Chongqing- Despite being a city where it seldom snows, Chongqing has also seen an increasing interest in figure skating over recent years.
Figure skating was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games when contested at the 1908 Olympics in London. It is a sport where individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice.
The men's single skating free skating match of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics' Figure Skating event closed at the Capital Indoor Stadium on February 10.
In total, 24 athletes from all over the world competed together, demonstrating to worldwide audiences the unique charm of figure skating with their beautiful ice dancing, especially following the appearance of Jin Boyang of China, Hanyu Yuzuru of Japan, and Nathan Chen of the United States.
Chinese athletes Wang Shi Yue and Liu Xinyu are in the competition. (Xinhua photo)
Figure skating's great popularity
It is not the first time that figure skating has grabbed the headlines. Since Zhao Hongbo and Shen Xue won gold for pairs of figure skating at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada, there has been a growing public interest in figure skating in China.
"Unlike other winter sports, figure skating is a mix of culture and sport in essence," said Ke Ping, Director of Chongqing Winter Sports Management Center. "When athletes rotate and jump on the white ice to show the hardest techniques and moves, figure skating has been more than an ice sport and become a perfect mix of sport and culture."
Hanyu Yuzuru of Japan is in the competiton. (Xinhua photo)
The uniquely designed figure skating outfits are also one of the main reasons the sport can remain popular.
"Different from other events, the outfits of figure skating are a reflection of figure skaters' aesthetics and can show the unique culture of their countries to the world," said Ke.
Moreover, beautiful music also plays an essential role in the incredible popularity of figure skating.
"It's a sport that needs athletes to skate to beautiful music, so the choice of figure skating music is not an easy thing," said Ke.
For example, the Chinese athlete Jin Boyang skated to the music of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon in the Short Program, which makes worldwide audiences experience the profound and excellent traditional Chinese culture.
Bright future of Chongqing's figure skating
As one of the top international figure skating competitions, the Cup of China ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating was ever held in Chongqing for two years.
In addition, figure skating appeared at last year's 6th Chongqing Sports Meeting as an official event for the first time, attracting participants from nine districts and counties, including Chongqing High-tech Industrial Development Zone and Yongchuan District.
According to the data from Chongqing Winter Sports Management Center, there has been an increasing number of people participating in the sport in Chongqing as a series of competitions such as the Cup of China ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating were held in Chongqing and 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics was born in China.
Kamila Valieva from Russian Olympic Committee is in the competition. (Xinhua photo)
Improving the overall level of figure skating in Chongqing, Ke said Chongqing would continue to hold high-level international figure skating competitions such as the Cup of China ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, to make more people experience the unique charm of the sport while expanding the presence of the figure skating event in Chongqing Sports Meeting.
Meanwhile, Chongqing will make more efforts in training figure skating coaches. According to Ke, Chongqing will organize training classes for the figure skating event and invite famous figure skating coaches and referees as teachers to make Chongqing's figure skating competitions more professional.
"We will also utilize current facilities to hold different forms of activities, including online winter sports activity and figure skating winter camp to increase the sport's popularity," added Ke.
Chongqing will cooperate with Sichuan Winter Sports Project Management Center to offer a platform for figure skating enthusiasts in both places to compare notes and make winter sports thrive in Chongqing by organizing a series of invitational tournaments and open championships.