What's behind China's record medal haul at Beijing 2022?

BEIJING, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- China, a powerhouse at the Summer Olympic Games, has made great strides in winter sports, as the host nation tallied record numbers of both golds and overall medals to rank third at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.

China notched nine gold medals and 15 overall at Beijing 2022, both record highs at a single Winter Olympics. Its previous best record at the Winter Games came from Vancouver 2010, where it won five golds and 11 medals.

How has China managed to achieve this?

MASS PARTICIPATION

As International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach said, "We welcome China as a winter sport country."

A latecomer in global winter sports, China is seeing more and more people pick up skis and snowboards. As of last October, around 346 million people had participated in winter sports since China's successful 2015 bid to host the 2022 Games.

For any sport, mass participation is by all means essential to achieving successful Olympic performance, as a large population of amateur athletes means a big talent pool.

Su Yiming, the 18-year-old snowboarding prodigy, is one of the millions of Chinese inspired by the Olympic Games.

"On hearing that the Winter Games would be held in Beijing, I dreamed of joining the competition. But to qualify, I needed results in professional contests. So, from that moment, I decided to become a professional snowboarder," Su said after clinching silver in slopestyle and gold in Big Air at Beijing 2022.

ADVANCED TECHNOLOGIES

It is undeniable that current Chinese winter sports athletes have better equipment for the Games compared with their predecessors as manufacturers have seen a golden opportunity to fuel their business.

With the help of aerospace technologies, the country's first self-developed sleighs with advanced capabilities were rolled out and debuted at the 2022 Winter Olympics.

Wind tunnels developed by state space giant China Aerospace Science and Technology were also used in training Chinese athletes for the 2022 Winter Olympics.

The wind tunnels cover the range of wind speeds for almost all winter sports events, according to the Global Times. Tests of the athletes' performances in the tunnel can provide data for the optimization of sportswear and equipment to reduce drag, and help athletes to find the best postures and team formations.

"The role of technology in competitive sports is becoming more prominent," said Li Zhiquan, an official at the General Administration of Sports of China.

WIDE TALENT POOL

At Beijing 2022, China competed in 104 of the 109 medal events with its largest ever Winter Olympic contingent of 177 athletes.

According to Ni Huizhong, secretary general of the Chinese delegation, around one-fifth of the 177 athletes switched to winter sports after starting their sporting careers, with that proportion rising to one-half of athletes in snow events, he said.

Of those, there is little doubt that Yan Wengang is the most successful Winter Olympian among the converts. Formerly a long jumper, the 24-year-old won bronze in the men's skeleton, securing China's first-ever Olympic medal in sliding sports.

INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION

As it has done for Summer Olympic sports, China has brought overseas coaches on board in an array of winter sports, including short-track speedskating, biathlon, cross-country skiing and skeleton.

A total of 51 overseas coaches from 19 countries and regions, including Russia, Sweden, France, Japan, South Korea and the United States, have played an important role for Team China.

Even in short-track speedskating, China's strongest winter sport, Kim Sun-tae and Viktor Ahn Hyun-soo were hired to help China's team.

Other overseas coaches who led Chinese teams at Beijing 2022 include China's national curling head coach Peja Lindholm of Sweden, and Norwegian legend Ole Einar Bjoerndalen as head coach of China's biathlon team.

Credit should also be given to naturalized Chinese athletes who have helped supplement the talent and raise the competence of Team China.

Gu Ailing, who was born in the United States and chose in 2019 to represent China, the country of her mother, became the first freestyle skier to win three medals at a single Winter Olympics.

Canadian-born ice hockey player Ye Jinguang said on Sina Weibo that "if a Chinese ice hockey player stands on the podium in 20 years and says he plays the sport because he watched the Games in 2022, that will be success for our generation."

Without international cooperation, it would have been difficult for China to achieve such rapid development in winter sports.