In the final of the women's BMX freestyle park race at the Paris Olympics, China's Deng Yawen won the gold medal.
BMX freestyle became an official sport at the Tokyo Olympics, and the Chinese team did not qualify for the competition at that time. Deng Yawen's gold medal is a new breakthrough in Chinese sports, and it has also set off a boom in the learning of BMX projects in China. In the Tianjin Eco-City, the largest professional-grade urban pump park in North China has been built, and the number of visitors here this weekend is more than four times the original......
"It gives the whole industry a sense of proof"
"The Olympic gold medal of China's BMX has made more people pay attention to the BMX project, and more parents have begun to let their children try to enter this field of learning." On August 3, the first weekend after Deng Yawen's Olympic victory, the Eco-City's "Black Shark Pump Track Sports Park" welcomed many new and old students, some of whom even came from Beijing and Hebei.
Zhang Quan, a 31-year-old BMX instructor here, has been practicing BMX since he was 13 years old.
He recalled that when he was a child, he learned BMX completely independently, without the most basic practice venue, without a coach, so he could only learn from relevant foreign videos on the Internet, watching the action frame by frame, "completely out of love, I thought this project was cool, so I persevered."
Such a learning environment that he has no idea where to start has also taken a lot of detours, and 5 years of exploration is only equivalent to the learning efficiency of the next year of professional training. "My own learning experience may be the same as that of many children who love this program, even if they work hard, people around them will question, what is the use of learning this program to play in the end? Deng Yawen's championship gives our entire industry a sense of proof, and there are successful cases of taking the professional route! ”
Pain and glamour
Covering an area of about 8,000 square metres, the Eco-City's "Black Shark Pump Track Sports Park" features a standard track area, a freestyle track area, a beginner leap track area, an advanced leap track area, a bowl pool area, a BMX prop area and a basic teaching area, where players of all ages and skill levels can show off their skills.
Many people may not know that every angle of the ramp here is designed and constructed by the BMX instructors themselves.
Because the BMX project has really begun to be popularized in many places in China, it is a matter of the last two or three years, and the "Black Shark Pump Track Sports Park" was built in 2022, when there were few professional pump track construction units in China, Zhang Quan and other coaches personally started to build the venue, which is enough to witness the step-by-step efforts on the road to BMX popularization.
Liu Jiawei, who is also a BMX coach, is 25 years old this year, graduated from the School of Physical Education and Health of Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and has practiced track and field and badminton in the past.
As the coach of the pump track wheel owner here, Liu Jiawei has only studied this project for three years, but he has grown rapidly. "There are many kinds of BMX events, Deng Yawen won the championship in the freestyle BMX, and the actual Olympic Games also have racing BMX", Liu Jiawei is now focusing on racing BMX, which is more suitable for beginners.
At first, even if he was practicing on a field with a low slope, Liu Jiawei, who had just started, was still very nervous when he got into the car. "BMX bikes are meant to stand on pedals, without riding, and rely on the center of gravity of the body to drive the bike to glide on the ramp." At first, when he was downhill from the high point, Liu Jiawei couldn't control the car at all, and his hands were shaking.
What's more frightening is to be fallen, "you don't know how you will be fallen", once in the pump track turn, due to the fast speed of the car, there is fog in the field in the morning is more slippery, he turned over a circle and threw out the car together, and was stunned when he landed, "Fortunately, I brought a helmet and other protective gear, and my body was not injured, and I later knew that I had turned over and thrown out by looking back at the monitoring." ”
After practicing like this for half a year, he was able to ride down safely and smoothly on the pump track.
However, to achieve further breakthroughs in technology, more difficult maneuvers need to be made. At the beginning of the exercise, due to the lack of control of the distance, the front wheels of the BMX bike smashed directly on the second high point, and the huge impact caused his feet to slide directly off the pedals, and his butt slammed into the saddle, and even broke the saddle, "I didn't dare to try to fly again for a long time." ”
It takes a lot of courage to go from being frustrated to overcoming, which is also the charm of sports, and after being grounded for a while, he put on protective gear and forced himself to try. "Our senior BMX instructor told me that in order to control the car during the flight, someone should take the car and lift it up." The trick is easy to say, it is not easy to do, he tried repeatedly for three or four months, and finally made a leap to succeed! "During this period, I fell dozens of times, and once I couldn't pick up anything at my wrist, and after resting for more than half a month, my wrist still hurts."
More possibilities for BMX
Now, Liu Jiawei, who plays with the BMX of the pump track, has already begun to lead the students.
"The youngest of my trainees is more than 3 years old, and they have just learned to stand in the car." Over the years, more and more parents are willing to let their children exercise their courage earlier, "Of course, we will also let the children wear protective gear, and the coaches will stand at the corners that may be dangerous, just in case." In Liu Jiawei's view, children who are more courageous will learn faster, "If there are children who are timid, we will continue to encourage them until they try and succeed, which is the charm of sports." ”
With Deng Yawen's victory, the new and old students who came to study on site this weekend have more confidence in their children's future professional routes, "I originally just wanted my children to be braver and learn BMX, but now I see the successful cases of winning the Olympic Games, and I feel that if the children are talented, they can try to develop towards the professional route in the future." The parent of a 7-year-old boy told reporters.
In Liu Jiawei's view, they will also connect with professional teams to provide a better platform for children when they find good "seedlings", "However, in addition to taking the professional route, because many niche sports in the Olympic Games are being paid attention to by more people, and more people are willing to try, which is a good thing in itself, whether it is for physical and mental health to learn sports, or for future development, it is always a good thing to be accompanied by sports."
(Jinyun News reporter Zhang Heyang)