By Sportswriter Xu Zheng
BEIJING, May 16 (Xinhua) -- It is a tradition for figure skating pairs to put the female athlete's name first. It was for this reason that Tong Jian, a Chinese Olympic medalist, put his partner Pang Qing's name first when naming his new figure skating arena, dubbing it the "Pang Qing/Tong Jian Arena."
This world champion figure skater is punctual each morning, arriving at 9:30 am in the newly opened arena located near Beijing's eastern 5th ring road. Tong handpicked his current team of 27 staff at the arena. These core members are also his most loyal fans. Attracted by his charisma, many are willing to lend their full support to Tong's career after his retirement from the competitive stage. His legal consultant even resigned from his job in Hong Kong and moved to Beijing full time in support of Tong's career.
"As you can imagine, a team with such passion and dedication represents not only efficiency, most importantly, getting results," Tong said.
A final performance during the Shanghai 2015 World Figure Skating Championships marked Tong and Pang's official farewell to their professional athletic career.
After that, Tong eased into the structure of business life quite smoothly. He first marketed a mobile application dedicated to providing users with everything and anything about the world of skating. It allowed users to book lessons, catch up on the latest news in the field, and provides professional instructions on things like form and technique.
"I've actually been wanting to do this since 2010," said Tong. "We've had an astonishing career, and now I want for this new project to introduce the greatness of skating to more and more people," Tong added.
According to Tong, he opened the rink in 2016 when the income reached around ten million yuan (about 1.45 million U.S. dollars), and he says that the first round of investments into the project is almost complete.
Despite his schedules that keeps him busy from 8mp to midnight, Tong takes an hour out of every day to skate to keep in shape. He also teaches private lessons, with all proceeds from his tutoring work going to charity.
However, no matter how busy he is, Tong always makes time for his family.
"Spending quality time with my family is very important to me. It is also during this time that I can unwind and relax," Tong said.
After putting his son to sleep, Tong spends the remaining hours of the day on another project: a touring ice show featuring figure skaters portraying different elements of Chinese culture.
"China has not yet seen an meaningful performance that showcases its culture in the form of figure skating. From the story line to music to the actual production I wish to create a production that incorporates Chinese elements and showcases them on a global stage
As if he wasn't busy enough, Tong is also finishing an EMBA at Peking University.
"I am at the stage of writing my thesis, and time is of the essence," he said.
When asked about why he decided to be in school after such astonishing career, this was his answer:
"I went to school wanting answers, not as a way to fill unused hours out of the day. I had strategized my business plan long before retirement, so going to school was of a given. There are so many things to be learned other than just theory...I wanted to broaden my perspective, to obtain and observe more of what is out there."
To help professional athletes prepare for life after sports, Tong's company has also joined the Chinese State General Administration of Sports in a policy support program to ensure reemployment opportunities for retired athletes.
"I am very fortunate to have what I have today, I am working hard so I can help more professional athletes to live to their fullest potential outside of the competitive world."
Although retirement is one of the few certainties in an athlete's career of athletes, Tong's story proves that, with the right planning and motivation, retirement can mean a new beginning rather than a definite end.
(Translated by Xu Xinyuan)
