Chinese men's short track history 96 born world champion 10 nearly made history
Tencent Sports News: Beijing time on February 27, Vancouver Winter Olympics short track speed skating competition has all come to an end. Under the circumstance of being underrated by the outside world, they used their performance and unyielding spirit to announce to the world that the future of the Chinese men's short track speed skating team is bright！ Short-track speed skating in China has had a chequered history, from nothing to the world championships and Winter Olympic medals. From low points to be hopeful now again .
Short track speed skating was introduced to China in 1981. In February 1982. The first national short track speed skating training competition was held in Beijing Capital Stadium. Since 1983, it has been listed as the annual national competition and the official competition of the National Winter Games by the State Sports Commission. In 1985, the National Short Track Speed Skating Team was established. At this time, the Chinese short track team, especially the men's team, gradually appeared more and more in the international competition.
Short track speed skating became an official event at the 1992 Albertville Winter Olympics, but the Chinese men's team failed to make a mark.
In the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway, Li Jiajun appeared as a fledgling Olympic athlete but failed to win a medal.
In 1995, the National Short Track Speed Skating Team was established. The men's team consisted of Li Jiajun, An Yulong, Feng Kai, and Yuan Ye. In 1996, Li Jiajun of the Chinese men's team won the gold medal in men's 1,000m at the World Short Track Speed Skating Championships, which was also the first Chinese men's world champion in short track speed skating. In the same year, Li Jiajun won the men's 1000 meters gold medal at the Haag World Cup in the Netherlands.
In the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympic Games, Li Jiajun,the Chinese men's team player, was lost to Kim Dong-Sung of South Korea by 0.053 seconds and won the silver medal for the Chinese men's team, which made him the first man to win a medal in the history of the Chinese Winter Olympics. An Yulong, 17, also took silver in the men's 500m, while China's short-track men's team braved established rivals Canada and Italy to win bronze in the 5,000m relay.
In 1999, the Chinese men's short track speed skating team broke the world record of men's 5,000m relay with a time of 6 minutes, 56.289 seconds. In the same year, they won the world team championship of short track speed skating, which was the first world team championship acquired by the Chinese men's short track speed skating team. Li Jiajun won the 500m gold medal at the World Championships in Sofia this year, becoming the first Chinese athlete to win the men's all-around short track speed skating title.
Li Jiajun, from the Chinese men's team ,won a silver in the 1,500m and a bronze in the 5,000m relay in the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics.
At the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, the Chinese men won their first bronze medal in the 1,500m and finished fifth in the 5,000m relay and sixth in the 1,000m.
Since 2006, the Chinese men's short track team has fallen into a slump after its leading player Li Jiajun retired. But with the gradual integration of Li Yan with the team, the men's team gradually rose, and the also become more confident.
The Chinese team of Han Jialiang, Liu Xianwei, Song Weilong, and Sui Baoku won the men's 5,000m relay final at the World Short Track Speed Skating World Cup in Germany in February 2009. This is the first time in the new period that a Chinese men's team has won a world championship.
Liang Wenhao, a young athlete born in the 1990s, performed very well in the 1000m final at the Vancouver Winter Olympics in 2010. In the men's 5000 relay final, the Chinese men's team dropped from second place to third after a mistake in the final few meters. All this, however, has raised hopes for the Chinese men's team.
