A lot of talk in Olympic circles has, rightfully so, been about the will they/won't they regarding the upcoming Summer Games in Tokyo. But that isn't the only Olympics coming up. Just six months after Tokyo, the 2022 Winter Games begin in Beijing, which will become the first city ever to host both the Summer and Winter Olympics.
The Opening Ceremony of Beijing 2.0, which is one year from today, will be the earliest for a Winter Olympics since 1976. They'll also be the first Olympics to open before the Super Bowl. That may become unavoidable in the future if the NFL moves the Super Bowl back a week, but I'm curious to see how the two events taking place simultaneously will impact Olympic ratings. Now you know why NBC switched Super Bowl years to make sure it had both! (Although, the Olympics will be some pretty solid lead-in and lead-out programming for Super Bowl LV.)
Anyway, with the Olympics headed back to China, it's time to start thinking of who might possibly be lighting the cauldron in the Bird's Nest next February. You also have to wonder what they're gonna think of to top that dramatic spectacle they put on in 2008. The final torchbearer then was Li Ning, the gymnast who won six medals in 1984, when China made its return to the Olympic scene.
While China's Winter Olympic history isn't nearly as long, there are still plenty of candidates for that honor. The most obvious may be Ye Qiaobo, who was China's first-ever Winter Olympic medalist. She won two silvers in speed skating at the 1992 Games in Albertville and a bronze two years later in Lillehammer.
It's short track, not long track, speed skating where China has had its most Winter Olympic success. Not surprisingly, China's most decorated Winter Olympian is a short track speed skater. Wang Meng won six medals at the 2006 and 2010 Games, including three golds in Vancouver. She probably would've swept all four events if she hadn't crashed into the barrier in the 1500 final. It would be a shock if she's not among the final torch bearers, if not the last one.
Then there's the dynamic duo of Yang Yang (A) and Yang Yang (S), who confused the crap out of everyone while simultaneously members of the Chinese short track team at two Olympics. They both won five medals, too, and they actually went 1-3 in the 1000 meters at the Salt Lake City Games (as well as teaming up for silver in the relay). Yang Yang (A) finished with two gold, two silver and a bronze, while Yang Yang (S) earned four silver medals (three of them in Nagano) to go along with a pair of bronzes.
On the men's side, Li Jiajun is the most successful Chinese short track speed skater. He won five medals across three Games--a silver and a bronze in both Nagano and Salt Lake City, as well as a bronze in Torino. He was also a 12-time World Champion and has previously lit the cauldron at a major international winter sports event hosted by China, the 2007 Asian Winter Games.
Choosing an active athlete wouldn't be completely unprecedented, but it would still be a surprise. If they wanted to go with an active Winter Olympian, though, it could be another, you guessed it, short track speed skater. Zhou Yang is a three-time gold medalist who won back-to-back individual 1500-meter Olympic titles in Vancouver and Sochi. She was China's flag bearer in PyeongChang, but didn't medal in either of her events (although China did set an Olympic record in the semifinal of the relay).
Two active male short track speed skaters also figure to be medal contenders on home ice next year. Wu Dajing set a world record to win the 500 in PyeongChang, then added a silver in the relay. Han Tianyu, meanwhile, has an individual silver from Sochi and a pair of relay medals (one silver, one bronze) from the last two Winter Games.
Or maybe they'll try to appeal to the youth by choosing a 17-year-old freestyle skier. Eileen Gu is from San Francisco, but has a Chinese mother and competes for China. She could easily be the Face of the 2022 Games, and only partially because she's a model who's appeared in Paris and New York fashion weeks and graced the pages of the Chinese versions of all of the major magazines. Gu also won three medals at her first-ever X Games last week. She's the real deal. Also, look for the NBC feature on her at some point during the Games.
They most likely won't go that route. I have a feeling it'll be a figure skater. And Chinese figure skating makes me think of four names in particular. So, if I had to bet, I'd put my money on one of these four (actually, three, since two of them are a married couple).
First, there's the beautiful and elegant Chen Lu. In 1994, there was all that Nancy and Tonya drama. Nancy Kerrigan, of course, ended up winning silver behind Oksana Baiul. Chen won the bronze, China's first-ever Olympic figure skating medal. After winning the World Championship in 1995 and World Championships silver in 1996, she didn't even qualify for the long program in 1997. One year later, she was back in the Olympics and won her second straight bronze, holding off two Russians to join Tara Lipinski and Michelle Kwan on the podium, a fitting farewell to competition.
Shen Xue & Zhao Hongbo have their own beautiful story. They began skating together in 1992 and finished fifth in Nagano. In 1999, they won China's first-ever World Championships medal, a silver. They won bronze in Salt Lake City and their first of consecutive World titles later in 2002. Zhao tore his Achilles in 2005 and they didn't return to competition until just before the 2006 Games, yet, in Torino, won their second straight Olympic bronze. They won their third World title in 2007, retired and got married. Their retirement didn't last long. They returned for the 2009-10 season and capped their careers in Vancouver by becoming the first Chinese figure skating gold medalists in Olympic history.
Their coach was Yao Bin, a legend in his own right. And their gold medal was, in a way, a tribute to Yao, a man who has almost single-handedly turned China into a pairs skating powerhouse. A man whose legacy I can think of no better way to recognize than by giving him the ultimate honor.
Yao Bin and his partner, Luan Bo, were the first skaters to represent China at a World Championships. They finished an embarrassing last in 1980. Then again in 1981. Then again in 1982. They had another last-place finish at the 1984 Sarajevo Olympics, after which Yao dedicated his life to coaching. And he achieved his goal of turning China into a world-class figure skating nation. In 2004, he coached the pairs that finished second, third and fifth at the World Championships. Then at the Vancouver Olympics, his pairs finished first, second and fifth, with Shen & Zhao setting world records in the short program and total score.
As you can see, there are plenty of Chinese Winter Olympic champions to choose from when the cauldron is lit for the second Beijing Games in 14 years. Any one of these athletes would be an excellent selection, just as I'm sure there are others they have in mind who I haven't thought of. But I can think of no one who deserves the honor more than Yao Bin.
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