▲ On December 23, 2022, the Chinese Weightlifting Association announced to the public that the International Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) had informed weightlifting Olympic gold medalist Lv Xiaojun that his doping test result showed a positive for the offending substance and that he would be subject to a Provisional Suspension from December 20, pending the conclusion of the case.
Looking back at 2022, China's sports scene has been marked by both the glorious chapters of the Beijing Winter Olympics and the shadows of the Qatar World Cup at its conclusion: national soccer team head coach Li Tie faced an investigation, Olympic weightlifting champion Lv Xiao-jun was forced to take a break from competition due to a positive drug test, numerous snooker players were banned from the sport due to suspected match-fixing, and match-fixing in Guangdong's youth soccer tournaments was confirmed and dealt with. All of this seems to indicate that this big year for sports has both colorful and dramatic ups and downs.
1. Beijing Winter Olympics: "Chinese Interpretation" of Romantic Confidence
On the evening of February 4, the world focused on Beijing to experience the joy and passion brought by the Winter Olympics. From the countdown of 24 solar terms in the opening ceremony, to the Yellow River water coming from the sky, to the five rings breaking the ice and the twelve Chinese zodiac signs in the closing ceremony, every link shows the perfect combination of Chinese romance and modern technology. Beijing successfully hosted the "City of Two Olympics" event, the Chinese army in the 9 gold, 4 silver and 2 bronze in the brilliant performance of the single Winter Olympics gold and medal record, the field of Chinese athletes also showed confidence and grandeur: Valley Ailing's leap, Su Yiming's extreme challenge, short track speed skating five generals in the track of the bravery, Xu Mengtao's The national flag in the wind and snow, and the perfect curtain call of Fan Kexin and Sui Wenjing, Han Cong's pair skating, each of these moments lit up the light of faith of "Together to the Future".
2. China Women's Soccer: "China's Rebound" at the Asian Cup
The Asian Cup has always been an awkward existence for Chinese soccer: on the one hand, it is squeezed by large-scale comprehensive tournaments such as the Olympics and the World Cup, and on the other hand, due to factors such as military training, the participating teams tend to be second-tier lineups, resulting in a poor quality of matches.
However, the 2022 Women's Asian Cup has become a battle of shame for Chinese soccer: the Chinese men's football team has invested heavily but has not seen any results, and has even tried to improve its strength by naturalizing players, but the progress has been slow. Especially on the first day of the new year, the Chinese men's soccer team lost to the Vietnamese men's soccer team, which was called a national shame by the fans. The Chinese women's soccer team, on the other hand, is a bright spot, bearing the pain of the loss of the Tokyo Olympics alone in the midst of difficulties.
Against this backdrop, China's women's soccer team turned back South Korea 3-2 in the Asian Cup final to win its ninth Asian Cup trophy in history, returning to the top of Asia after 16 years, and restarting with a new...
