15-year-old Lola Liang makes her international debut for Germany at the 2020 Youth Olympic Games.
photo: Vedran Galijas / justpictures.ch
Back in 1998 the movie “Run Lola Run” was a blockbuster of the German film industry that also made its way abroad. Franka Potente in her international breakthrough role as pink-haired Lola ran three periods of 20 minutes through Berlin to save her boyfriend’s life.
The name regained popularity for babies in those days and a few years later Lola Liang saw the light of the day in Frankfurt. The name seemed to suit well with the family name and also works in the Chinese language as her parents emigrated from China. And like in the action movie, Lola Liang didn’t waste any time to look for action as a child and now runs her three times 20 minutes on ice hockey skates.
It was in Beijing during family holidays when Lola Liang fell in love with ice hockey as a five-year-old.
“My parents wanted to go somewhere and sent me to the ice rink. I got skating lessons and saw the kids on the other side who played ice hockey,” Liang said. She also wanted to play that cool game. “When we were back in Frankfurt I started at the hockey school.”
The name regained popularity for babies in those days and a few years later Lola Liang saw the light of the day in Frankfurt. The name seemed to suit well with the family name and also works in the Chinese language as her parents emigrated from China. And like in the action movie, Lola Liang didn’t waste any time to look for action as a child and now runs her three times 20 minutes on ice hockey skates.
It was in Beijing during family holidays when Lola Liang fell in love with ice hockey as a five-year-old.
“My parents wanted to go somewhere and sent me to the ice rink. I got skating lessons and saw the kids on the other side who played ice hockey,” Liang said. She also wanted to play that cool game. “When we were back in Frankfurt I started at the hockey school.”
German forward Lola Liang on the bench at the 2020 Youth Olympic Games.
photo: Vedran Galijas / justpictures.ch
It’s not the first time Liang talks about her passion. Seven years ago, when she was eight years old, she was featured as “the girl with the puck” by Frankfurter Rundschau who fights it out against the boys. “When her whole body swings with these movements, she reminds a little bit on Lionel Messi: short, agile and crafted,” it reads in the article.
“I found it cool when I read it again. I was once also asked what I wanted to achieve and when I was eight I answered: ‘The Olympic Games!’ At that time I didn’t know what a hard path it is to get there but I’m on it and want to continue it,” she said.
The Olympic Games have remained the dream of Lola Liang, who grew up speaking Chinese with her mother and German with her father. At age 15 she knows that her chances of making it to Beijing 2022 are rather small but there will be other chances to make it when she’s older.
“The Youth Olympics are a step on the path to my goal of making the Olympics. That’s my really big goal but it’s not something I’m always thinking about every day, I’m focusing more on the here and now,” she said.
“I want to work every day and every year to get better and closer to that goal. I set myself small goals every day.”
Here and now, that’s the Youth Olympics in Lausanne where Germany started with a loss against defending champion Sweden with Liang on the first offensive line.
“It’s a special feeling to be here and to be able to represent my country. It’s something I achieved through all these years of playing ice hockey. It’s a good feeling,” she said.
“I found it cool when I read it again. I was once also asked what I wanted to achieve and when I was eight I answered: ‘The Olympic Games!’ At that time I didn’t know what a hard path it is to get there but I’m on it and want to continue it,” she said.
The Olympic Games have remained the dream of Lola Liang, who grew up speaking Chinese with her mother and German with her father. At age 15 she knows that her chances of making it to Beijing 2022 are rather small but there will be other chances to make it when she’s older.
“The Youth Olympics are a step on the path to my goal of making the Olympics. That’s my really big goal but it’s not something I’m always thinking about every day, I’m focusing more on the here and now,” she said.
“I want to work every day and every year to get better and closer to that goal. I set myself small goals every day.”
Here and now, that’s the Youth Olympics in Lausanne where Germany started with a loss against defending champion Sweden with Liang on the first offensive line.
“It’s a special feeling to be here and to be able to represent my country. It’s something I achieved through all these years of playing ice hockey. It’s a good feeling,” she said.
German forward Lola Liang is followed by Sweden’s Klara Kenttala.
photo: Vedran Galijas / justpictures.ch
Back home she spends most of the time with her youth club Lowen Frankfurt where she plays in the second-tier U17 boys league and has had four goals and five assists in 11 games.
“I mostly played with the boys’ U17 team in Frankfurt but also with the senior women’s team of the Mad Dogs Mannheim. If there’s a scheduling conflict I decide which game is better for my development,” she said. In the top women’s Bundesliga she has played nine games among women and collected one assist point. But at the moment she still spends more time in boys’ hockey in her hometown.
“I’m the only girl on the team but I’ve been doing that since I’m five, so it’s normal for me and it’s normal for my teammates,” she said, “but of course it’s quite a challenge to play against boys.”
Liang likes to spend her past time reading or watching in her room since she’s around people all the time in hockey and at school and thinks about her future.
“I’ve been thinking about it. Of course it would be cool to play abroad and study but I want to focus on my school right now. I would like to study law or otherwise if it doesn’t work out become a teacher,” she said.
But for now all she’s focused on is Lausanne 2020. Today at 17:00 Germany will play Slovakia for a spot in the semi-finals – a must-win game for both teams. Liang takes it day by day and is eager to add some more days of hockey in Lausanne.
“I mostly played with the boys’ U17 team in Frankfurt but also with the senior women’s team of the Mad Dogs Mannheim. If there’s a scheduling conflict I decide which game is better for my development,” she said. In the top women’s Bundesliga she has played nine games among women and collected one assist point. But at the moment she still spends more time in boys’ hockey in her hometown.
“I’m the only girl on the team but I’ve been doing that since I’m five, so it’s normal for me and it’s normal for my teammates,” she said, “but of course it’s quite a challenge to play against boys.”
Liang likes to spend her past time reading or watching in her room since she’s around people all the time in hockey and at school and thinks about her future.
“I’ve been thinking about it. Of course it would be cool to play abroad and study but I want to focus on my school right now. I would like to study law or otherwise if it doesn’t work out become a teacher,” she said.
But for now all she’s focused on is Lausanne 2020. Today at 17:00 Germany will play Slovakia for a spot in the semi-finals – a must-win game for both teams. Liang takes it day by day and is eager to add some more days of hockey in Lausanne.