People's Daily Sydney, January 13 (Li Hanyue) Recently, Carol, CEO of the Australian Olympic Committee, and Jeff Lipschut, head of the Australian Winter Olympic delegation, were interviewed by People's Daily. In March 2019, Lipschutt traveled to China to visit the Beijing Winter Olympics venue and Olympic Village, praising the achievements of the venue facilities and construction, and he was excited about the scheduled holding of the Winter Olympics. Carroll also said that he is very much looking forward to seeing the venue of the Winter Olympics, and he believes that this will be a wonderful Winter Olympics.
Jeff Lipschut, head of the Australian Winter Olympic delegation, was interviewed by People's Daily News. Image source: Screenshot of the video interview
It is reported that many Australian athletes have visited Beijing, bobsleigh athletes and snowmobilists have visited in October 2021, and speed skaters and short track speed skaters have also visited the Beijing Winter Olympics in November 2021.
Yanqing National Alpine Ski Center. Image source: Screenshot of the video of the Promotional Video for the Beijing Winter Olympics
Lipshchut said all the Australian athletes who had visited China in the last four months were thrilled and "they felt the Olympic spirit there". Athletes who have never visited the venue are also full of yearning for the Beijing Winter Olympics, because it is their goal to compete in Olympic-level sports events.
In addition, Lipschut believes that high-speed rail is also a guarantee of the quality of the Winter Olympics. "In particular, the train from Beijing to Zhangjiakou can drive directly opposite the Olympic Village, which is unprecedented."
Lipschut also said that the venues and facilities of the Winter Olympics will not only provide an excellent competitive environment for the athletes of the Winter Olympics, but also bring convenience and benefits such as training opportunities for Chinese athletes, which will greatly improve the competitive strength of Chinese athletes in the next decade or so, and he believes that the Chinese team will become stronger in the future.
Talking about the biggest highlights of the Beijing Winter Olympic venues, Carroll said that the IOC attaches great importance to it and believes that the competition should be as carbon neutral as possible, and the Beijing Winter Olympic Organizing Committee has been working hard in this regard. A simple example is to use the venue of the Beijing Summer Olympics as the venue for the Winter Olympic Games, such as transforming the "Water Cube" into an "Ice Cube" to host curling competitions. Carroll sees this as a good demonstration of using an existing venue to race instead of building a brand new venue, saving a lot of materials and energy.
Lipschut also believes that the Beijing Winter Olympics Organizing Committee has done its best to create environmentally friendly and sustainable venues. "I knew that the ski jump in Beijing was transformed from a former steel mill."
Beijing Shougang Ski Jump. Image source: Screenshot of the video of the Promotional Video for the Beijing Winter Olympics