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Roll back the good times
By Xu Wenwen |
December 28, 2010, Tuesday
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Print Edition
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THE 1980s was the heyday for Hangzhou's inline speed skating athletes but the victories - and the team - soon vanished. Xu Wenwen discovers local efforts being made to revive the city's rolling success.
Inline speed skating, an event in which Hangzhou has won numerous medals in the past, is waning in the city because of limited support and facilities, but a non-governmental club is trying to change the situation.
Inline speed skating is similar to ice speed skating but the contestants race on inline roller skates (often called rollerblades after the popular trade name) rather than ice. The sport was introduced in China during the 1980s when only a few cities, including Hangzhou, had professional 150-meter circuits in accordance with the international standard.
That period was the golden age for Hangzhou's inline speed skating. The city produced four national champions, many city teams came to Hangzhou for intense training and in 1989, the Third Asian Roller Sport Championships was held at the city's professional circuit, Henghe Park Roller Skating Rink.
However, Hangzhou has never had a governmental team, and all of the honors were won by amateur roller-skating competitors. During the 1980s, the team was known as the Skating Team of Shangcheng District Bureau of Sports, today it goes by the name of the Hangzhou Speed Skating Club.
Wu Zhiqin used to be a member of the Skating Team of Hangzhou Shangcheng District Bureau of Sports and won several gold medals in different inline skating events. Today he is one of the coaches at the Hangzhou Speed Skating Club.
According to Wu, although the old team name sounds official, the team was only affiliated to the bureau and athletes got little subsidy from the government. Nevertheless, during the 1980s, the team represented Hangzhou in provincial contests and Zhejiang Province in national competitions.
Despite winning many honors for both the city and the province, the team disbanded in 1993 as there were too few young athletes coming in to replace those who were getting too old to compete.
"Little official support was the main reason," says Wu. "We were amateurs, and we didn't have to be that desperate."
So the once-prosperous team disappeared and inline skating in the city did not start to flourish again until 2003, when SARS hit China and the nationwide fitness program was propagated. At this time, skating became accepted as a cool sport by the young.
Taking advantage of the resurgence, Wu conceived the idea to start a new skating club in the city. Together with Liu Yan, an old athlete from the Heilongjiang Province Speed Skating Team, and Huang Hongxing, a merchant of inline skating equipment, the Hangzhou Speed Skating Club was established.
Like its predecessor, the team represents Hangzhou in inline speed skating events.
At first, the trio managed to recover the resplendence of Hangzhou's inline speed skating success. "Before 2008, 80 percent of gold medals in provincial speed skating competitions went to Hangzhou," says Liu Yan.
However, the situation has gone downhill in the past two years. "Today, the number of gold medals has declined to 20 percent," Liu says. "Mainly because neighboring cities in Zhejiang Province have better facilities than Hangzhou now."
In the 1990s, the distance of international standard circuit was extended to 200 meters, so Henghe Park's 150-meter rink was no longer a satisfactory training ground.
"Before 2008, when other cities in the province didn't have new circuits, Hangzhou still overwhelmed them. But in the past two years, several of them have got 200-meter racing tracks, so Hangzhou can't compete," says Liu.
"Plus, athletes get frustrated even if they win because they have to pay money for entry fees, accommodation and clothing. The cost is more than they receive in prize money as games only award medals and government rewards are small."
It is a dilemma. During vacations, an abundance of children and teenagers can be found skating on the streets of their neighborhoods. "The number of kids playing roller skating could be more than 10,000," estimates Liu.
And every year, hundreds of children come to learn roller skating at Hangzhou Speed Skating Club, yet only about 10 stay.
"To skate is fun, but to be an athlete is tough," says Huang Hongxing. "Today's kids are busy with their studies, and only kids who love inline speed skating stay."
As a result, despite having educated thousands of students in the past seven years, the club only has around 40 core team members, while "only a handful of athletes are capable of competing," says Huang.
