Gangneung, Korea, February 1, 2024: IOC Member and Olympic champion Zhang Hong of China believes Gangwon 2024 has produced a new generation of winter sports stars.
Zhang, who became China’s first speed skating champion when she won the 1000 metres gold medal at Sochi 2014, said the first Winter Youth Olympic Games in Asia had set the scene for the young athletes to go on and prosper.
“I competed here at the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018 and I had a true feeling of the young athletes and what it means to be here,” she said at an IOC press conference on Thursday.
“During the Youth Olympic Games, I met one of the coaches of the Chinese team and they were my teammate six years ago. I feel we are passing on the torch to the next generation.”
Zhang said that more than 300 athletes who had competed at the previous Winter YOG in Lausanne, Switzerland in 2020 had gone to participate in the Beijing Winter Olympics two years later.
“We can see new stars at Gangwon 2024 who will go on to be successful at the next Olympic Winter Games, Milano-Cortina 2026, and beyond. This is a new start from here,” she added.
Zhang said it was a special feeling to be at the Winter YOG on the 100-year anniversary of the first Olympic Winter Games on January 25, 1924, and added that many youngsters had taken up winter sports in China after her gold medal in Sochi 2014.
“In the build-up to the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022, 300 million people engaged in winter sports in China. This number is not only for China but for the world.
“My message to the young athletes is to enjoy yourself. Even if you lost or won, the Olympic values here are for life,” she said.