生後１１か月、赤ちゃんスノーボーダーが話題に　中国

【崇礼ＡＦＰ＝時事】中国で、生後１１か月でまだ歩けない王予ジちゃんが、スノーボードに乗って滑走する様子を映した動画が大きな話題を呼んでいる。（写真は中国・張家口のスキー場でスノーボードに乗る王予ジちゃん）
　数か月後には北京冬季五輪の会場にもなる首都北京近郊のスキー場に、両親に連れられてやって来た予ジちゃんは、小さなブーツを履き、防寒着を重ね着している。
　両親が手を離すと、小さなボードに乗った予ジちゃんは、笑って腕も動かしながら、緩やかな斜面を滑らかに下っていく。
　スノーボードの初心者にとっては、倒れないように立つことさえ難しいが、予ジちゃんはどういうわけか自然に滑れるようになったと、両親は驚いている。
　予ジちゃんが初めてスノーボードに乗ったのは、家族旅行に出掛けた２週間前。
　一部の五輪競技の会場となる張家口にある太舞スキーリゾートで、予ジちゃんは毎朝、他の客に交じってスノーボードを楽しんだという。
　「もし怖がったり嫌がったりしたら、もちろん強制するつもりはなかった」という母親は、予ジちゃんをボードに乗せてみたところ「足をたたいて笑い始めたので、全く怖がらず楽しんでいると分かった」と語った。
　幼い予ジちゃんには、方向転換やスピード調整はできないため、障害物に向かえばすぐに抱き止められるよう、親が必ずそばに付き添っている。
　スノーボードに乗っていないときは、雪の上ではいはいをしたり、歩く練習をしたりしているという。
　父親は娘の才能を目の当たりにし、予ジちゃんが大きくなった時に自ら指導できるよう、プロのスノーボードコーチになるための講習を受けようと思っていると語った。
　予ジちゃんはインターネットで多くのファンを獲得。ソーシャルメディアでの動画再生回数は、数千万回に上っている。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】

〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2021/12/01-12:36）

At just 11 months old, Wang Yuji can't even walk, but she is already snowboarding and taking the slopes -- and the internet -- by storm.
The smallest of all the riders at a resort near Beijing, which is set to host the 2022 Winter Olympics in just a few months, Yuji is clipped into tiny boots by her parents and padded out with layers of protective clothing.
Once her parents let go, she swoops smoothly down the piste on her small board, giggling and flapping her arms.
Unlike many clumsy beginners who struggle to stay upright, her bemused parents say snowboarding somehow came naturally to their baby.
We put her in the shoes and realized she could bring herself to stand... then we brought her to a gentle slope and watched her slide down, squatting on the board by herself, Yuji's mother Fan Xueyin tells AFP.
Yuji's first attempt at snowboarding was only two weeks ago during a family holiday.
Each morning since then she has joined winter sports fans at the Thaiwoo Ski Resort in Chongli, Zhangjiakou -- one of the hosting cities for the Winter Olympics.
If she had been afraid or resisted, of course we wouldn't have made her do the sport, Fan adds.
But once on the board, she would pat her legs and start giggling, so we could tell that she's not afraid at all and is enjoying herself.
As Yuji is still too small to control her direction or speed, a nearby parent is always ready to snatch her if she veers towards an obstacle.
You're doing great! they call at her, jogging alongside their child.
- Boarding 'Beibei' -
Ahead of the Beijing Games, the government has been keen to promote winter sports, with huge construction of snow resorts leading to millions of fresh devotees.
Yuji's father Wang Shu is a new fan of the sport, having recently started to learn.
And after seeing his daughter's talent, he says he has been inspired to train as a professional snowboarding coach, so that he can teach her when she's older.
When not on the board, Yuji crawls about in the snow and is learning to take her first tentative steps independently.
The little prodigy, nicknamed Beibei (baby), has earned reams of internet fans and videos of her have garnered tens of millions of views on Chinese social media.
At the resort, she is immediately recognised by people who stop to take photos with her.
A lot of people are leaving messages like 'She's so talented and maybe can compete in the Winter Olympics in the future', Fan says, admitting it made her really think about it.
It would be great for her to bring glory to our country -- but she is still too young, she chuckles. We'll respect her own choices in the future.