Ren Ziwei of China competes during the men's 1500m final at the ISU World Cup Short Track Speed Skating series in Debrecen, Hungary, November 20, 2021. Photo: Xinhua

China's Olympic champion skater Ren Ziwei, also a deputy to the 14th National People's Congress (NPC), said his new year resolution is to win as many gold medals as possible and contribute to the plan to establish China as a leading sporting nation.

During an interview on Monday, Ren said that the level of short track speed skating has greatly improved around the world, and he believes that efforts should continue to be made in the sport. As an athlete, he will continue to improve his physical fitness and technical skills, and aim to win more gold medals for his country.

On participating in the two sessions, Ren said, "My personal feeling is that it can make our athletes more confident and motivated to fulfill our mission and responsibilities."

Over the past year, there has been a lot of interaction and communication between the mainland team and short track speed skating team from Hong Kong. "We are very good friends and we grow together, training together before competitions abroad and working hard together," said Ren, noting that although the development of the Hong Kong team started relatively late, they have made rapid progress.

With the Paris Olympic Games less than 150 days away, expectations were running high for Chinese athletes at the two sessions.

National political advisor Zhou Jinqiang, who is also deputy director of the State General Administration of Sport of China, revealed that China has so far obtained 218 Olympic slots for this summer Games in Paris.

"For some sports, Olympic qualifying tournaments are yet to conclude, so as the qualifying competitions roll on, I believe that Chinese athletes will secure more qualification berths," said Zhou.