Beijing, February 3, 2022 -- On February 4, 2022, on the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, Lichun, the main Olympic torch will be lit again in the Bird's Nest after 2008, beijing will become the world's first "double Olympic city", and the global eyes will once again focus on the East.
On July 31, 2015, along with the pronunciation of "Beijing" from the mouth of IOC President Bach, the members of the Beijing Winter Olympic bid delegation jumped up and the right to host the 24th Winter Olympic Games settled in China.
In the past seven years, China's Olympic ice and snow road has taken a firm step.
Looking back at the road ahead, the original intention is not lost. Looking forward to the future, the road is wide.
On July 31, 2015, IOC President Bach announced at the 128th Plenary Session of the International Olympic Committee that Beijing and Zhangjiakou had won the right to host the 2022 Winter Olympics. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Gong Lei
Benchmark in Beijing
Liu Xinghua, director of the Heritage Management Department of the Overall Planning Department of the Beijing Winter Olympics Organizing Committee, remembers that on the evening of August 8, 2008, he and his colleagues supported a TV in the warehouse and connected the antenna to watch the Olympic Games together. Colorful fireworks bloomed brilliantly over the bird's nest, and the Olympic fire was finally ignited in the ancient oriental country.
On February 4, the curtain will open on the opening ceremony of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics at the Bird's Nest.
"Each of us remembers that passionate event in the summer of 2008." Banka, president of the World Anti-Doping Agency, said: "The Beijing Olympics were a success and I believe the Winter Olympics will still show the same high level as in 2008. ”
The world is looking forward to Beijing. IOC President Bach said: "Beijing is fully committed to preparing for the Winter Olympic Games, the work is excellent, there is a witness, so that we can truly 'go to the future together' and work together to create a bright future of winter sports around the world." ”
From the Summer Olympics to the Winter Olympics, with the 14-year Olympic road, China has transformed from a conformist to the Olympic movement into a leader.
On July 13, 2001, at the 112th Plenary Session of the International Olympic Committee held in Moscow, Beijing won the right to host the 29th Summer Olympic Games in 2008 after two rounds of voting by IOC members. Xinhua News Agency
When Beijing bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympics, the modern Olympic movement, which has gone through more than 100 years of history, is facing the challenges brought about by the development of the times. Against the backdrop of rising costs, increasing doping abuse, and declining enthusiasm among young people to participate in sports in the Internet age, the IOC launched the Olympic Agenda 2020 with reforms around the themes of sustainable development, increasing credibility and attracting young people.
In November 2015, General Secretary Xi Jinping made important instructions on adhering to the green Olympic Games, sharing the Olympic Games, opening up the Olympic Games, and running the Olympic Games cleanly. The olympic concept of "green, shared, open and clean" not only coincides with the reform ideas of the Olympic Agenda 2020, but also highlights the deeper understanding and cognition of the Olympic Movement by the eastern powers that are striding to the center of the world stage.
Since the establishment of the Beijing Winter Olympic Organizing Committee at the end of 2015, along the general principles and general directions of the four Olympic concepts, the preparations for the Winter Olympics have been steadily advanced, and the results are obvious to all. In the second half of 2017, the construction of new competition venues and infrastructure for the Beijing Winter Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games began in an all-round way. In December 2017, the emblems of the Beijing Winter Olympics and the Winter Paralympic Games were officially unveiled at the National Aquatics Center "Water Cube". In September 2019, the Beijing Winter Olympic mascot "Ice Pier" and the Winter Paralympic Mascot "Snow Rongrong" were unveiled. In December 2019, the Beijing-Zhangjiakou high-speed railway was opened for operation. At the end of 2020, all 8 competition venues in Beijing for the Winter Olympics were completed. In October 2021, the Beijing Winter Olympics fire was collected in front of the Hera Temple in the Greek town of Ancient Olympia. In October 2021, medals for the Beijing Winter Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games were released...
On October 26, 2021, medals for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games were released in Beijing. Xinhua News Agency (Photo courtesy of Beijing Winter Olympics Organizing Committee)
On December 31, 2021, President Xi Jinping said in his 2022 New Year message: "In just over a month, the Beijing Winter Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games will open." Let more people participate in ice and snow sports, which is also the meaning of the Olympic movement. We will dedicate a grand Olympic event to the world. The world is looking forward to China, and China is ready. ”
In the process of preparing for the Beijing Winter Olympic games and the Winter Paralympic Games, the Olympic concept of "green, sharing, openness and integrity" runs through the whole process and sets a model for the world. All competition venues of the Beijing Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games will use 100% green electricity and practice the principle of sustainability; Chongli, a small town of the Winter Olympics, will withdraw from the ranks of poor counties in May 2019 and set up a model for promoting regional development with the ice and snow industry; the requirements for "simple, safe and wonderful" competitions will also be implemented in the preparation of the Winter Olympic Games, fully considering the needs of the event and the use of the game, and adhering to the principle of conservation.
