A History of the Olympic Winter Games in China 中国冬奥会之旅

青阳

The XIII Olympic Winter Games took place in Lake Placid， New York， United States of America， in 1980， which were the first Olympic Winter Games that the Chinese Olympic Committee （COC） participated in after being reinstated its legal status in the International Olympic Committee （IOC） in 1979. The COC sent 28 athletes to take part in 18 events in Skating， Skiing and Biathlon. The Chinese athletes who participate in the Olympic Winter Games for the first time lagged behind and failed to make it to the top six.

It was the second Olympic Winter Games for the Chinese delegation， which sent 37 athletes to take part in 26 events. Chinese Taipei also sent 14 athletes to join this edition of the Games. It was the first time that athletes from two sides of the strait participated in the Olympics together. In the women’s Slalom event of Alpine Skiing， Chinese skiers Jin Xuefei and Wang Guizhen came out the 19th and 20th. The Chinese team accomplished its goal of broadening its vision and training.

The XV Olympic Winter Games took place in Calgary， Canada， in 1988. China only sent a 20-people delegation to compete in 3 events that would produce 18 gold medals， namely Speed Skating， Figure Skating and Cross-country Skiing. Chinese athlete Li Yan captured gold in Women’s 1，000m Short-Track Speed Skating Performance and bronze in 500m and 1，500m.

Chinese athletes won three silver medals， ranking the 15th in the medal table. It was also the first time that China broke its zero-medal record after 12 years of hard work since its initial participation in the Olympic Winter Games in 1980. 34 Chinese athletes took part in 34 events in Skiing， Skating and Biathlon， and finally won three silver medals， among them female skater Ye Qiaobo captured silver medals in 500m and 1，000m Speed Skating despite her injury.

The IOC voted in 1986 to decide holding the Olympic Winter Games two years after the Games of the Olympiad. To be in line with the decision， the XVII Olympic Winter Games took place in Lillehammer， Norway， in 1994， which were two years after the Olympic Winter Games in Albertville， France， 1992. They were the only two editions of the Olympic Games to be two years apart. China sent 27 athletes， among whom 19 were female， to take part in Speed Skating， Short-track Speed Skating， Figure Skating， Biathlon and Freestyle Skiing.

The XVIII Olympic Winter Games took place in Nagano， Japan， in 1998. The Chinese delegation participated in 4 sports， namely Skating， Ice Hockey， Skiing and Biathlon， and 40 events， including Short-track Speeding Skating， Speeding Skating， Women’s Ice Hockey， Figure Skating， Freestyle Skiing， Biathlon and Cross-country Skiing. The delegation achieved better results with 6 silver and 2 bronze. Although no gold medals were captured， the progress of the team was obvious to all.

The XIX Olympic Winter Games took place in Salt Lake City， Utah， United States， between 8-24 February 2002， with 78 events—10 more than the previous Nagano Games， which re-included Skeleton and added Women’s Bobsleigh， making it the edition with the most events in the history of the Olympic Winter Games. Chinese Short-track Speed Skater Yang Yang became the first Chinese athlete to win a gold medal at the Olympic Winter Games. The Chinese team acquired two gold， two silver and four bronze， ranking 13th in the medal table.

At the foot of the snow-capped Alps， the Olympic Flame for the XX Olympic Winter Games slowly went out. China sent 151 people， among whom 76 are athletes， including 36 and 40 male and female athletes. Although the team dropped a place， compared to the last Games， to be ranked the 14th， the overall medal count exceeded the pervious Games by 3， with a total of 11 medals comprising 2 gold， 4 silver and 5 bronze.

The Chinese team performed well at the XXI Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver， Canada， winning 11 medals， including 5 gold， 2 silver and 4 bronze. Wang Meng captured 3 gold in women’s 500m， 1，000m Short-track Speeding Skating and Relay. She also broke the world record to become the first Chinese athletes to have won three gold medals in a single edition of the Olympic Winter Games. The Chinese team therefore won all four gold from the Women’s Short-track Speed Skating.

The XXII Olympic Winter Games took place in Sochi， Russia， in 2014. The Chinese delegation won 3 gold， 4 silver and 2 bronze. When speed skater Zhang Hong captured the gold， she shattered the 34-year-old curse on the Chinese speed-skating team. Short-track speed skaters Li Jianrou and Zhou Yang also surprised fans and put behind them the injury of Wang Meng. Furthermore， eight of the Chinese medallists were born in the 90s， demonstrating the strength of the team in the future.

With 82 qualifying athletes， Team China competed in 55 events in five sports （12 disciplines） at PyeongChang 2018. The Games saw China make its Olympic debut in ski jumping Women’s K90 Individual （70M）， two-man and four-man bobsleigh， skeleton， women’s snowboard parallel giant slalom and freestyle skiing halfpipe. China collected 9 medals in five events： short track speed skating， figure skating， speed skating， freestyle aerials and snowboard halfpipe.

