The reason behind the small delegation's preference for alpine skiing is...

On the evening of February 4, the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympic Games was held in a grand manner, and athletes from all over the world entered the stadium one after another. In the process of watching athletes enter the whole process, the most frequent competition is alpine skiing. Some countries or regions with a hot impression also sent delegations to participate. Most of these delegations had only one or two athletes, and almost all of them participated in alpine skiing.

So the question arises: why do delegations with fewer people prefer alpine skiing?

Alpine skiing

Alpine skiing, which originated in the Alpine region of Europe, is also known as "Alpine skiing" and was first included in the fourth Winter Olympics in 1936.

During the alpine skiing competition, athletes slide down the track set by the flag gate from the mountain to the mountain, combining strength, skill and speed, which is very ornamental, and is known as the "jewel in the crown of the Winter Olympics".

Alpine skiing is the closest sport for volkswagen to the Winter Olympics and is also a winter sport promoted by the International Olympic Organizing Committee. In the skiing category, alpine skiing and cross-country skiing are basic events, but they are more interesting than cross-country skiing, and the mass base is easier to develop and consolidate.

The Beijing Winter Olympic Alpine SkiIng Competition will be held at the National Alpine Ski Center in Yanqing, which will produce a total of 11 gold medals, including downhill, super giant slalom, giant slalom, slalom, all-around, mixed team competition, etc., with a total of 307 participants. A total of 83 countries qualified for alpine skiing, of which 16 countries sent only one person to compete, and the competition was alpine skiing. Austria and Switzerland won a full quota of 22 places, the Chinese delegation had 4 participants, and the five African countries were all alpine skiing "solo athletes".

There are many places to participate in the competition, and the threshold is relatively low, which greatly increases the number and scope of participants, and as long as the very low performance standard is met, it can be allocated to the participation quota.

According to the entry rules, the alpine skiing event of the Beijing Winter Olympics can have up to 306 players participating, and under certain circumstances, there will be a quota allocated.

In the alpine skiing event of the Beijing Winter Olympics, each country (representative team) has a maximum of 22 athletes, of which the maximum number of male and female athletes is 11, while a country can only send a maximum of 4 participants in a sport.

Specific to each country's allocation, the top 30 male (female) athletes in any Olympic points race will be assigned an additional female (male) athlete's place in their delegation, and if an athlete enters the top 30 in more than one event, or if two different athletes enter the top 30, they will receive an additional place.

In addition to the points race, the remaining Olympic seats will be generated according to the quota list of the Winter Olympic Games, with a maximum of 306 places.

In order to allow more countries to join the stage of the Winter Olympic Games, the International Olympic Committee has developed a relatively relaxed quota allocation system, so the number of athletes participating in alpine skiing is second only to collective sports such as ice hockey.

So the question arises again: if I have a short training time, but I get points in the global competition, and finally get the basic quota allocated by the International Olympic Committee, can I participate in all the alpine skiing events in the Winter Olympics?

The answer is: it's not that simple.

In the Beijing Winter Olympics, there are 10 sub-events in alpine skiing. Men and women are divided into downhill, super big slalom, big slalom, slalom and all-around. The all-around ratio is still downhill and slalom, so what forms the basis of the Alpine Skiing Winter Olympic Games is the four sub-events such as downhilling.

Alpine skiing is divided into two categories: speed and technical. Downhill and super giant slalom are called "speed projects", and large slaloms and slaloms are called "technical projects". Among them, the threshold for speed projects is still very high.

First, the training site is demanding

The FIA has high requirements for the venue of the speed event, characterized by a long track and a large drop. The men's downhill race has a track drop of at least 800 meters and a length of at least three kilometers, making it difficult to find a standard pistes to train. The speed track of the National Alpine Ski Center in Yanqing is the first track in China that meets the standards of the Winter Olympics. Without abundant mountain resources, even if it is cold enough, the mountains are not high enough, and the mountains are not large enough, it is impossible to build a snow path that meets the standards.

Second, speed projects are more dangerous

Engaged in alpine skiing speed events are difficult and dangerous, such as men's downhill competitions, the maximum speed of more than 140 kilometers per hour, people without training conditions, can not reach the speed of the Winter Olympics in a short period of time.

Therefore, for safety reasons, the FIA has higher requirements for the standard points for the speed events of the Winter Olympics than for technical events.

At the Beijing Winter Olympics, there were five delegations with only one athlete and that athlete participated in alpine skiing, and they all participated in the slalom and giant slalom competitions.

Although the economic and technical basis to support snow sports is higher than the "threshold" of many summer projects, for some economically underdeveloped or hot climate areas, participation in the Winter Olympics can only be achieved in a short period of time by naturalized athletes. However, this still has a tremendous spiritually encouraging effect. I hope that through the Beijing Winter Olympics, people can see the indomitable sportsmanship of ice and snow athletes, the pursuit of higher, faster, stronger and more united sportsmanship, but also let more people participate in ice and snow sports, through continuous tempering, shaping the quality of not afraid of difficulties, the courage to fight, to improve the physical fitness of the whole people, contribute to a force.

The image comes from the Internet

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Organizer: Hebei Provincial Sports Bureau

Producer: Guo Lijun

Editor's proofreading: He Wanxuan