Zhang Zhiyuan's work The figures in this article are all provided by the interviewees
The Winter Olympics are imminent, this time the curling field will usher in a Shanghai ice maker Zhang Zhiyuan, this Friday will go to Beijing "Ice Cube" to join the Beijing Winter Olympics and Winter Paralympic Games Chinese ice master team, this is her first time to participate in the Winter Olympics, 27-year-old she is now a coach and ice maker of the Shanghai Curling Association, and the only female curling ice master in China.
Making "Freezing Points"
Curling venues require icemakers to hand-make them on cement floors. Spray paint, lay "base camp", water, fix ice, dot... Icemakers like Zhang Zhiyuan became builders of curling venues from scratch.
The curling track has a raised Xiaoice grain, which is the "freezing point" she wants to make, this process is also known as "playing", without this layer of freezing, 20 kg of curling, the athlete can not push the slide, which is part of her daily routine. Zhang Zhiyuan wants to make 1.5 cm of bottom ice, which is conducted through cold air and refrigeration to make the cement floor freeze. After that, she also had to spray white paint, draw lines, lay the base camp on the bottom ice, and finally raise the ice surface of about 4-5 centimeters, and the track was paved.
Zhang Zhiyuan told reporters that in the past, when she first touched curling, it was hand animation to go up, and people had to crouch on the ground to paint colors, which consumed physical strength, and now the laying method is very convenient.
Zhang Zhiyuan usually works in the curling hall of the Major Sports School in Xuhui District, Shanghai, and when the 4 standard tracks of the curling hall need to be "dotted", she will pick up half a box of treated pure water, pick up the sprinkler, arch her waist and swing the nozzle back and forth along the track, so that its water droplets are evenly sprinkled on the ice. Zhang Zhiyuan's left hand will hold the bucket behind him with his back, and the nozzle of his back hand will connect the pipe, and the arm and wrist will exert even force.
"Now the latest track is 45.72 meters long and 4.45 meters wide, the first time it takes cold water, it takes about 40 seconds, the second time is warm water, the length and width here refer to a track, in the Olympic games there are generally four tracks." Zhang Zhiyuan said that these videos may feel quite simple, but in the process of doing it, especially at the beginning of the line and laying the base camp, the size regulations are very strict, once the size is a problem, it will have an impact on the late competition athletes throwing pots and referee measurements.
Zhang Zhiyuan at work.
Prepare for the Winter Olympics
At the end of 2018, she set up a youth curling training team in Shanghai, and later became a coach and ice maker of the Shanghai Curling Association, and she was the only curling ice master with international qualifications in Shanghai. This time, she was outstanding for her foreign language ability, communication ability, work ability and other comprehensive aspects, plus she had the qualification certification of the World Curling Federation, and she entered the ice team of the Winter Olympics, "This may be a plus!" Zhang Zhiyuan said with a smile.
"I'm 27 years old, this is my first time participating in the Winter Olympics, and I'm still very young," she said in 2022, her first time in the Winter Olympics, having previously participated in European Championships, World Championships and so on. The curling project of the Beijing Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games was held in the Ice Cube, which was previously the Water Cube National Aquatics Center, and the swimming pool should be filled, and the ice water conversion may be realized in the future. She said that the curling competition in the ice cube is done according to the standards and materials of the Olympic Games, and different refrigeration equipment has to go through countless experiments, which will also increase the difficulty of the icemaker's work. On January 16, Zhang Zhiyuan entered the venue, and before February 1, she will deliver the ice making field.
Before each game, the icemaker fixes the ice, lays the foundation and adjusts the curling. Like the Olympic Games, curling is usually an electronic jug handle, and she will also think about some unexpected things in advance, so that it can be properly handled when encountered in the competition. "The lid on top of the curling will have two lights, the purpose of which is to be sensed by interacting with the induction magnetic strip in the line in front of the ice. If you go past the front and shoot outside the line, which is a foul in the rules, the pot will be removed. Zhang Zhiyuan thought that the lamp on the lid of the pot may have poor contact at any time during the game, and it is also likely that the contact will be bad because the curling will be impacted or touched by people manually. If this happens, the athlete will call the technology pause and the ice maker will need to go up and debug the board.
Before each training session and race, the ice master maintains each track. She would follow the daily routine of fixing the ice first, then laying the foundation, and then pushing off the bulge of the ice point. During this process she would stand behind the repair car and push it to each track. There are a total of three foreign ice makers in this Winter Olympics, and the Chinese team is about sixteen people in total.
Curling allows yourself to change for good
Zhang Zhiyuan was born in the northeast, studied curling since the age of fifteen or sixteen, and after graduating from undergraduate, she went to Loughborough University in the United Kingdom to study sports management, "In fact, it has nothing to do with curling, but I love curling very much and like the rules of curling competition." Zhang Zhiyuan said that in foreign countries, she came into contact with local clubs, including curling enthusiasts at Scottish clubs, and since then she has been exposed to ice-making work. She feels that the charm of curling itself is that it is a "gentleman's" sport, which is also very different from other sports.
Zhang Zhiyuan said that before curling starts the game, the two teams should shake hands and say "come on", and after the game, whether it is a normal end or admit defeat in advance, they must also shake hands and say "thank you". She felt that curling spirit and curling etiquette were very gentlemanly sports, and curling projects needed gentlemanly spirit.
But what made her love the sport from the bottom of her heart was that it could change her personality. Zhang Zhiyuan said that he used to be less introverted, and in the cooperation with others, he gradually became cheerful and lively.