She is 20 years old; he is 23 years old. In her eyes, his stubborness/determination/dedication can be "foolish", but he is still a considerate big brother to her. In his eyes, her willingness to bear hardships shows how bold her heart is, yet she is intelligent.
Together they are a figure skating pair of China. Her name is Sui Wenjing; his name is Han Cong.
As athletes, training and competition have become part of their lives. They say that they are used to the sweat, even the pain and injuries, from training and competing; they feel that there is nothing much to it. However, they are not the same as their “seniors” in the sport; as a duo from the 90’s generation, they have their own views regarding the relationship between their sport and their career.
Dreams, in fact, also have individuality.
Wenjing says that the reason she engaged in figure skating is to realize her childhood dreams. When she first started, she trained in the singles division. Then, the coaches selected athletes and paired her up with Han Cong. “Although we went through a lot of stuff, both of us are still together until now.”
Because he is older, Han Cong is used to calling Sui Wenjing “Xiao Sui” (meaning Little Sui). “I’m 23 years old this year, that’s three years older than Xiao Sui. I can’t be considered as young anymore. Figure skating is more like a task to me than it is a career.”
Han Cong feels like his younger self was a little “stupid”. He didn’t know what “dreams/goals” were, but his parents and coach would unnoticeably instil into him what it means to have dreams. “My coach would ask me why I am skating and what am I skating for? Am I trying to provide my family with better living conditions? And when I’m older, do I want to able to tell my children that their father once did all these vigorous, amazing things?”
The skating duo thinks that they are vastly different from the “senior” generation. “We still started from scratch in this team-based sport. Life in a team-based sport is simple and it can be dull. What we can see/learn from our seniors has more or less affected us as well. There are skaters who are even younger than me, and when I retire from this sport, I want to leave a good impression on them and be a good role model,” said Han Cong. “Their dreams will be clearer to them, and the goals they strive to achieve will be more defined.”
As Han Cong belongs to the new generation, his personality is striking, he likes to take selfies, he spends much time on Weibo, and he likes to browse the pictures that his friends post on WeChat.
“Coming Chinese New Year we have plans for training, so we’re not going back to our hometowns. Being away from home and missing our family – this is how it always is during the holidays. I would call my mother, and she would send me photos of me when I was little. I’d share these photos on Weibo to let skating fans see what I looked like as a little girl,” said Wenjing.
But thank you anyways!
