Hohhot, Feb. 21 (Xinhua) -- Despite an unexpected miss in the final round of the competition, Jia Zongyang, a Chinese freestyle skiing aerials star and silver medalist at the Beijing Winter Olympics, is still satisfied with his performance in the 14th Winter Games, and he still longs for the highest honor in the Winter Olympics.
After the Beijing Winter Olympics, Jia Zongyang entered a period of adjustment and did not resume training until April last year. "As we get older, it is really difficult to recover, and the recovery cycle becomes longer. Jia Zongyang said.
On February 19, Jia Zongyang, a player from the Liaoning team, was training before the game. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Wang Kaiyan After coming to Zhalantun, Jia Zongyang, who was affectionately called "Lao Jia" by his teammates, participated in the pre-game open training on the 19th, but did not participate in the training on the 20th. "I'm only about 50% back to my original state. ”
Jia Zongyang has never won the championship in the men's individual aerials competition in the Winter Games before, and he came to the arena early on the 21st, first on the sidelines of the women's event, seeing that his game is about to start, he is still relaxed and humorous when talking to Yan Ting of the Yunnan team.
Ting'er, you're skiing really well, but can you give me my coat back? I'm going up (to the top of the slope). Jia Zongyang's words made a burst of laughter from the cold and serious arena.
As the Beijing Winter Olympics champion Qi Guangpu retired due to injury, Jia Zongyang became the focus of attention in the men's competition.
In the first round of competition, Jia Zongyang completed the difficulty coefficient of 4The three-week platform action of the 4250 ended with 120 out of 11 contestants80 points temporarily ranked second. In the second round of the competition, he chose the difficult action of turning the body backwards straight somersault for a week, connecting the straight body somersault for a week, and then connecting the straight body somersault for a week, and also landed steadily and got 11097 points. According to the rules of the competition, he advanced to the six-man finals with the first jump of the two jumps, and started from the penultimate in the final duel.
On February 21, Jia Zongyang, a player of the Liaoning team, was in the game. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Mu Yu Before the start of the finals, the big screen on the scene showed that Chen Shuo of the Henan team, Li Tianma and Sun Jiaxu of the Jilin team all chose a difficulty coefficient as high as 5100 ultra-difficult moves, seeing Jia Zongyang's last slip of the difficulty coefficient is only 45250, people can't help but sweat for "Lao Jia".
Before Jia Zongyang came on the field, only Chen Shuo completed a perfect jump, and Li Tianma and Sun Jiaxu both made obvious mistakes when landing. As long as the soon-to-be-33-year-old doesn't make big mistakes, he could be on the podium.
It's a pity that at the critical moment, Jia Zongyang made a mistake when he landed, and he stumbled after landing. He stepped forward to shake hands with the young riders who had already finished the race, and then skipped to the other end of the circle.
At sunset, the Jinlong Mountain Ski Resort is cold.
On February 21, Liaoning player Jia Zongyang finished the game. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Yang Guanyu "Although I didn't win a medal, I think I performed okay today. Although there were mistakes in the final, the game was accidental, and I am still satisfied with myself. Jia Zongyang said.
When it comes to competing with players who are more than 10 years younger than him, Jia Zongyang said that it seems to bring him back to the state of mind of his youth. "Seeing the juniors growing up rapidly, I feel that they are very powerful. Through such competitions, it will be of great help to their growth and confidence. ”
On the 23rd, the freestyle skiing aerials event of the National Winter Games will start the competition for the open mixed team competition. Jia Zongyang said that he will also represent the Liaoning team in this competition. When it comes to the future, he said he will wait until the end of the season to make a decision.
Perhaps, as Chen Shuo, the young player who finally won the gold medal that day, said, winning the championship in this event requires the blessing of good luck. And good fortune seems to have never favored Jia Zongyang: in Sochi in 2014, he won a bronze medal at the Winter Olympics; In PyeongChang in 2018, he won a silver medal; In Beijing 2022, he failed to reach the finals in the individual event, making a mistake in the mixed team competition, and the Chinese team missed out on the gold medal ......
After the race on the 21st, the crowd quickly gathered for the podium at the bottom of the mountain, and the hustle and bustle of the snow field quickly returned to calm. The reporter met Jia Zongyang by chance and asked him if he still had a desire for a gold medal in the Winter Olympics.
He nodded, said "yes", and his eyes regained their light and brightness.
Participating in the writing: Wang Xuebing, Jiao Ziqi.