Photographed on November 8, 2021, the Exhibition Hall of Prince Edward City ruins in Chongli District, Zhangjiakou City (bottom), Prince Edward Ice and Snow Town (top left) and Prince Edward High Speed Rail Station (top right). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Yang Shiyao
The efficient, orderly and excellent preparations of the Beijing Winter Olympics Organizing Committee left a deep impression on Bach. In the process of preparing for the Beijing Winter Olympics, he repeatedly praised the "Beijing Standard". "Beijing's preparations were efficient and frugal as possible under the Olympic Agenda 2020, while inheriting the Olympic spirit and respecting the athletes' experience," Bach said. Therefore, we are very confident that Beijing will set a new benchmark for the Olympic Agenda 2020. ”
Ice is strong and snow is strong
In 2017, Ni Yueming, a 22-year-old girl from Heilongjiang, stood at the starting point of the alpine skiing speed event for the first time. At her feet, there is a steep snow trail with a drop of nearly a kilometer.
Although he has been skiing since he was 10 years old, Ni Yueming has never been trained in alpine skiing speed sports such as downhill and super giant slalom. These events have a track drop of nearly 1,000 kilometers, a gliding speed of more than 100 kilometers per hour, and athletes have to complete it on an ice-like snow track with considerable hardness. Due to the short snow season and limited snow track conditions in China, almost no training and competition in these events has been carried out in the whole of China before.
The turning point of Ni Yueming's sports career began on that summer night in 2015. After the joy of the successful bid for the Winter Olympics, the pressure of China's ice and snow preparations followed.
Although China has won 13 gold medals in the history of the Winter Olympics, and the aces such as short track speed skating are at the world's leading level, the long-term problems of "ice strong and snow weak" and "ice and snow sports do not enter Shanhaiguan" reflect the structural and regional imbalance of China's winter sports development. About a third of the 109 sub-events at the Beijing Winter Olympics have never been carried out in China before, and many of the projects already carried out are far behind the world's advanced level.
2022 will become the node of the countdown in the hearts of China's ice and snowmen. They took the participation in the whole project and the best results in history as the goal of the battle, and determined the preparation strategy of "expanding the area, fixing the point, refining the troops, and sprinting".
On January 20, 2020, the 14th National Winter Games Alpine Skiing Speed Category Women's Super Giant Slalom Competition, Heilongjiang representative team player Ni Yueming in the competition. Xinhua News Agency (Photo by Ren Chao)
Ni Yue couldn't remember how many times he had seen the sunrise over the Alps and clouds at four o'clock in the morning. In 2017, the Chinese alpine skiing training team formed a speed group. Faced with this high-risk and difficult challenge, Ni Yueming and his teammates took the initiative to ask Miao to join. In order to extend the training time, the team went to the glacier snow field in Austria in the summer, got up at four o'clock every day, and went to the glacier at an altitude of more than 3,000 meters in the moonlight to train hard.
"In order to participate in the whole project and achieve a breakthrough in Alpine Skiing in China!" The players said.
In addition to alpine skiing, the Chinese team also widely selected talents and made up for shortcomings in backward sports such as snowmobiles, sledding, ski jumping, nordic biathlon, creating one first after another and achieving breakthroughs again and again.
As Chinese ice and snow athletes stride forward, the covid-19 pandemic has struck, bringing uncertainty and great challenges to the preparations. China's ice and snowmen have overcome many difficulties, some of them are dormant in China and sharpen their swords, and some of them go around the world to make up for shortcomings. In the 2021-2022 season, when the Chinese players fully returned to the international arena, their performance was surprising. The Ace Division Short Track Speed Skating Team maintained a strong team level in the World Cup series; speed skating stars Ning Zhongyan and Gao Tingyu refreshed their personal bests to lock the Olympic "ticket" in advance; in the latest figure skating pair skating world rankings, Sui Wenjing/Han Cong and Peng Cheng/Jin Yang were at the forefront. In the snow event, Gu Ailing and Cai Xuetong won the World Cup annual championship in their respective projects, and Xu Mengtao and Kong Fanyu won multiple sub-station championships...
