China finished in 14th place on the
20th Winter Olympic Games medal tally with two golds, four
silvers and five bronzes. The Turin Games ended on Monday.
Snow events are typically dominated by the Europeans. This
leaves short-track speed skating events as the only hope for a
medal for Asian competitors, with China and South Korea going head
to head for the top spot in Asia.
But despite its first gold medal on snow won by Han Xiaopeng in
the men's freestyle skiing aerials, China only collected one gold,
one silver and three bronzes for short-track speed skating.
In 2002, short-track speed skater Yang Yang (A) struck gold in
the women's 500m and 1000m to help China match South Korea's haul
of two golds at the Salt Lake Winter Olympics.
But South Korea outclassed China this time around, reclaiming
its position as Asia's winter sports powerhouse. They placed 7th on
the medal tally by pocketing six golds, three silvers and two
bronzes, 10 of which were won in short-track speed skating
events.
Wang Meng, 20, won the women's 500m event, China's only gold on
ice in Turin.
"Many people said that China lost to its arch rival South Korea
in three competitions (women's 1000m, 1500m and 3000m relay). I'm
really uncomfortable about hearing that," she said, denying South
Korea's dominance.
However, what made her so uncomfortable was true. South Korea
won six of eight short-track golds. And in a dramatic women's 1000m
final, China and South Korea each had two representatives. Wang and
her veteran teammate Yang Yang led through the early stages, only
to find 17-year-old Jin Sun-yu of South Korea overtake them on the
penultimate turn to cross the finish line first and snatch the gold
from under their noses.
South Korea started focusing on training short-track speed
skaters in 1992 when they grabbed golds in the men's 1,000m and
5,000m (4x1250m) relay at the Albertville Winter Olympics. These
disciplines were even included in the national education
curriculum.
By contrast, China lacks a constant supply of bright young
skaters, with most athletes coming from only a few places like the
northeast provinces of
Liaoning,
Heilongjiang and
Jilin. Things have taken a turn for the worse for China as Yang
Yang has announced her retirement after taking the bronze at the
1,000m event in Turin.
"This is my last race," Yang said. "I'm very happy. I'm done
with skating. I'm very happy with what I've done and what I've
got."
But even more fundamental than a lack of talent is China's
outdated training methods and techniques.
"The gap between (China and South Korea) is even bigger now,
especially in relation to techniques," said Tong Lixin, leader of
the Chinese short-track team. Chinese athletes are good at starting
while the Koreans are more competitive in terms of endurance and
speed.
"Korean skaters like Lee Ho-Suk, Jin Sun-yu and Ahn Hyun-soo
have demonstrated a new realm of short-track skills," Tong said,
adding that to learn how they navigate around the track is
something that Chinese athletes have to start learning from age
12.
With the Short-track World Championships coming up in March, Lan
Li, vice director of the speed skating administration center, has
yet to find a better training solution. "Currently we have coaches
from South Korea working with local teams, but we haven't yet
decided whether to have a Korean coaching the national team."
(China.org.cn by Li Xiao, February 28, 2006)