"We hope the government could renovate the old Henghe Park rink to be a 200-meter circuit," says Liu. "It's awkward that previously, others would train in Hangzhou and now we have to train in their grounds."
Inline speed skating, an event in which Hangzhou has won numerous medals in the past, is waning in the city because of limited support and facilities, but a non-governmental club is trying to change the situation.
Inline speed skating is similar to ice speed skating but the contestants race on inline roller skates (often called rollerblades after the popular trade name) rather than ice. The sport was introduced in China during the 1980s when only a few cities, including Hangzhou, had professional 150-meter circuits in accordance with the international standard.
That period was the golden age for Hangzhou's inline speed skating. The city produced four national champions, many city teams came to Hangzhou for intense training and in 1989, the Third Asian Roller Sport Championships was held at the city's professional circuit, Henghe Park Roller Skating Rink.
However, Hangzhou has never had a governmental team, and all of the honors were won by amateur roller-skating competitors. During the 1980s, the team was known as the Skating Team of Shangcheng District Bureau of Sports, today it goes by the name of the Hangzhou Speed Skating Club.
Wu Zhiqin used to be a member of the Skating Team of Hangzhou Shangcheng District Bureau of Sports and won several gold medals in different inline skating events. Today he is one of the coaches at the Hangzhou Speed Skating Club.
According to Wu, although the old team name sounds official, the team was only affiliated to the bureau and athletes got little subsidy from the government. Nevertheless, during the 1980s, the team represented Hangzhou in provincial contests and Zhejiang Province in national competitions.
Despite winning many honors for both the city and the province, the team disbanded in 1993 as there were too few young athletes coming in to replace those who were getting too old to compete.
"Little official support was the main reason," says Wu. "We were amateurs, and we didn't have to be that desperate."
So the once-prosperous team disappeared and inline skating in the city did not start to flourish again until 2003, when SARS hit China and the nationwide fitness program was propagated. At this time, skating became accepted as a cool sport by the young.
Taking advantage of the resurgence, Wu conceived the idea to start a new skating club in the city. Together with Liu Yan, an old athlete from the Heilongjiang Province Speed Skating Team, and Huang Hongxing, a merchant of inline skating equipment, the Hangzhou Speed Skating Club was established.
Like its predecessor, the team represents Hangzhou in inline speed skating events.
At first, the trio managed to recover the resplendence of Hangzhou's inline speed skating success. "Before 2008, 80 percent of gold medals in provincial speed skating competitions went to Hangzhou," says Liu Yan.
However, the situation has gone downhill in the past two years. "Today, the number of gold medals has declined to 20 percent," Liu says. "Mainly because neighboring cities in Zhejiang Province have better facilities than Hangzhou now."
In the 1990s, the distance of international standard circuit was extended to 200 meters, so Henghe Park's 150-meter rink was no longer a satisfactory training ground.
"Before 2008, when other cities in the province didn't have new circuits, Hangzhou still overwhelmed them. But in the past two years, several of them have got 200-meter racing tracks, so Hangzhou can't compete," says Liu.
"Plus, athletes get frustrated even if they win because they have to pay money for entry fees, accommodation and clothing. The cost is more than they receive in prize money as games only award medals and government rewards are small."
It is a dilemma. During vacations, an abundance of children and teenagers can be found skating on the streets of their neighborhoods. "The number of kids playing roller skating could be more than 10,000," estimates Liu.
And every year, hundreds of children come to learn roller skating at Hangzhou Speed Skating Club, yet only about 10 stay.
"To skate is fun, but to be an athlete is tough," says Huang Hongxing. "Today's kids are busy with their studies, and only kids who love inline speed skating stay."
As a result, despite having educated thousands of students in the past seven years, the club only has around 40 core team members, while "only a handful of athletes are capable of competing," says Huang.
"We hope the government could renovate the old Henghe Park rink to be a 200-meter circuit," says Liu. "It's awkward that previously, others would train in Hangzhou and now we have to train in their grounds."
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