Speed Skating
Meet the speed skater taking on the stars of short track with his brother
A hatred of swimming took Shaolin Sándor Liu to his sporting passion via a Chinese athlete 'factory' and back home, becoming the world’s best short track speed skater in the process.
If the Liu brothers were a nation, they would have finished second at the recent World Short Track Speed Skating Championship behind the Netherlands.
Between them, they accounted for all three golds and all three silvers for Hungary and for Shaolin Sándor Liu it marked a second career world title, five years after his last.
Back home after the medal sweep, the 25-year-old spoke about a non-existent sibling rivalry, his unusual path to the top of the sport and his aims for TV stardom in China.
A gold medal is Liu's focus in the coming seasons
© Balazs Palfi/Red Bull Content Pool
A hatred of cold water turned him on to the ice
There's a certain sense of irony that Sándor Liu's dislike of cold water should take him to a frozen field of play in short track. Pushed into swimming by his parents in a bid to tire out their energetic two sons, he admits: "I didn’t like it. I had to wake up early and jump into cold water."
Their grandparents suggested football, but their mother preferred an individual sport and so they made the switch to the ice rink. "I'd never heard about speed skating and loved it, although I don't think we were very talented," he admits.
Freezing at -25°C in a Chinese college as a 15-year-old
An encounter with the Chinese short track team led to the brothers being invited to train in China for one-and-a-half years back in 2007. Liu recalls the training was hard: "they were just like machines – there are millions of skaters there and they want to build champions. It's like a factory."
However, that spell and a second stint taught him the tactics of racing and toughened him up for the rigours of the sport. On the second occasion he returned to China alone to stay in a college in minus -25°C temperatures in a bedroom where the window wouldn't close and he had to tape it up.
Dad always said it doesn't matter who gets the gold medal, but keep it in the family
The start of the Zhang dynasty
The brothers credit much of their success to their coach, Lin Zhang, who they'd worked with in China and then helped bring over to Hungary in 2012.
"We suggested her as she's super good, really strong," Liu recalled. The results quickly followed, as he became the first Hungarian in history to win the world junior title, European gold and a World Cup medal.
Squabbling over toys, but no more
Despite the high stakes of their sport, the rivalry from the two brothers is surprisingly low key. Recalling their upbringing, there were "small fights with each other over toys", but they were more like twins and "never competitive".
Wind the clock forward to now and little has changed. As Liu puts it: "My brother says, we've got brotherly love. I think we're selfless with each other. I'm more happy if he can succeed more than me. Dad always said it doesn't matter who gets the gold medal, but keep it in the family. So, everything we own we share it."
The perfect brother 1–2
The brothers enjoyed a double one–two at those recent Worlds, the older sibling getting the edge in the 1,000m.
Of sharing that podium with family, Liu added: "That was super nice. At competitions, we share a room together, we train together and do everything together – it's a really nice relationship, so, it's such a nice thing to share the podium together.”
In the past, when he's come back from a major championship with a medal, there has typically been celebrations, usually a meal out with the team. With a lockdown to return to at home this time, the partying has been somewhat muted. He said: "This time around, I stayed at home, washed all my clothes and tidied my apartment. It's different, but I’m quite happy."
Liu is likely to be one of the big stars of Beijing 2022
© Mark Somay/Red Bull Content Pool
I’m going for the gold but I won’t be upset if it doesn’t happen as I know I did everything
Being mobbed in Korea because of a camera wink
In Hungary, the Liu brothers are regularly noticed in the street because of their success watched by millions of their countrymen and women on television but, for the most part, they're left to their own devices by the public.
At PyeongChang 2018 it was a different matter. As Liu recalled: "Every final, I'd touch my eyebrows and wink at the camera and people loved it. I went from 5,000 followers on Instagram to 45,000 overnight. We went to a restaurant with my father and people recognised me and I had to run away. On the way to the airport we stopped for tea, but couldn't go anywhere for people jumping on us and wanting to hug us!"
The goal for TV stardom in China
Being of Chinese origin, the brothers are expected to be huge stars at Beijing 2022, an event that will be a home from home for the Hungarian duo, who are fluent in the language.
There's talk of moving out there for six months to a year to build a media profile. Despite shying away from fame at home, he admitted: "We would like to be famous worldwide. I want to be a TV star in China. That would be really good fun."
Before that, Liu has a major goal to achieve on the ice
In PyeongChang, Liu picked up a gold medal – a first for Hungary – in the team relay. This time, his sights are on an individual gold, the final medal to have eluded him at a major event.
“That’s my biggest goal,” he said. “I’m going for the gold, but I won’t be upset if it doesn’t happen as I know I did everything."
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