The National Bobsleigh Center is one of the venues of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, located in Xidazhuangke Village, Yanqing District, Beijing, and will host the Winter Olympic Bobsleigh, Bobsleigh and Steel Frame Bobsleigh Events, which is currently the first and only bobsleigh track in China that meets the standards of the Winter Olympics. Because it resembles a giant dragon hovering at the top of a mountain range, the Beijing Winter Olympic Organizing Committee also gave it a nice name - "Snow Dragon". It is the first bobsleigh track in China, the third in Asia and the seventeenth bobsleigh track in the world, with a total length of 1975 meters, a vertical drop of 121 meters and a total of 16 curves. Due to the low popularity of bobsleigh and toboggan sports in China, it was not until Beijing won the right to host the Winter Olympics that China gave birth to the first international-level track.
According to reports, the National Bobsleigh Center adopts the world's top track design, which is the new venue with the highest design difficulty, the greatest construction difficulty and the most complex construction process in the Beijing Winter Olympic Games competition venue project. The National Bobsleigh Centre completed the site selection of the track in February 2017, which lasted two and a half years, and completed the construction of the main project in November 2019. In March 2020, the National Bobsleigh Center successfully completed the ice making work on the track. In July 2021, the new track was officially put into operation. The National Bobsleigh Center is located in the southwest of the Yanqing Competition Area of the Beijing Winter Olympics, relying on Xiaohaituo Mountain at an altitude of more than 2,000 meters for construction. Its land area is 18.7 hectares and the construction area is 52,500 square meters.
The 1,975-metre-long track with U-slots for refrigeration supervisors is a long-line space hyperbolic panel shell structure that is covered by an awning of V-shaped steel columns, wooden beams and roofs. The track consists of 16 corners with different angles and inclinations, divided into 54 refrigeration units, with a total of 3 departure zones and 6 departure points. It is worth mentioning that the 11th bend is still the most distinctive 360-degree slalom in the world. The venue also includes several parts, including the departure area, operation area, end area and track. In terms of site selection, "Snow Dragon" fully considers several factors such as geographical location, traffic conditions, event progress and later venue utilization. The terrain around the mountain is relatively flat, and it is adjacent to the Alpine Ski Center, the Winter Olympic Village of Yanqing Racing Area and the Mountain News Center, so that the various Winter Olympic venues in the competition area can be connected together and improve the information linkage efficiency between each other.
On the whole, the topographic changes of the National Bobsleigh Center are more complicated, according to the relevant person in charge, from the high point of the north side of the race to the end of the south side, the height difference is about 150 meters. The highest point of the track is 1017 meters, the lowest point is 896 meters, and the fastest speed is 134.4 kilometers per hour. The departure area of the National Bobsleigh Center has a number of workshops, a sled unloading area, a preparation area, a departure extension area, a bobsleigh starting track, spectator stand stands, changing clothes, retail rooms, warm-up rooms, etc. In terms of the architectural style around the competition venue, the organizing committee used natural wooden beams, wooden tiles and stone cage walls to echo with the aluminum plates, curtain walls and steel of the competition track to create an integrated competition environment atmosphere for the athletes.
The shingle-shingled buildings showcase a quaint charm, while the exterior walls are made of aluminium panels and simple doors and windows. In terms of interior construction, wooden veneers and concrete floors give the entire building a look of age. The venues, tracks and surrounding buildings complement each other, creating a unique landscape for the National Bobsleigh Centre. The construction of the National Bobsleigh Center is in line with the simple, green and environmentally friendly Winter Olympic Games, while minimizing energy consumption, which is extremely rare in the history of previous Winter Olympics. In the end of the competition area, there is also an award ceremony display area, a loading and unloading area, an athlete medical station, an interview area, etc., which are mainly responsible for completing the relevant work after the competition. "Snow Dragon" is considered to be the most magnificent competition venue in the Beijing Winter Olympics, do you agree?
(Luo Treasurer)