On January 8, China's Gu Ailing (center) won the U-shaped field event at the Mammoth Mountain Station in the United States at the INTERNATIONAL SNOW FEDERATION Freestyle Skiing World Cup, and at the same time won the crystal ball symbolizing the overall championship of the project season with the result of four victories in the U-shaped field event of the World Cup this season. Xinhua News Agency (Photo by Li Yang)
The sword blade came out of the grinding, and the plum blossom fragrance came from the bitter cold. At the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, China participated in about half of the total. According to the newly announced list of Chinese Winter Olympic delegations, Chinese athletes will participate in all 7 major events and 15 sub-events of the Beijing Winter Olympic Games, achieving full participation in all disciplines and obtaining a total of 104 minor events and 194 seats.
The youngest of these competitors are 17-year-old male freestyle skier He Jinbo and women's ski jumper Peng Qingyue. Both entered the snow project through cross-border cross-border projects, and both stepped on the snowboard for the first time in 2018. Among the Chinese delegation, 131 athletes participated in the Winter Olympics for the first time, accounting for 74.43%. The average age of the athletes is only 25.2 years old, from all over the country, 17-year-old Peng Qingyue is a "tropical girl" born in Yunnan.
On December 4, 2021, at the award ceremony of the men's group of the 2021-2022 Snowboard Jumping World Cup in the United States, Su Yiming of China celebrated winning the championship. Xinhua News Agency (Photo by Li Yang)
Young faces bring vigor to China's ice and snow. Gu Ailing and Su Yiming have become a new generation of youth idols, adding heat to the snow projects that have attracted little attention in the past. The 18-year-old Gu Ailing frequently "goes out of the circle" with her beautiful appearance, excellent academic performance, and optimistic and cheerful personality. "No matter where you start, you can change the world." She has also brought encouragement and inspiration to countless young people.
From strong ice and weak snow to strong ice and strong snow, China's ice and snow Winter Olympic team has been assembled.
Share the fragrance
Zhang Jiahao, a pastry chef from Beijing, also has a dream of the Winter Olympics. At the age of 17, he first learned about skiing, and at the age of 26, he decided to participate in independent global competitions and compete in the Winter Olympics. In the South American continent, in order to find a snow field to train in warm weather, he once drove alone to "chase snow", and he worked as his own cook, driver, and physical trainer... Although he did not make it to the Winter Olympics in the end, he said: "The important thing is that this goal can motivate me to have such a strong motivation, to take me so far, this is the Olympic spirit I understand." ”
Zhang Jiahao's story has touched countless people. Driven by the Beijing Winter Olympics, there are countless such ice and snow seeds that have taken root and sprouted in the hearts of young people. The preparation and holding of the Beijing Winter Olympics has greatly stimulated the enthusiasm of the whole people for ice and snow, and also allowed ordinary people to benefit from the development of ice and snow sports and industries.
On September 8, 2021, Zhang Jiahao participated in the Chilean Big Jump at the La Parva Ski Resort near Santiago, the capital of Chile. Xinhua News Agency
Time back nearly eight years. During his invitation to attend the opening ceremony of the Sochi Winter Olympics in February 2014, President Xi Jinping told IOC President Bach: "In China, ice and snow sports do not enter Shanhaiguan. If the ice and snow project can be promoted in Guannei, it is expected to bring 200 million to 300 million people to participate, thus igniting the torch of China's ice and snow sports. In January 2015, when President Xi Jinping met with Prince Ahmed, President of the International Olympic Association and President of the Olympic Council of Asia, he said: "Beijing's hosting of the Winter Olympics will bring more than 300 million people in China to participate in ice and snow sports, which will be a great contribution to the development of the international Olympic movement." ”
In beijing's bid to host the Winter Olympics, China formally made a solemn commitment to the international community to "bring 300 million people to participate in ice and snow sports". Over the past few years, mass ice and snow sports have been popular all over the country.
