao are the youngest pair among the top nine, and their future is unlimited.

Li Nina was the most vocal before the competition in women’s aerials in freestyle skiing. Unfortunately, she finally lost to the 29-year-old Ruhe of Switzerland and won a silver medal. However, she has just turned 23 and has a long way to go.

There is also Ren Hui, the bronze medalist in the women's 500-meter speed skating, who is 1.80 meters tall and in very good condition. He won the 1,000-meter speed skating championship at last year's Universiade Winter Games. At this Winter Olympics, if she had not made a mistake in the 1,000-meter race, the 22-year-old might still have achieved good results.

In addition, there are some young Chinese players who have been trained in Turin and have shown promising development prospects. Guo Xinxin, who performs freestyle skiing aerials, ranked second in the qualifying round; her first jump in the final ranked first, and she was the champion as long as she stood firm on her second jump. Unfortunately, she made a mistake when landing and ended up ranking sixth. She is only 22 years old, and her movements are already ranked number one in the world in difficulty. If she works harder on stability in the future, she can definitely hit the world championship gold medal.

For the first time, China participated in the women's snowboard half-pipe competition at the Winter Olympics. The two contestants were 17-year-old Pan Lei and Sun Zhifeng, who was less than 15 years old. They ranked 28th and 31st respectively in the qualifying rounds and failed to advance to the finals, but they still showed a high starting point.

Snowboarding is a young event and only entered the Winter Olympics in 1998. China has been carrying out this project for a short time, and it is already very difficult for two people to obtain "tickets" for the Winter Olympics. Pan Lei won the runner-up at the World University Winter Games last year. Sun Zhifeng is the youngest competitor in the Turin Winter Olympics and has practiced martial arts. At present, the difficulty of her movements has caught up with the world's top players.

The U-shaped groove event is very suitable for Chinese players who are good at dexterity.

As time goes by, this project is entirely likely to become a new gold medal point for China in the Winter Olympics