【推荐2】The 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games are not only about heart-pounding sporting events, but also about countless heartwarming moments. They occur almost every day between athletes from different countries, athlete and volunteers, as well as athlete and audience’s, and have created a great sensation (轰动) online, with many saying it is moments such as these that make the Olympics so fascinating.

US snow boarder Tessa Maud did not win a place in the half pipe final, but went horn with many new Chinese fans. The 19- year-old became popular after sharing details of her stay in Beijing on TikTok, from hearing a volunteer shout “Welcome to China” at the opening ceremony to all the delicious food she ate.

In the videos recording her last day in China, Maud said she felt “so sad and (was) going to cry on the plane”. The videos got hundreds of comments of love and support from Chinese followers. “Lovely Tessa, you are ALWAYS welcome to come back here again,” one wrote.

On Feb. 8, freestyle skier Gu Ailing won the gold for China in the women’s freestyle big air, followed by Tess Ledeux of France and Switzerland’s Mathilde Gremaud. When Ledeux looked upset after her final jump, Gu and Gremaud rushed over to comfort her. The picture of three medalists (奖牌获得者) hugging quickly went widely online, with many saying it was the perfect display of Olympic friendship.

On social media, athlete have shared their experiences and feelings about the Games, ranging from being amazed by the Chinese technology at the Olympic Village food court, to feeling touched by the unique enthusiasm of the Chinese volunteers.

“Since the opening of the Winter Olympics in Beijing, there have been many little stories conveying warmth, friendship and unity,” Zhao Lijian, a spokesman of the Foreign Affairs Ministry, said at a news conference on Feb. 8. “All of term — the athlete, the volunteers and the audiences — have not only chosen to interpret the Olympic slogan — Faster, Higher, Stronger, Together — at competition venues, but also to develop friendships through interaction outside venues.” Zhao said, adding that “this is the beauty of the Olympics. Love unite because of the Beijing Winter Olympics”.

【推荐3】As a 30-year-old teacher at a sport college, Wang Shasha is now used to the praise from her fans for her freestyle soccer skills. The former soccer player now has over 230,000 fans on Douyin, the Chinese video-sharing platform run by TikTok’s parent company ByteDance.

Inspired by Chinese women’s soccer player Sun Wen, who was a captain in the national team, Wang fell in love with soccer and was encouraged to play it by her PE teacher when she was in the third grade. However, her mother didn’t support her. Wang managed to change her mom’s mind when her soccer skills helped her earn an offer from a top high school.

Just as Wang was ready to go into the national youth team, she was injured. “It was a difficult time for me. After thinking hard for almost a week, I decided to retire and go to college,” Wang said.

After graduation, Wang became a soccer teacher. To attract more teenage followers, Wang began to play freestyle soccer. She practises for three hours a day, and spends another three hours recording and editing short videos.

“Soccer is my best friend. Although it takes a lot of time to make the videos, my passion (热情) for the sport has driven me to keep at it,” Wang said. “Freestyle soccer is attractive to many young people so it can help promote (推广) the game.”

“I hope more and more young people, especially girls, will fall in love with soccer and seek a beautiful life through me sharing my story online,” Wang said.

【推荐1】Halfway through the women’s slalom event at the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia, 18-year-old Mikaela Shiffrin held a commanding lead over the greatest women’s slalom skiers in the world. On her final run, she burst from the start house at top speed, zigzagging around the poles. Suddenly, her left ski slid out, causing her to temporarily lose control. It seemed as if her dreams of a gold medal might slide down the mountain, out of her reach. But in the blink of an eye, Mikaela stopped her mini-skid and rocketed through the rest of her run. She became the youngest slalom skier ever to win an Olympic gold medal.

Skiing has always been a big part of Mikaela’s life. At two and a half years old, Mikaela made her first ski run down her steep driveway on plastic skis. From ages 8 to 11, she worked hard, repeating hundreds of training runs on small hills to learn the correct techniques. When Mikaela was 11, she enrolled at the Burke Mountain Academy, a Vermont boarding school for skiers.

According to headmaster Kirk Dwyer, “What separated Mikaela from others was the degree of her commitment to be the best. Mikaela practiced more than anyone and believed in herself then and now.” At age 14, Mikaela began her international career when she raced in the world championships for 13-and 14-year-olds. And she won! By the time she was 17, she had already won her first World Cup race.

For Mikaela, working hard is a full-time job. In the summer, when Mikaela is off the ski slopes and in the gym, her daily training consists of six to seven hours of weightlifting, core body work, and biking to improve her strength and agility.

“If you’re passionate about your goals, whatever they are,” she says, “there’s no limit to what you can achieve. Give it your all!”

【推荐2】Eric Moussambani is the first swimmer from Equatorial Guinea to compete in the Olympics. He found his passion for swimming shortly after high school. At the time, he didn’t know how to swim, but he knew it was a sport he wanted to pursue.

Unfortunately, there were no standard swimming pools in his country. Eventually, he found a hotel pool where he could only swim three hours a week. When he couldn’t use the pool, he trained in rivers and the sea, with the local fishermen guiding him on how to use his legs and arms.

After about eight months of swimming, Eric gained entry into the 2000 Summer Olympics through a program designed to encourage sports development in developing countries.

In Sydney, Eric saw an Olympic-size swimming pool for the first time. It was so big that Eric said he was so frightened to compete in it. In preparing for his event, Eric trained at the same time as the US team and took the opportunity to study their techniques closely. A South African coach gave him a pair of competition trunks (泳裤) and some goggles (护目镜), which were what he needed badly.

On September 19, 2000, Eric stepped out for the men’s 100m freestyle competition. With his two fellow competitors stopped from taking part for making false starts, Eric suddenly found himself racing on his own. “I swam the first 50m really well,” said Eric after the competition. “I focused all my energy on telling myself to keep going.” After turning for the second length, however, Eric began to pay for spending so much energy on the first. As his legs stiffened (变僵硬), he felt he was going nowhere. “It was then that I heard the crowd shouting, encouraging me to ‘Go, go, go’. It gave me the strength to make it to the end.”

Eric finished the race with a time of 1:52.72, the slowest recorded time in Olympic history. But the audience did not care. They cheered him as if he had broken the world record. To this day, Eric is still an Olympic hero.