Prospects for China's future Winter Olympics success
- By Mark Dreyer
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E-mail China.org.cn, February 25, 2014
For a country with an estimated number of 300 curlers that has only been competing internationally for 12 years, this is a staggering achievement. But given that there are plans to put 100,000 Chinese schoolchildren through a curling program, other countries - where elite curlers must still balance training with their day jobs - might soon be left behind by China's full-time professionals.
Figure skating is another sport in which China has made strides. Following Shen and Zhao's victory in Vancouver, China notched seventh place finishes in both the men's solo competition - its best ever - and the new team format, which combines aspects from all the other events.
But curling and figure skating only have a combined seven gold medals on offer; cross-country and biathlon, on the other hand, account for 21. China is right to steer clear of the alpine events (another 10 golds), since other nations have too many natural advantages. In other sports, such as men's ice hockey, it could take China generations simply to get to a respectable level, so the Olympic reward of one set of medals is not worth the investment risk.
Freestyle and snowboard, though, with 10 events each, are disciplines where China could make some inroads and break up North America's dominance. The two aerials events are already peppered with Chinese competitors, and with three women in the top 10 of the snowboard halfpipe competition, more gains are certainly possible here.
But the area China should target next is speedskating, which has 12 gold medals on offer, compared to eight for the short track format.
Among nations still competing today, the Netherlands, the United States and Norway have accounted for nearly two-thirds of all gold medals in Winter Olympic speedskating history, with the Dutch accounting for 23 of 36 medals in Sochi alone. But Zhang Hong's win - China's first in the sport - shows that China has athletes who could break that monopoly.
Purists would argue that short and long track skating are very different, but the fact that Dutch skater Jorien Ter Mors won two long track titles in Sochi while also notching three top-six finishes in short track suggests that China could convert some short trackers with some success.
Zhao Yinggang, the director of China's Winter Sports Administrative Center, talked in Sochi about the need for wider engagement in winter sports in China, adding that there is now pressure to do this quickly to support China's bid for the 2022 Games. But China will always have its population as a competitive advantage and the ambitious Sunshine Project, which aims to get millions of young people involved in winter sports around the whole country, could see China break into the top tier of winter powers.
To paraphrase Li Yan, the legendary coach of China's short track team, China already possesses a sword; what it must do now is to sharpen it.
Mark Dreyer has 15 years of experience working in sports journalism and worked for Sky Sports, Fox Sports and AP Sports. He has covered the last three Olympic Games and has been based in China since 2007. He can be contacted at dreyermark@gmail.com
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