In Shanghai on the weekend, in the midst of low temperatures, there is a kind of sports that is soaring.
In the arena of the Sea Crown of the Oriental Sports Center, top figure skaters at home and abroad dance and compete here. Not far from the venue, on the ice rink of the Sanlin Sports Center Feiyang Ice Sports Center, the voices of young people dancing on the ice were full of voices, accompanied by the friction of skates and the ice surface and the shouts of parents in the stands, so that the cold venue was filled with strong warmth.
Caption: Children practice ice hockey at the Feiyang Ice Sports Center Photo by Xinmin Evening News reporter Li Mingshen (the same below).
From the Four Continents Figure Skating Championships to the 14th National Winter Games, this February, the atmosphere of ice and snow will continue to heat up with the atmosphere of the new year. Enjoy the joy of ice sports, how did the cold ice and snow sports in the past become a fashion hotspot in Shanghai today?
Ice and snow consumption continues to soar.
On weekends, the ice rink at the Minhang Feiyang Ice Sports Center is overcrowded. Early in the morning, there are even more than 50 hockey teenagers in the same class at the same time. Swinging on the ice with a club in hand, the excitement will continue until 11 p.m. The same is true for the Putuo Ice Sports Center, the MixC and the Mercedes-Benz Center Ice Rink, as well as dozens of indoor simulated ski resorts in Shanghai. According to statistics, the number of people on ice in Shanghai has risen from more than 500,000 in 2018 to 3.8 million in 2023, the number of people skiing in other provinces and cities in winter ranks among the top three in the country, and the consumption of ice and snow sports ranks third among all sports in the city. Ice and snow sports have become a popular fashion sport in Shanghai, a southern city.
Caption: Ice and snow sports have become a popular fashion sport in the southern city of Shanghai.
To promote the development of ice and snow sports in Shanghai, social forces play an important role. Behind the soaring ice and snow consumption is the continuous growth of a series of local ice and snow enterprises in Shanghai.
Founded in 2013, the Feiyang Ice Sports Center has been in Shanghai for 11 years now, founded by Winter Olympic champion Yang Yang. Over the past 11 years, the team has grown to cover nearly 30 schools and organized more than 500,000 students to participate in skating courses. Feiyang Ice Sports Center has sent more than 100 outstanding ice athletes to Shanghai.
With the support of Putuo District**, Guojin Sports Co., Ltd. has invested in the construction of the Putuo Ice Sports Center under the plot of Taopu Zhichuang Greenland Park in Putuo, which has been put into use in early 2023, and has held the city's public ice and snow season, figure skating championships and pre-competition training for the opening ceremony of the Four Continents Figure Skating Championships. Now, the company is negotiating with Hongqiao and Baoshan to build a second ice rink.
Caption: Children practising figure skating.
More than 20 indoor simulation fields in the city, all invested and operated by social forces, Yang Renhai, general manager of the Snow Cool Club, in 2017, with millions of yuan, came from Hebei to Shanghai Jiading to start operating an indoor simulation ski resort, from one to five, from the suburbs to the city center, there are currently more than 30,000 members; Snow51 Club, which has a similar experience to Yang Renhai, is a Sino-foreign joint venture, the owner Ye Kai and several other foreign partners are optimistic about the Shanghai market, and the MixC indoor simulated ski resort invested in 2018 began to open, and has continued to open and operate to 13.
Ice and snow talents settled in Shencheng.
Build a nest to attract phoenixes and recruit talents. Like other industries, the development of ice and snow sports is inseparable from professional talents. The Municipal Sports Bureau specially organized a team to rush to Hei, Kyrgyzstan, Liaoning and other strong ice and snow provinces many times to discuss cooperation and recruit talents. The first to settle in Shanghai is the first gold medalist Yang Yang of the Winter Olympics, and then the national figure skating champion Fan Jun, short track speed skating national champion Ma Yanjun, Su Xiaohua, national women's ice hockey team captain Ma Xiaojun and a number of well-known athletes have led the team to Shanghai, they into the school, into the community, will meet parents, promote ice and snow sports, find and cultivate ice and snow sports talents, some of them have now become new Shanghainese, the training of *** members not only become the main force of the teams in Shanghai, on behalf of Shanghai to participate in various competitions at all levels in the country, some of the team members also entered the national youth training team and made a name for themselves in the world competition. At present, the Municipal Ice and Snow Association has more than 80 members, and skating and skiing clubs have also sprung up in various districts of the city.
Caption: In the curling hall of Luwan Junior Sports School in Huangpu District, primary school students are experiencing curling lessons.
In terms of competitive talent training, before the Beijing Winter Olympics, Huangpu Shengba Culture set up a short track speed skating team of more than 20 people, training in Heilongjiang and other places for many years, after years of investment and hard work, athlete Zhang Baihao not only achieved excellent results in the 14th Winter Games, but also won the gold medal in the 2000-meter mixed relay at the just-concluded Youth Olympic Games. After more than three years of hard work, the short track speed skating team jointly organized by Guojin Sports, Putuo Sports Bureau and the Municipal Ice and Snow Association won 2 silver and 2 bronze medals in the 14th National Winter Games.
The municipal and even national ski events held by the Snow Cool Club and the Jing'an District Ski Association in Hebei and Jilin have been held for many consecutive years, attracting young people from all over the country to participate and initially forming a district-level event brand. In the absence of staffing and the shortage of venues, Shencheng athletes still won 1 gold, 3 silver and 5 bronze medals in international competitions such as the Youth Olympic Games and the Youth World Cup, and won a total of 3 golds, 8 silvers and 3 bronzes in the 14th National Winter Games.
In the past five years, the city has held more than 5,000 ice and snow events at all levels, and top events such as the Shanghai Super Cup, the Short Track World Cup, and urban cross-country skiing have received wide attention at home and abroad. In the future, with the opening of more and more venues, ice and snow sports will continue to develop in Shanghai - the ice and snow sports complex "Yaoxue" in Lingang will also be open to the public this year, and the future of ice and snow sports in Shanghai is promising. (Xinmin Evening News reporter Wang Zhiling).