Chinese Winter Olympic champions Ning Zhongyan, Wang Xindi to play in football league
Speed skating history maker and aerials skiing ace will play for Harbin and Shenyang respectively in Northeast Super League
Chinese Olympic speed skating champion Ning Zhongyan is set to trade his blades for football boots, joining his hometown side Harbin to play in the 2026 Northeast China City Football League.
Ning, who won the 1,500m speed skating event at last month’s 2026 Winter Olympics, could face another gold medallist on the football pitch, with Milano-Cortina aerials skiing champion Wang Xindi also confirming his participation in the same tournament.
Ning, 26, will arrive for the amateur tournament, which runs from May to October, in peak athletic form, having experienced a historic winter.
Not only did he break the West’s 100-year stranglehold on the 1,500m, the Mudanjiang-born Ning also set a Games record of 1:41.98 at the Milano Speed Skating Stadium.
His win marked the first time since the event’s Olympic debut in Chamonix in 1924 that the title had not gone to a skater from the United States or Europe.
Ning also claimed bronze medals in the men’s 1,000m and the team pursuit at the Olympics before adding another bronze at the World Sprint Championships, which was part of the ISU Speed Skating World Championship in the Netherlands earlier this month.