Zhao Jiawen of Team China competes during Individual Gundersen Large Hill/10km at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics in Zhangjiakou on February 15, 2022. Photy: VCG

Just before the Closing Ceremony of Beijing 2022, figure skating pair Han Cong and Sui Wenjing won the 9th gold medal at the Pairs Free Skating event on Saturday for Team China, topping off the team's performance with a dazzling ending.

While fans embraced the chance that comes around once every four years to feast upon the charm of figure skating and the adrenaline rush associated with snow sports the Olympic banquet offered in Beijing, many Chinese fans also see a glimmer of hope for the future through the breakthroughs that have been made by Team China.

China, as the host country of the Winter Games, has seen its team listed third on the leader board following Norway and Germany, with a total of 15 medals in bag, the best outcome in the history of ice and snow sports in the country thus far. In addition, China also fielded athletes to participate in all seven sports with many seeing Chinese athletes' premier participation.

It is a huge thing as "the Chinese delegation this time has achieved full participation and major breakthroughs," Zhang Xinyun, a sports commentator for the curling and freestyle skiing events at the Games, told the Global Times on Sunday.

"The breakthroughs in snow sports, especially in snow sports, serve as an inspiration to encourage people to participate more in winter sports. Many people have gone from ignorance to understanding, to love, and eventually to passion for the sports, and this is the great wealth that the Beijing 2022 Winter Games has brought to us," he said, commenting the performance the team has presented to the audience. 

First times

Before the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, participating in a snow sport had never crossed China's bobsleigh athlete Peng Junyue's mind. 

"When I was told to participate in the selection by my coach, I thought it was for the national basketball team… When I was getting to know bobsleigh, I gradually fell in love with it," Peng told the Xinhua News Agency.

In 2015, shortly after Beijing successfully bid to host the Winter Olympics, China constituted its first national bobsleigh team which would later make its Winter Olympic Games debut in Beijing. 

In the list of the Chinese sports delegation for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, including Peng, was a total of four members of the bobsleigh team who were selected, namely Wang Peixuan, Fan Duoyao, and Huang Yebo.

In addition to the bobsleigh team, China also had its selection in Cross Country Ski and Ski jumping at the Beijing Games, after the Chinese team for the Nordic combined was constituted in 2018.

China's Zhao Jiawen qualified for the 2022 Winter Olympics, making him the only athlete in the Chinese team to participate in the Nordic combined at the Beijing Winter Olympics.

As Zhao expressed in an interview, "regardless of the results, I want my appearance in Beijing 2022 Games to promote the development of winter sports in China."

In addition, five of the nine gold medals won by China were in snow sports, and it is also the first time that China has won more gold medals in snow than ice sports, compared with the 13 gold medals won in the past 20 years, almost all of them in ice sports. 

China's Gao Tingyu competes in the men's 500-meter speed skating final at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing on February 12, 2022. Photo: VCG

Pass the flame

The Olympic Games are never short of stories of athletes striving for sporting excellence. Some veterans persist in chasing their dreams, while some younger competitors try to take center stage.

All of Team China's medalists also cover the age range of below 20 to above 30. Some of them competed at the Winter Olympics for the first time, while some have fought for their dream at the fourth Olympics.

The flame of sports achievements and competitive spirits have been passed from one generation to the next in Team China, which has been highly praised by many Chinese netizens. 

Su Yiming, just 18 years old, won the silver in the men's snowboard slopestyle to become the first Chinese male snowboarder to reach the Olympic podium. Thereafter, he won China's first gold medal in snowboarding at the big air event. 

When he bagged the gold medal, he was not yet 18, becoming the youngest Chinese athlete to win a gold medal at the Olympic Winter Games.

Su is one of shining stars of Gen-Z athletes in Team China. Gen-Z have grown to be a force to be reckoned with and take the crown at arenas, with the likes of Su, Gu Ailing being born in 2003.

Xu Mengtao, 32, won the gold medal in the women's aerials freestyle skiing event. Before the gold medal, she had been a multiple gold medalist in the women's aerials World Cup, who has waited for an Olympic gold medal for 16 years.

Qi Guangpu, 32-year-old male freestyle skier shares a similar experience to Xu. He bagged the seventh gold for Team China in the men's freeski aerials after competing at four Winter Olympics.

China's gold medallist Su Yiming celebrates on the podium at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games on February 15, 2022. Photo: VCG

Promising future

China first participated in the Winter Olympic Games in 1980 in Lake Placid, US. It took China 12 years to claim its first medals at the Winter Olympics in 1992 in Albertville, France, and another 10 to claim the country's first gold medals in Salt Lake City, US in 2002, when Chinese speed skater Yang Yang took the lead crossing first at the finish line at the woman's 500 meters and 1,000 meters short-track speed skating events. 

Before the Beijing Winter Games, the best record by Team China at the Winter Olympics was seen in 2010 in Vancouver, Canada, with a total of five golds, two silvers, and four bronzes won, ranking the seventh overall on the medal table. It was also marked by a number of highlights, including speed skater Wang Meng becoming the first Chinese athlete to win three champions in one single Winter Olympic event, and making a zero breakthrough of gold medal at the figure skating pairs final by Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo.

The Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council congratulated the delegation on Sunday for their remarkable performances at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. "Your country and its people are all proud of what you have achieved. You have shown the world the spirit of Chinese athletes in the new era, won gold medals in an ethical, moral, and clean manner, and interpreted the Olympic spirit and sportsmanship in China," said the congratulatory message. 

Among the nine gold medals of Team China, five are from snow sports and four from ice sports. 

Chen Lu, China's first figure skating world champion, was also optimistic about the development of winter sports in China.

"I believe that after the 2022 Games, more Chinese people will take part in winter sports, pushing China to grow step by step into a leading winter sports nation," Chen told the Global Times.