“I still remember the first day I stepped on the ice, I was able to stand up on the ice at my first try. The skates at that time were not made of carbon fiber like they are now, so they couldn’t support our ankles well,” said Yang Yang, China’s first Winter Olympics gold medalist, during her second visit to Fudan on April 25, sharing her stories with the students.
Brought up in a small county in Heilongjiang Province in the north of China, Yang said skating was the only extracurricular activity in her childhood. Her gift was quickly recognized by her coaches, and she was later admitted to a sports school, embarking on her career as a skater.
In 1984, Chinese shooter Xu Haifeng won China’s first Olympic gold medal, which planted a seed of aspiration in Yang’s heart. “I didn't know much about the world at that time, but I wondered if I could compete in an international competition one day.”
From then on, Yang made up her mind to learn ice skating. However, initially her choice did not win support from her parents who didn’t allow her to practice ice skating unless she could achieve excellent scores in school. Eventually, bringing home satisfactory transcripts, Yang started learning skating, and her skills improved very fast through intensive training.
As an athlete, Yang competed in three Winter Olympics, among which the Nagano Winter Olympics in 1998 was the most impressive one for her.
In 1997, she won the women’s all-around gold medal at the ISU World Cup Short Track Speed Skating in Japan, which made her have expectation of her performance in the upcoming Nagano Winter Olympics.
Therefore, when she failed in Nagano Winter Olympics in 1998, she was driven to despair. “We were all going for the gold medals.” Yang was already 24 that year, which means her physical strength could go downhill soon, so she was thinking about whether to compete in the next Winter Olympics.
“But escaping from difficulties makes me feel that I am a ‘loser’.” After more than a month of inner struggle, Yang chose to go all out for the championships at the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics in 2022. She began to sum up why she lost in the last game, and what could be done better in the following years.
In the 500-meter final at the Salt Lake City Winter Olympic Games in 2002, Yang won the first-ever Winter Olympics gold medal for China in 44.187 seconds.
After that, she chose to further her study both at home and abroad. Later she was summoned by the national team to prepare for the 2006 Turin Winter Olympics, where she earned a bronze medal in the Short-Track Speed Skating Women’s 1,000m, the last game in her professional career.
At the age of 31, the “queen on the ice” announced her retirement officially. During her brilliant career, she garnered 59 world champion titles in total.
“As athletes, we are always on the way, and even if we win this time, we still have to face the next challenge. The important thing is to always have a direction.”
Before retirement, Yang was elected as a member of the International Skating Union Athletes Commission and World Anti-Doping Agency. She was elected as a member of the International Olympic Committee after her retirement, playing an even more significant role on the international stage.
Taking up various duties in international organizations deepens Yang’s understanding of the power of sports. “‘Faster, Higher, Stronger’ is a famous motto for Olympics. I find that the comparative degree actually suggests a faster, higher and stronger self, rather than the comparison between oneself and others,” said Yang.
“When you encounter problems that you can’t solve, you might as well retreat from that for a while, and try to do something else. Maybe you will suddenly be enlightened, make a breakthrough and find the answer,” she said.
END
Presented by Fudan University Media Center
Writer: Wang Mengqi
Editor: Li Yijie
Designer: Jia Yingyue
