Opinion: One Man, a Poor Coal Mining Town, and 173 World Speed-Skating Titles

Going into this year, China had won about 20 gold medals in the Olympic Winter Games since it first joined in 1980. Seven of these medals were clinched by athletes born in Qitaihe, a poor, small town in the country’s Northeast, and all that can be traced back to an unsung hero who built it against all odds.

Two legendary Chinese Winter Olympic champions — Yang Yang, who bagged China’s first-ever gold medal, and Wang Meng, who won three gold medals at the 2006 Turin Games — are from Qitaihe.