In the village of Shanli in Zunhua City, Hebei Province, the village was encouraged by the upcoming Olympic Games, and a small ski resort was transformed in the village's remaining tailings, and the once isolated countryside was at the same frequency as the Winter Olympics, and ice and snow sports added more bright colors to the amateur life of the villagers. In Nanning, where there is little snowfall, children who love figure skating dance at the 2021 annual ice feast. From visiting high-level coaches in northern cities to performing on the ice rink in front of her home, the mother of a young athlete said: "We tell everyone with our actions that children in the south can also realize their dreams of ice and snow." ”
Ski enthusiasts ski at a ski resort in Zunhua City, Tangshan, Hebei Province, on December 26, 2021. Xinhua News Agency (Photo by Liu Mancang)
Luo Jun, director of the Public Ice and Snow Department of the Winter Games Center of the General Administration of Sport, introduced that after the success of Beijing's bid for the Winter Olympics, China has worked hard to overcome the obvious differences in the climate between the north and the south, the uneven distribution of ice and snow resources, and the imperfect facilities and services, etc., adhere to the people-centered approach, fully implement the strategy of "expanding from the south to the west" and "expanding the four seasons" of ice and snow sports, innovate and expand the supply of ice and snow sports products and services, improve the establishment of a popularization and promotion system for ice and snow sports, break the time and space limitations of ice and snow sports, and let the participants in ice and snow sports move from a small minority to the whole people. The participation space has moved from the region to the whole country, and the participation time has changed from winter to annual.
As of October 2021, the number of participants in ice and snow sports nationwide reached 346 million. IOC President Bach praised: "Ice and snow sports will thus become a global sport around the Beijing Winter Olympics. ”
More than six years of preparation, the results of the whole people share. In January this year, the Beijing Winter Olympic Organizing Committee released the "Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games Legacy Report Collection (2022)". The Beijing Winter Olympics have not yet been unveiled, leaving a valuable legacy in economic, social, cultural and regional development.
The National Speed Skating Hall, which stands near the Bird's Nest, is figuratively called the "Ice Ribbon" for its extremely fluid shape. As the only new ice competition venue for the Beijing Winter Olympics, this venue has included post-game utilization in the planning from the beginning of its design.
Night view of the National Speed Skating Hall. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhang Chenlin
"After the Winter Olympics, the 'Ice Ribbon' will focus on building a multi-functional ice and snow sports center that integrates the five functions of 'sports events, mass fitness, culture and leisure, exhibition and display, and social welfare', and become a new landmark for the people to experience a better life in winter." Ice Ribbon' is the largest full ice surface in Asia with nearly 12,000 square meters, and will become an ice paradise for citizens in the future. Yue Peng, chairman of the Beijing State-owned Assets Corporation, which is responsible for the investment and operation of the "Ice Ribbon", said, "People-centered has always been the concept of operation of Olympic venues. ”
"How can the venue be used by the people after the game, and the venue can also be operated for a long time, and it cannot be started to think after the game, but it must be thought from the beginning of the planning." Liu Xinghua said.
Liu Xinghua also participated in the preparation of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and is a veritable "double Olympic" worker. At one point in the summer of 2008, he had the idea of working for the Olympics until retirement. He said that the legacy left by the Olympic Games for Chinese society and people is like a seedling planted, not only for the bloom of this season, but to leave a long-lasting fragrance.
On the occasion of the opening of the Winter Olympics, Bach said: "China has achieved the goal of more than 300 million people engaged in ice and snow sports, which is an unprecedented great achievement, which will become a major contribution of the Winter Olympic Games to the Chinese people and the international Olympic movement, and will also open a new era of global ice and snow sports." ”
On September 17, 2021, the theme slogan of the Beijing Winter Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games "Together to the Future" was officially released. Photo by Ju Huanzong, Xinhua News Agency
Since Beijing's successful bid to host the Winter Olympics, the world has changed dramatically. The Cold War mentality has returned, local conflicts have risen one after another, and the new crown epidemic has made the world economy falter.
In the midst of the dilemma, the gathering under the five rings is like "a beam of light at the end of the tunnel". On February 4, the Beijing Winter Olympics will open as scheduled, which will be the first global comprehensive sports event to be held as scheduled since the outbreak of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, a successful practice of the new Olympic motto of "faster, higher, stronger - more united", which will provide athletes from all over the world with a stage for their day and night to exchange and compete, and will also promote peace and friendship around the world and rebuild the confidence of the international community under the epidemic.
Winding winter Olympic road, Yin Yin sports. Let us look forward to the upcoming Beijing Winter Olympics, witness the re-integration of the Olympic movement and ancient oriental civilization, wish the world's first "Double Olympic City" to hold another unparalleled Olympic event, and write a new chapter in the great process of building a sports power.
Written by: Wang Qinou, Wang Jingyu
Participating reporters: Liu Yang, Yue Ranran
Editors: Shuwen, Wu Bowen, Huang Xuguo, Ji Jiadong