Views on the 9TH National Winter Games ����From 1980 to 1998, China won altogether ten silver and four bronze medals in the six Olympic Games that it has attended. The recently ended 9th National Winter Games gives us hope and also reveals some problems. ����The end of the Ye Qiaobo era and the Chen Lu era made it very difficult to have any advantage in the women's short distance speed skating and women's single skating. Our hope for the zero breakthrough gold medal depends largely on the short distance speed skating and the newly-emerged freestyle skiing. Besides the more adept match between pair skating athletes Shen Xue ����/Zhao Hungbo and the rapid progress of men's single skating athletes give us some hope for the future. ����The apparent problem that reveals itself in the winter games is that the popularity of the ice programs among the masses is now decreasing. With a reduction in the number of ice fields and a cut number of people taking part in ice sports activities there will be few people to show concern for the program. ����The updating of training facilities and improvement of training conditions become a more and more important factor for sportsmen upgrading their level of performance. The bad record of our ice programs is largely due to a lack of facilities and sports ground. ����The investment of winter programs is several times more than that of summer programs. Due to regional weather restriction, the winter programs can only be developed in the northeast and northwest. But underdeveloped economy in the area has hindered the development of winter programs. ����To lead the ice sports onto the road of a profitable cause has become a point to attract attention. With more and more people returning to nature, it poses great potential for a combination of skating and skiing with tourism and popular body fitness. The profit achieved will turn back to be used in sports. A virtuous circle might be established. ����There are still three years for 2002 Winter Olympic Games. We hope the dream of zero breakthrough gold medal will be realized by China's participation in the Games. SportsNews 1999-01-20 Page8 Full Story in Chinese