How a trip to Australia turned a Chinese skater into a national hero and an Olympic icon

Among China's 1.4 billion people you'd be hard pressed to find a single one that doesn't adore Yang Yang.

In the same sport that made Stephen Bradbury famous in Australia, Yang Yang won China's maiden winter Olympic gold medal in short track speed skating at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games.

What followed was an incredible period of domination that has made Yang Yang one of the sport's all-time greats.

But a little-known aspect to her 13-year sporting career, with 6 consecutive world championship titles, 5 Olympic medals and 34 world cup titles, is that she might have had none of it without a soul-searching journey to Australia after 'bombing out' at her first Olympic Games in Nagano 1998.

«I lost in my first Olympics, and I was really disappointed,» Yang Yang told The Ticket.

Yang Yang's 'losing' was a silver medal in the 3000m relay.

Her description of it points to three things: The pressure the young skater was under, the blame she put on herself and the demands of a system that expected nothing short of victory.

«Of course, as an athlete you always worry about your future, and I started thinking about my future,» she said.

«I was trying to go abroad to understand a different culture and to learn English actually, to try to understand more about the world.»

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She knew a Chinese coach in Australia whom she made contact with.

Soon after the 22-year old Chinese, with some big decisions to make, was heading to Brisbane.

«I definitely learned something in Australia, I learned about passion from the athletes there,» she said.

«They are not only training, but they are also doing school, and working, and