Torch bearers Dinigeer Yilamujiang (left) and Zhao Jiawen set the torch into the Olympic cauldron during the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games at the National Stadium in Beijing, capital of China, on February 4. (Photos: Xinhua)

As the Olympic cauldron of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics ignited, illuminating every part of the snowflake design that comprises the torch platform, it also lit up Dinigeer Yilamujiang’s eyes.

She is one of two Generation Z Chinese athletes who carried the final torch directly to the Olympic cauldron. According to cave drawings, her hometown could be the prehistoric origin of the sport of skiing, and now she has realized her dream of taking part in the Winter Olympics.

Yilamujiang, 21, is a Uygur woman born in Altay prefecture of Northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

In 2005, a rock painting of her Altay Mountain ancestors walking on skis and holding single ski poles was discovered in Yilamujiang’s hometown. According to experts, it is estimated to date back about 10,000 years ago, or even earlier. Since then, Altay has been widely recognized as a possible birthplace of skiing.

In Xinjiang’s high mountains, the thick snow lasts for more than six months each year. The unique geographical and climatic conditions make the lives of residents’ inseparable from skiing. Starting in the 1980s, Altay prefecture has fostered many alpine skiers and cross-country skiers who compete for their motherland.

Yilamujiang’s father Miraji was a cross-country skier and won third place in a national cross-country skiing competition in 1993. In 2010, a 20-member youth cross-country skiing team was established in Altay prefecture, with Miraji assigned as the coach.

Yilamujiang was one of the three girls on the team. She has been training for cross-country skiing ever since.

The team’s training ground is in the mountains on the outskirts of the city, where the snow can be as deep as one meter.

In January 2012, at the 12th National Winter Games in Changchun, capital of Northeast China’s Jilin Province, Yilamujiang competed on behalf of Altay prefecture. After the race, she told her father that she hoped to become a professional athlete and stand on the podium. With the support of her father, she officially embarked on the road of professional skiing.

In 2015, the successful bid for the Beijing Winter Olympics ignited the enthusiasm of Chinese people to participate in winter sports, and also woke the engine for the rapid development of China’s winter sports economy. Due to its high-quality ice and snow resources, Yilamujiang’s hometown has become an international ski resort, and become a must-go in the hearts of many skiers at home and abroad.

As her hometown grew economically, Yilamujiang made progress, too. Her talent and hard work have gained her a spot on the national cross-country skiing team. She has performed well in three Junior World Championships (2019-21). She has two top-10 finishes in the 5-kilometer event (fifth in 2020, sixth in 2021).

In 2019, when she went to Norway for training with the national cross-country skiing team, she said that she hoped to “work hard to do my best and win glory for the country at the Beijing Winter Olympics.”

Her father, who accompanied her to train in Norway, was impressed by the tens of thousands of people who show up for amateur events there. He observed, “Only by encouraging more people to participate in winter sports will more talented athletes emerge.”

As of October 2021, the number of participants in winter sports in China reached 346 million, surpassing the goal set by President Xi Jinping to get “300 million people to participate in winter sports.”

At the Beijing Winter Olympics, the Chinese sports delegation sent its largest delegation ever. A total of 177 athletes will participate in all seven major events and 15 sub-events.

A father’s expectation has been fulfilled, and a daughter’s dream is in sight. Yilamujiang was selected for the Chinese sports delegation for the Beijing Winter Olympics. She competed in the women’s double pursuit event in cross-country skiing at the Beijing Winter Olympics on Saturday.

From prehistoric birthplace of skiing to Olympic cauldron of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, Yilamujiang’s pursuit of her dreams will not stop. The development of China’s winter sports also has a bright future ahead.

(Compiled by Dong Feng)