Two-time Olympic silver medalist Li Nina, 31, came back from retirement to finish the fourth as well due to a failed landing in the women's freestyle skiing aerials final. But she stood up soon and gave smile to all the spectators despite an injury to the leg, which moved the world.
"They deserve respect no matter what results they got. They gave everything to realize their Olympic dreams," Deputy Director Xiao said.
Sports authorities are satisfied with the overall results.
"The results at the major events reflect the real level of China's winter sports," said China's sports head Liu Peng.
"All the 12 new events at the Sochi Games are favorites for the tradition winter sports powerhouses, so it was more difficult for China to compete with them. President Xi's words gave clear direction for China's sports. We will work hard to build China into a powerful sports country."
Bidding for Olympics
In November last year, Beijing and neighboring city Zhangjiakou in Hebei province announced a joint bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympics with Beijing to host events staged on ice, and Zhangjiakou, about 200 kilometers northwest of the capital, hosting snow events.
The bidding will benefit the development of the winter sports in China as well.
According to the plan, five ice sports will take place at the MasterCard Center in western downtown Beijing,.
The second venue cluster will be located in Yanqing county's Xiaohaituo Mountain area, about 90 km northwest of central Beijing. Temporary venues will be built for such sports as bobsleigh, luge, skeleton and alpine skiing.
Other skiing sports will be held in Zhangjiakou's Chongli county, about 220 km from central Beijing and 130 km from Xiaohaituo Mountain.
An intercity railway has been planned to connect the national capital and Zhangjiakou. It will only take about 40 minutes to travel between the cities after the railway becomes operational.
"Bidding for the Winter Games will boost the popularity of winter sports," Xiao said.
"China is a huge country but the development of winter sports still lags behind the summer sports. But the potential and sense of expectation to develop winter sports here is massive."
Related:
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