Alpine skiing originated in Europe, also known as Alpine skiing, known as the "jewel in the crown of the Winter Olympics". In the fourth Winter Olympics in 1936, alpine skiing was listed as a competition for the first time, and the alpine skiing competition of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics will be held at the Yanqing National Alpine Ski Center, and the competition will gather more than 300 players to participate in the competition.
11 gold is generated in steep tracks
Olympic Winter Games
The Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics Alpine Skiing Competition will produce 11 gold medals, of which the men's and women's downhill, super big slalom, big slalom, slalom and all-around each have five sub-events, in addition to mixed team events. Although all the minor events are determined according to the finish time, according to the competitive characteristics of each minor event, the downhill and super big slalom are "speed events", and the big slalom and slalom are "technical items".
According to the "Final Edition of the Competition Schedule of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics" released a few days ago, alpine skiing has a total of 11 competition days, and one gold medal is generated every day. The first gold medal came from men's descent, with the winner coming on February 6 and the final mixed team gold medal coming on February 19.
Pyeongchang Winter Olympics Alpine Skiing Competition End Zone. Photo/ Lu Lin
In alpine skiing, competitors are challenged to steep tracks with the fastest speed of up to 150 km/h. Alpine skiing is one of the most weather-susceptible Winter Olympic events, temperature, wind speed, visibility all directly affect the athlete's technical performance, because the mountain weather is changeable, alpine skiing events are often postponed or cancelled. Sometimes alpine skiing competitions are held in heavy snow and fog, and athletes have to slide and turn at high speeds on a track with changing terrain under bad vision, and the difficulty can be imagined. In the face of unfamiliar tracks, athletes must muster courage every time they set off.
Finding the fastest route, taking risks and using technology correctly are just as important in the race. In technical events such as slalom and slalom, ski efficiency is paramount. Athletes need to keep the snowboard forward during the race, the calves are parallel, and the skis need to change sides frequently and quickly. At the same time, you also need to maintain balance and try to keep your body in the middle of the snowboard.
In the speed category, familiarity with the track is particularly important. One of the challenges for participants at this Winter Olympics was their unfamiliarity with the track – due to the pandemic, the yanqing National Alpine Ski Center's track failed to hold test matches.
Development pattern
The stars of the arena gathered and many countries made breakthroughs
As the crown jewel of the Winter Olympics, alpine skiing shows the essence and charm of skiing in the exquisite combination of speed and skill, and like the athletics and swimming of the Summer Olympic Games, the alpine skiing field of the Winter Olympics has always been full of stars.
The Czech Republic will send the largest ever Winter Olympic delegation to the Beijing Winter Olympics, the number of people is expected to exceed 130, of which alpine skier Estelle Ledetzka is the brightest star of the Czech Winter Olympic delegation, the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, Ledetzka won the snowboard parallel giant slalom and alpine skiing super giant slalom gold medals, becoming the first athlete in history to use two different equipment to win gold at the Winter Olympics. In the Super Slalom, Ledetska's biggest opponents will be Switzerland's Gut Behrami and Italy's Sofia Gogia.
Alpine skiing giant slalom competition. Photo: Xinhua News Agency
Born in 1995, Shifflin is the gold medalist of the Sochi Winter Olympics women's slalom and the women's giant slalom gold medalist at the Sochi Winter Olympics, and is the athlete with the largest number of World Cup sub-events among the active athletes. At the Beijing Winter Olympics, Shivlin's goal was to take a swipe at the record of Jenica Costridge winning four medals (including 3 golds) at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. In the men's competition, Switzerland's Marco Oudmatt is the favourite to win the big slalom event, and he has shown his dominance in the world cup of the event this season, in addition, Aldermatt also has the opportunity to compete for the title in the super giant slalom event.
Alpine skiing is not only a stage for top athletes to pick up pearls, but also a breakthrough for many countries to tie up the Winter Olympics.
Bolivia in South America will send two athletes, Brettfors and Glenlund, to participate in two events, alpine skiing and cross-country skiing at the Beijing Winter Olympics. Mauricio Belmont Birjan, chargé d'affaires plenipotentiary of the Embassy of Bolivia in China, said that although the attention of the Winter Olympics in South America is not very high, Bolivia's delegation to the Beijing Winter Olympics has released a clear signal that Bolivia fully supports Beijing's hosting of the 2022 Winter Olympics. "Ice and snow sports are relatively niche in Bolivia, and it is important for us to have athletes representIng Bolivia at the Beijing Winter Olympics."
Saudi Arabia will send two alpine skiers to the Beijing Winter Olympics, the first time ever that Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries have sent athletes to the Winter Olympics. Filling this historical gap is Saudi alpine skier Salman Al-Huwesh and Faik Abdi, according to an article on the official Twitter account of the Saudi Olympic Committee.
The current state of the continent
Show the brave demeanor to achieve full project participation
China's alpine skiing project has a thin foundation, but under the encouragement of the Beijing Winter Olympics, the project has achieved leapfrog development, and in the 11 sub-events of alpine skiing at the Beijing Winter Olympic Games, the Chinese team has achieved the Olympic standards of all the small events. The Chinese team will send two athletes, two men and two men, to participate in the alpine skiing competition, and they will also form a team to participate in the mixed team competition.
Combined with the results of previous Winter Olympic Games, the Chinese sports delegation gave people the impression of "ice is strong and snow is weak", alpine skiing is a basic event, we can only rely on the International Snow Federation allocated by the International Snow Federation to participate in 2 to 3 technical events in each place, and the results of the competition are relatively backward.
Alpine skier Kong Fanying (Image from personal social media)
In order to overcome the winter Olympics downhill, super big slalom, all-around three speed events qualifications, to achieve the goal of "full project participation", with the strong support of the Winter Games Center of the General Administration, the alpine skiing national training team in 2017 set up a speed project team, by the technical project players and the event, full impact on the slide, super big slalom, all-around Olympic qualifications. Alpine skiing technology athletes and speed events need to face great difficulties, need to constantly conquer the limits of speed and the extremes of the environment, so in the preparation cycle of the Beijing Winter Olympics, the athletes of the China Alpine Skiing National Training Team have to deal with the triple challenges of technology, physical fitness and psychology.
Our athletes bravely accepted this challenge and shouldered the burden of achieving "full-event participation" in the snow foundation event. In the process of preparing for the sprint, the team members experienced setbacks and faced bottlenecks, but everyone became more and more frustrated and courageous, firmly believed in tenacious struggle, and finally achieved the whole project.
Even in the process of finally competing for Olympic points, many of the events registered were cancelled due to weather and other reasons, and the competition plan was forced to adjust, the athletes could quickly adjust their mentality, cherish the few competition opportunities, always believe, adhere to, and persevere, and the competitive state was also continuously improved in the preparation, and finally realized the participation of the whole project.