1980年，第13届冬奥会在美国纽约州普莱西德湖举行。这是中国奥委会自1979年恢复在国际奥委会合法席位后首次参与的冬季奥运会。中国奥委会派出28名运动员，参加了滑冰、滑雪和冬季两项的18个单项比赛。首次参赛的中国选手落后于世界先进水平，无人进入前六名。

这是中国代表团第二次参加冬奥会，共派出37名运动员参加了26个单项比赛。中国台北队也派出了14名运动员参加。这是海峡两岸的运动员首次共同参加奥运会。在高山滑雪女子小回转比赛中，中国选手金雪飞和王桂珍分别名列第19和第20。中国队实现了开阔眼界和锻炼队伍的目标。

1988年，第15届冬奥会在加拿大卡尔加里举行。中国仅派出20人的代表团参加3个大项18块金牌的角逐。这3个大项是速度滑冰、花样滑冰和越野滑雪。中国运动员李琰在女子短道速滑表演赛中夺得1000米的金牌、500米和1500米的铜牌。

中国选手共获得银牌3枚，在奖牌榜上位列第15。这也是中国自1980年首次参加冬奥会以来，经过12年的努力，终于实现了奖牌“零的突破”。中国运动员共有34人，参加了滑雪、滑冰和冬季两项34个小项的比赛，最终赢得了3枚银牌，其中女子速滑选手叶乔波带伤上阵，夺得500米和1000米两项的银牌。

1986年，国际奥委会投票决定，将冬季奥运会放到夏季奥运会之后举行，间隔两年。为遵照这一决定，1992年法国阿尔贝维尔冬奥会结束两年后，1994年在挪威利勒哈默尔举行了第17届冬奥会。这也是唯一间隔两年举办的两届奥运会。中国代表团派出27名运动员（其中女选手19名）参加了速度滑冰、短道速滑、花样滑冰、冬季两项和自由式滑雪的比赛。

1998年，第18届冬奥会在日本长野举行。中国代表团参加了滑冰、冰球、滑雪和冬季两项4个大项的比赛，包括短道速滑、速度滑冰、女子冰球、花样滑冰、自由式滑雪、冬季两项和越野滑雪共40个小项。中国代表团取得了较好的成绩，获得6银、2铜。虽然没能夺得金牌，但中国队的进步有目共睹。

2002年2月8日至24日，第19届冬奥会在美国犹他州盐湖城举行，共设78个小项的比赛，比上一届长野冬奥会多了10项，其中钢架雪车重新入选，并新加了女子雪车项目，使得该届冬奥会成为冬奥历史上比赛项目最多的一届。短道速滑运动员杨扬成为第一位赢得冬奥会金牌的中国运动员。中国队总共获得2金、2银和4铜，位列奖牌榜第13位。

在白雪覆蓋的阿尔卑斯山的山脚下，第20届冬奥会的圣火渐渐熄灭。中国体育代表团派出了151人的庞大队伍，其中运动员76人，包括男运动员36名、女运动员40名。中国队最终以2金、4银和5铜的成绩位列奖牌榜第14位——虽然位次比上届后退一位，但奖牌总数比上届多出3枚，达到11枚。

在第21届加拿大温哥华冬奥会上，中国队发挥出色，获得5金、2银和4铜，共11枚奖牌。王濛夺得短道速滑女子500米、1000米和接力3枚金牌。她还打破了世界纪录，成为首个单届冬奥会赢得3枚金牌的中国运动员。中国队也由此包揽了短道速滑女子项目全部4枚金牌。

2014年，第22届冬奥会在俄罗斯索契举行。中国代表团共赢得3金、4银和2铜。速滑运动员张虹夺得金牌，粉碎了中国速度滑冰队34年的无金魔咒。短道速滑运动员李坚柔和周洋也为冰迷带来惊喜，一扫王濛受伤带来的担心。此外，有8名奖牌获得者是90后，显示了团队未来的力量。

2018年平昌冬奥会，中国代表团共有82名运动员参与5个大项、12个分项、55个小项的角逐，中国选手在跳台滑雪女子标准台、男子四人雪车、男子双人雪车、男子钢架雪车、单板滑雪女子平行大回转和自由式滑雪男、女U型场地技巧共7个小项上第一次站上了冬奥赛场。最终斩获的9块奖牌来自短道速滑、花样滑冰、速度滑冰、自由式滑雪空中技巧、单板滑雪U型场地5个小项。

（英文选自北京2022年冬奥会和冬残奥会组织委员会网站www.beijing2022.cn）