BEIJING — China vows to participate in all the 109 disciplines of Beijing Winter Games and win gold medals for a record high, said Gou Zhongwen, director of China’s General Administration of Sport, in an interview at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing during the ongoing two sessions.
The last time a host nation participated in all available disciplines at a Winter Olympics was the US at Salt Lake City 2002, when only 78 disciplines were available.
According to regulations, China is eligible for direct access of 61 events, while the remaining 48 events require points or rankings to qualify.
The best results Chinese delegation achieved are five gold medals, two silver medals and four bronze medals in Vancouver Winter Olympics in 2010. In the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, China only won nine medals including one gold medal.
Lacking an established tradition of winter sports, China had had no presence in one-third of Winter Games disciplines by the time the country won the bid to host the 2022 Games, while one third had been competitive and one third had far lagged behind the leading countries.
“All the national training teams covering 109 events of the Games were set up and 4,000 chosen from 20,000 people took part in training in 2018,” said Gou, adding that China has promoted cooperation with 15 countries including Norway, Austria, Switzerland, Sweden, Finland and more than 80 foreign coaches have been introduced.
Wu Dajing, the men’s 500m short-track speedskating Olympic champion, won the men’s 500m sliver on March 9 at 2019 Short Track Speed Skating World Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria.
He told Xinhua that he is eager to challenge himself over longer distances.
“Everything we are going to do is for the 2022 Beijing Olympics. My dream is to win golds at home,” the 24-year-old said. “I want to make breakthroughs not only in the 500 meters, but also in the 1,000 meters, 1,500 meters, 5,000 meters relay and 2,000 meters mixed relay.”
“It is quite challenging to participate in all disciplines of the Games. But we have confidence to make breakthroughs in 2022,” said Li Yingchuan, a CPPCC National committee member and deputy director of China’s General Administration of Sport.
