by sportswriters Wang Chujie and Zhou Xin
CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- When the electronic scoreboard at the Cortina Sliding Centre froze at fourth place, the margin was painfully clear: 0.19 seconds from the podium.
For Chinese skeleton racer Chen Wenhao, however, this was not a race defined by what slipped away.
Over two days of competition from Thursday to Friday, the 29-year-old delivered four increasingly steady runs in the men's skeleton final. His times improved heat by heat, and he was one of only three athletes among the 24 finalists in the last two heats to break the 56-second mark twice.
In a field stacked with world-class contenders, Chen had stepped firmly into the sport's top tier.
"There are regrets in terms of the result," Chen said after the race. "But for me, it also feels like I've finally waited for this."
Born in 1996 in Shantou, south China's Guangdong Province - a coastal city where snow is a rarity - Chen did not grow up around winter sports. Before taking up skeleton, he was a track sprinter.
In October 2015, when China's national skeleton team was first assembled, Chen was among the inaugural group of recruits.
"At the beginning, I had no idea what this sport even was," he recalled. "The coach told me there was a chance to join the national team and go to Beijing to have a look. I didn't think much about it. I just went."
His first experience on an ice track, in Calgary, Canada, remains vivid.
"The coaches put huge protective gear on us and told us not to make any movements, just slide down and feel it," he said. "I was honestly terrified."
The narrow and winding ice track, the roaring wind, and the sensation of high speed were entirely different from the straight sprint lanes he was once familiar with. Gradually, though, he began to read the curves and understand the rhythm.
"Later I started to find it interesting," he said. "The more I slid, the more I wanted to slide."
Over the past decade, China's skeleton team has steadily risen, collecting breakthroughs on the international stage. Chen's name may not always command the brightest spotlight, but across the past four World Cup seasons, he has consistently ranked within the overall top 10.
Stability, patience and persistence became his way of staying on the track.
Yet his career has not been without setbacks. During the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics cycle, Chen failed to secure a competition spot and could only serve as an alternate. Missing out on his home Games marked one of the biggest disappointments of his career.
"I didn't do well enough in the Beijing cycle, and I wasn't selected," he said. "But from that moment on, I made up my mind - if I had another opportunity, I would make it back to the Olympics."
The four years leading to Milan were far from smooth. In the 2022-23 season, Chen reached a World Cup podium, but over the following two seasons, his form fluctuated.
"At almost every stop I wanted to be on the podium, even to win," he said. "But at almost every stop, I made big mistakes."
It was during those difficult stretches that he learned to steady his mindset and become more patient.
By the 2025-26 season, subtle changes had taken root. "I felt my competitive state was getting better and better this season," he said.
In Cortina, that progression was fully realized. For perhaps the first time in his 10-year skeleton career, Chen shut out the noise around him.
"This was the most focused competition I've had in ten years," he said. In previous races, he would always check the times of those who went before him. This time, he did not even know the gap between himself and the leader, concentrating solely on his own line and rhythm.
"Even if it were some 'Universe Cup,' I would still just be racing against the track," he joked afterwards.
Years on the international circuit have earned the outgoing Chen many friendships among other competitors, with South Korea's Jung Seung-gi expressing his admiration for Chen after the race.
"I have great respect for him," Jung said. "At the Beijing Winter Olympics, he didn't get the chance to compete. Today he performed very well. That was a very hard time for him, and he persevered."
Finishing fourth inevitably carries a trace of disappointment. "My goal was actually a medal," Chen said. "It's a pity not to have won one."
But when asked where this result stands in his career, his tone was calm. "I gave everything in all four runs. It's an answer to myself, and also a starting point," he said. "I feel like I've taken a big step forward." ■
