BEIJING -- "It takes 10 years to forge a perfect sword." The line, from an ancient Chinese poem, was quoted by President Xi Jinping to encourage Chinese athletes to prepare for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.

The poem by Jia Dao of the Tang Dynasty (618-907) draws an analogy between a swordsman's 10-year endeavor to sharpen a sword and the poet's own years of hard work to improve himself. It expressed the poet's desire to fulfill his aspiration of accomplishing something big through his talents.

When inspecting the preparations for the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games in January, Xi affirmed the hard work of athletes training for the Games.

By citing this line of ancient poetry, Xi encouraged athletes to do their best in the competition and strive for good results at the Games.

At the ongoing Games, athletes from across the world are competing to the best of their capacity after years of dedicated training. Their spirit of pursuing dreams and excelling themselves has gone far beyond medals, which is the best interpretation of sportsmanship and the Olympic motto of "Faster, Higher, Stronger - Together."

From China Daily