Zhang Hong's change to speed skating delivers golden glory

The gold medal victory of 25-year-old Zhang Hong has become a historic moment for China.

"It is an important gold medal for the country and we have been waiting for this for 22 years," said Xiao Yian, -deputy chief of China's Sochi Olympic team.

Xiao was particularly happy with Zhang's victory in the women's 1,000 meters speed-skating event, as it has been a long-coveted medal for China.

Since 1992, when Ye Qiaobo, a prestigious Chinese speed skater, won China's first Olympic speed skating medals, taking the silver in both the 500 meters and 1,000 meters, the nation began its long wait for its first gold. Few predicted that this mission would be achieved by such a young girl who had only been trained in speed skating for six years before she took the crown.

In fact, Zhang started her sports career as a short track skater, but coaches judged her too tall (1.74 meters) and not competitive enough to be a short track skater. Clutching at straws, in 2008, Zhang changed her event to speed skating. In six years, she won the first-ever speed skating Olympic gold medal for China.

Zhang's story is legendary but instructive.

The standard site for short track skating is a ring with a 111.12-meter circumference. During a race, multiple -skaters skate at the same time to compete. Due to the nature of the competition, physical collisions can't be avoided and larger -people are disadvantaged.

However, speed skating takes place in a ring with a 400--meter -circumference, which requires players to race in pairs and each one has to remain inside their own track.

After changing to speed skating, Zhang's weaknesses became her advantage. Her comparatively larger figure helped her make big slides and during a CCTV discussion, Feng Qinbo, Zhang's coach, said that although Zhang does not have an intensely competitive spirit, she has strong focus.

Some other athletes at Sochi have also changed events.

Xu Mengtao first trained as a gymnast, but when she found she was too tall at the age of 12 she changed to freestyle skiing and has since won silver for China.

Alexey Voevoda, the Russian bobsled winner, was first a successful professional arm--wrestler and won several Russian arm-wrestling championships, but taking part in bobsled made him a world well-known Olympian.

Ilhan Mansiz's story is also inspiring. As a retired Turkish soccer player he fell in love with figure skating when he was 33, so he strived hard for Sochi to be the only athlete to compete in both the soccer World Cup and the Olympic Games. -

Although he failed at the qualifiers, he said his dream would continue and he would struggle for the European Figure Skating Championships.