With the 2025 Winter Asian Games being just around the corner, the Chinese short track speed skating team is doing final preparations.
After the ISU Short Track World Tour, the Chinese short track speed skating team has been training in Beijing to prepare for the 9th Asian Winter Games which will take place from Feb 7 to 14 in Harbin City, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province.
"The training for both team and individual events has been intensified during this period, particularly for the middle and long-distance races. While we have a strong advantage in the men's short-distance events, there will be two to three athletes from the same country in the semi-finals and finals, so we've also incorporated skills and tactics training. For the middle and long-distance events, we've arranged targeted training on leading, following, and overtaking," said Zhang Jing, coach of China's short track speed skating team.
According to the competition schedule, the first gold medal of the Asian Winter Games is likely to be decided on the morning of February 8, in the short track speed skating mixed team relay and freestyle skiing U-shaped venue skills event. At the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, the Chinese short track speed skating team claimed the first gold medal for the Chinese delegation in the mixed team relay event. Three years later, they aim to kick off the Games with another strong performance and gold medals for the delegation.
"The right time, the right place, and the right people. The competition will take place right at my doorstep, as my hometown is in northeast China. I hope the short track speed skating team can win the first gold medal of the Games. With our efforts, I hope we can be the first team to witness the raising of the national flag," said Fan Kexin, a Chinese short track speed skater.
In the men's events, the Chinese short track speed skating team has three Olympic champions—Liu Shaolin, Liu Shao'ang, and Lin Xiaojun—along with Li Wenlong, the Olympic silver medalist, strengthening the team's potential to win gold in both individual and relay events.
"Our goal is definitely the gold medal, and we are actively preparing for the competition. Personally, I focus more on the relay, but I also hope to make more progress in the individual events and aim to win medals, possibly even gold," said Li Wenlong.
According to the plan, the Chinese short track speed skating team departed for Harbin on Sunday, and the first short track speed skating event of the Asian Winter Games will take place on February 7.
The Games will have six sports, 11 disciplines, and 64 events. This marks the third time that the Games will be hosted in China, following the events in Harbin in 1996 and Changchun, the provincial capital of Jilin, in 2007.
China's short track speed skating team gearing up for Asian Winter Games
China's short track speed skating team gearing up for Asian Winter Games
