Ordos athlete wins silver medal at Winter Olympics

Ordos’ skater, Li Jinyu, wins a silver medal at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics Games, on Feb 17. [Photo/vcg.com] 

Ordos’ star skater, Li Jinyu, won silver in the women’s 1,500 meters race, securing the first medal for China’s short track speed skating team, at Pyeongchang 2018, on Feb 17.

According to the Ordos sports authority, the 17-year-old girl represented the city of Ordos in the 2016 National Winter Games and won second place in the Women’s 1,500 meters race then as well.

The authority revealed that Li, who made her debut performance at the Winter Olympics, was not even a professional athlete a mere four years ago.

She was chosen to join the Olympics team at the very last moment, which turned out to be an excellent decision made by her coach Li Yan.

More remarkable yet, is how even though more seasoned athletes, such as Han Yutong and Zhou Yang, didn’t make it to the final but Li, the player who was the youngest and last in world rankings among all seven athletes in the finals, braved the pressure and made it to be the first runner-up.

“Even now, I am still not feeling any emotions or nervousness”, said Li, who was invited to the press area for an interview after the race.

“I didn’t feel any pressure and I think my performance today was a lot better than I expected”, she continued.

Her coach, Li Yan, commented positively, saying that she seemed to quite enjoy herself during the race.

When asked what her expectations for the future are, she said, “winning a gold medal in the next Winter Olympics”.

Li hugs her coach, Li Yan, after crossing the finishing line in second place. [Photo/ordosnews.com]

Li competes against other athletes at the short track speed skating competition. [Photo/vcg.com]