Young skater with big dreams
During the summer vacation, Li Jiaying never stopped her daily skating training with her teammates at an indoor skating rink at the city's sports center in Qitaihe city, Heilongjiang province.
Li, 12, a member of the short-track speed team of the Qitaihe Children's Amateur Short-Track Speed Skating School began to learn skating during her third year at the primary school to fulfill her dream of becoming a professional short-track speed skaters.
Qitaihe, a city in the east of Heilongjiang, covered with snow throughout winter and where skiing and skating are very popular, has nurtured a number of world-renowned short-track speed skaters and has produced 12 world champions, including three Olympic gold medalists－China's first Winter Olympics gold medalist, Yang Yang; four-time Olympic champion Wang Meng; and Fan Kexin, who won the mixed team relay gold medal together with her teammates at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.
Athletes from the city have won 540 gold medals at national-level competitions and 177 golds at international-level competitions.
"Wang Meng and Fan Kexin are my idols," Li said. "I hope I can also achieve the same performance in the future."
