Outdoor ceremony brings China's National Winter Games to close in Xinjiang
Updated: 2016-01-30 16:10
(Xinhua)
|
|||||||||
URUMQI - A splendid outdoor ceremony at the Silk Road ski resort brought to close the 13th Chinese National Winter Games Saturday afternoon, which is an opportunity to help build interest in winter sport in the country's build-up to the 2022 Winter Olympics.
It is for the first time since the National Winter Games were launched in 1959 that the event has been held outside the northeast provinces of Jilin and Heilongjiang.
1,388 athletes spanning 52 delegations from across the world's most populous nation, including Hong Kong and Macao, competed in 97 events of five sports.
A total of 346 doping tests have been conducted until Friday, with none positive results reported, the organizers said.
This year's National Winter Games has provided opportunities for young athletes to gain experience on the road to Beijing 2022, with special events to be held for those aged 19 and under.
Zhang Hong, China's first Olympic champion in speed skating, claimed three gold medals in women's 500, 1,000 and 1,500 meters in Xinjiang.
Fan Kexin completed a golden double in short-track speedskating with victories in 500m and 1,500m. She also surpassed the previous 1,500m world record by more than half a second.
Two-time Olympic champion Zhou Yang won two gold medals as well, topping women's short track 1,000 meters in a national-record time and anchoring team Changchun to victory in the women's 3,000m relay.
Zhou aims for a hat-trick of Olympic titles in women's 1,500m in PyeongChang 2018. "I definitely want to win the 1,500m gold medal for the third straight time in PyeongChang," Zhou said after she won the event here. "No one has achieved the feat so far in winter sports."
Some events of speedskating, figure skating and aerial freestyle skiing were sold out, which reflects the rising enthusiasm of winter sports among the Chinese following Beijing's successful bid for the 2022 Winter Olympics.
The next National Winter Games will take place in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in 2020.
- Students must learn safety education, experts say
- 73 bodies recovered from rubble of Shenzhen landslide
- Chinese travelers lead 2015 global outbound tourism
- S Korea to issue 10-year visa to highly-educated Chinese tourists
- A glimpse of Spring Rush: little migrant birds on the way home
- Policy puts focus on genuine artistic students
- Negotiating political transition in Syria 'possible': Hollande
- At least three killed in light plane crashes in Australia
- BOJ further eases monetary policy, delays inflation target
- DPRK may have tested components of hydrogen bomb
- Goodwill sets tone at Wang, Kerry's briefing
- Obama picks new Afghan commander
- Djokovic puts down Federer fightback to reach final
- Treasures from Romania shine in Beijing museum
- First container train links China to Middle East
- 'Monkey King' performs dragon dance in underwater tunnel in Tianjin
- The odd but interesting life of a panda breeder
- Top 10 best selling cars on Chinese mainland 2015
- Warm memories in the cold winter
- The world's highest library
Most Viewed
Editor's Picks
8 highlights about V-day Parade |
Glimpses of Tibet: Plateaus, people and faith |
Chinese entrepreneurs remain optimistic despite economic downfall |
50th anniversary of Tibet autonomous region |
Tianjin explosions: Deaths, destruction and bravery |
Cinemas enjoy strong first half |
Today's Top News
National Art Museum showing 400 puppets in new exhibition
Finest Chinese porcelains expected to fetch over $28 million
Monkey portraits by Chinese ink painting masters
Beijing's movie fans in for new experience
Obama to deliver final State of the Union speech
Shooting rampage at US social services agency leaves 14 dead
Chinese bargain hunters are changing the retail game
Chinese president arrives in Turkey for G20 summit
US Weekly
Geared to go |
The place to be |