Editor's note: On February 4, the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing will be unveiled, and Chinese Olympic athletes are currently stepping up their preparations for the excitement of the flame.
In Shanghai, which lacks ice and snow, the general public's understanding of the olympic sports of the Winter Olympic Games is certainly not as "handy" as that of the Summer Olympic Games. Jiefang Daily Shangguan News "Sports +" specially launched the "Beijing Winter Olympics Primer" science popularization column, taking everyone closer to the 7 major events, 15 sub-events and 109 sub-events of the Winter Olympic Games, and know the doorway of ice and snow sports.
As the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics approach, 12 competition venues, 28 non-competition venues and 3 training venues in Beijing, Zhangjiakou and Yanqing are welcoming the arrival of athletes and journalists with open arms.
From October to December 2021, the Beijing Winter Olympic Test Match, 8 competition venues in Beijing, Yanqing and Zhangjiakou, held a total of 10 international events, 3 international training weeks and 2 domestic test activities. The holding of test matches is not only a positive response to the provisions of the Olympic Charter that "the Winter Olympic Games must organize relevant test activities", but also an inspection of venues and facilities.
"Old" venues: the old looks are renewed
The 1976 Montreal Olympic games venues, the construction budget of up to 922 million US dollars, so that the host city saddled with heavy debt; the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, 2016 Rio Olympic Games some venues have not been effectively used after the game, with these lessons, many Olympic host cities not only fully consider the post-game use of new venues, but also through various methods to "activate" the old venues, saving money. Los Angeles, the host city of the 2028 Olympic Games, even put forward the slogan of "zero construction" of venues. Of course, cities at different stages of development have different considerations for hosting the Olympic Games.
Zhangjiakou Division, a group of Genting venues transformed from the existing venues Miyuan Genting Park, will undertake freestyle skiing and snowboarding at the Winter Olympics. After the race, such a snow field will continue to build a mountain-type tourist resort integrating sports, leisure, conference and vacation, and continue the mature commercial operation model.
"Medium" venues: venue reuse
After a gap of 14 years, Beijing will become the world's first "city of two Olympics". The Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games are the first Olympic Games to be fully planned and managed from the beginning of the preparations after the promulgation of the Olympic Agenda 2020. Beijing's Olympic heritage in terms of venues and infrastructure is very rich, and it is temporarily called a "medium" venue with a certain number of years. The Beijing Winter Olympics make full use of the Olympic legacy of the 2008 Summer Olympics, mainly concentrated in the Beijing division.
The "Olympic legacy" of these venues, some as competition venues and some as non-competition venues, continue to play a role in the Winter Olympics.
The "Water Cube" National Aquatics Center hosted swimming competitions during the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. Today, the "Water Cube" has been transformed into the "Ice Cube", realizing the world's first "ice water conversion" venue. The venue will undertake the curling event of the Winter Olympics, resulting in a total of 3 gold medals.
The National Stadium hosted gymnastics, trampoline, handball and wheelchair basketball at the 2008 Summer Olympics, and will host ice hockey events during the Winter Olympics. After the games, the National Stadium retained the ice rink as an Olympic legacy, helping the development of the ice project of the National Stadium, and the venue also has a conversion function for various non-ice events.
Wukesong Sports Center is the first stadium in China to have a double home for ice baskets, which adopts the integrated design of cold and heat supply to recycle the cooling waste heat and realize the transfer between the 6-hour ice hockey court and the basketball court. In 2008, Yao Ming led the Chinese men's basketball team to break through from the death squad here, and this year the venue will serve as an ice hockey arena for the Winter Olympics.
At the non-competition venues, the National Stadium "Bird's Nest" will once again host the opening and closing ceremonies of the Winter Olympic Games. It is reported that bird's nest has improved a total of 37 sub-items in four aspects, such as the barrier-free facility system, landscape lighting system, audience service facility system and other facilities and equipment systems of the venue, highlighting the green, intelligent and humanized characteristics to meet the needs of sustainable development. The National Convention Center continues to be used as the main press center and the international broadcasting center.
"Blue" venue: a new landscape for the Olympic Games
Because some of the Winter Olympics projects require specific venues, Beijing and Zhangjiakou have built a number of new venues.
Shougang Ski Jump, the only snow sports venue in the central urban area of the Beijing Winter Olympics, is the first competition venue in the history of the Winter Olympics to be combined with industrial heritage and reused, and the world's first permanently retained and used big jump venue. During the Winter Olympics, the Shougang Ski Jump will be held in the freestyle and snowboard jumping competitions, resulting in 4 gold medals.
The National Speed Skating Hall "Ice Ribbon" is the iconic venue in Beijing and the only newly built ice competition venue. "Ice Ribbon" is the first speed skating venue in the history of the Winter Olympics to use carbon dioxide as a refrigerant, and its carbon emission value is close to zero, which is currently the world's most advanced and environmentally friendly ice-making technology. At this Winter Olympics, the "Ice Ribbon" will undertake the competition in the skating project, resulting in 14 gold medals.
The two competition venues in Yanqing are newly built, because there were no similar high-standard venues in China before. The National Alpine Ski Center has a total of 7 tracks, which is the only track in China that meets the standards of the Winter Olympics, and will produce 11 gold medals in alpine skiing. The track is the highest level of alpine skiing in the country, and in the future, under the premise of satisfying professional competitions and training, the area will be open to the public in winter.
The track of the National Bobsleigh Center, due to its large drops and many curves, has become a new competition venue with the most difficult design and construction and the most complex construction process for the Winter Olympics. It is currently the only track in China, the 3rd in Asia, and the 17th in the world that can host bobsleigh. 10 gold medals will be produced here.
In Zhangjiakou, the new National Cross-Country SkiIng Center, National Ski Jumping Center and National Biathlon Center are ancient poplar stadiums that will undertake cross-country skiing, ski jumping, biathlon and Nordic biathlon competitions. The National Ski Jumping Center "Snow Ruyi" will realize the dual utilization of "winter skiing and summer grass skiing".
At the beginning of the 21st century, the International Olympic Committee listed sustainable development as one of the three connotations of the Olympic spirit, and sustainable development management began to become the central link and important symbol of the preparations for the Winter Olympic Games. The Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics actively utilized the rich "heritage" resources of the 2008 Olympic Games in terms of venues, effectively controlled the cost of hosting the Olympic Games, optimized the allocation of resources, and planned the post-game utilization and development of new venues, which played a great supporting role in promoting the development of ice and snow sports in the mainland.
(The author Xu Ruixian is a 2021 master's student of Shanghai University of Sport, and Chen Guoqiang, associate professor of Shanghai University of Sport, also contributed to this article)
Column Editor-in-Chief: Chen Hua Text Editor: Chen Hua Title Image Source: Xinhua News Agency
文内插图：新华社 Source: Author: Ruixian Xu