Chinese Olympic champions urge public fitness drive amid pandemic

 Chinese Olympic gold medalists Xing Aowei and Zhou Yang encouraged the public to do more fitness training at a mass sports gala last Saturday in Xi'an, capital of Shaanxi Province.

   Xing, who was a member of China's victorious men's gymnastics team at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, used his social media channels to lead remote training sessions during the COVID-19 lockdown.

   "I think people should choose a fitness regime that is suitable for them, try to avoid injury, and diversify their fitness programs so that they can benefit from the training," Xing told Xinhua.

   Zhou, who scooped three Olympic golds in short track speed skating across the 2010 and 2014 Winter Olympics, trained with the Changchun team in China's northeastern Jilin Province during the pandemic, preparing for China's 14th National Winter Games which had been scheduled for January.

   "As the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics is approaching, more people are starting to take part in winter sports activities. I hope I can help winter sports to become more popular," Zhou said.

   "Actually, I love skiing very much, so it's a pity that I have to train or compete on ice every winter, because I have little time to ski," the 29-year-old lamented.