Say postponement is postponed Why is alpine skiing competition so "willful"

On February 6, a gust of wind blew on the National Alpine Ski Center circuit in Xiaohaituoshan, Yanqing, and the men's downhill race, which was originally scheduled to be held at 11 o'clock on the same day, was adjusted to 12 o'clock, 13 o'clock and 14 o'clock, and finally had to be postponed. After discussion, the referee committee decided that the match would start at 12:00 on February 7. As a result, alpine skiing, which appeared most frequently at the opening ceremony, was transformed on the first day of the competition.

On February 6, at the end of the alpine skiing speed track, a large screen showed that the men's downhill event was postponed. Xinhua News Agency reporter Lian Zhen took photos

The Winter Olympics is a world-class sports event, why is it that the scheduled competition is postponed?

In fact, almost all snow sports are limited by weather conditions, and weather changes such as fog, blizzards, winds or rainfall directly affect the course of the game, so there have been postponements. Rumor has it that a snow project that has not undergone an extension is incomplete. The fog at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics delayed the start of events such as the women's super slalom; at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, days of rain and temperatures made the snow muddy, and the men's slide and women's all-around were postponed.

The Beijing Winter Olympic Alpine SkiIng Competition was held in the Yanqing Division of Beijing, which belongs to the mountainous area of Beijing. The men's downhill race, also known as the "Flying Man War" on the snow, has a total length of about 3,000 meters, a drop of about 900 meters, and a maximum sliding speed of more than 140 kilometers per hour. In the words of one track technology official, when athletes passed in front of their eyes, "the snowboard scraped the snow and sounded like an airplane taking off". From the perspective of ensuring the safety of the players, the competition time is in the process of dynamic adjustment at all times.

The postponement was due to the chaotic wind direction on the day of the original match. If these situations occur in the "honey jump", it will give the event organizers a headache. "Honey Jump" is a jumping point on the "Rock" of the downhill track. Athletes will encounter it when they start from a starting point of nearly 2200 meters above sea level and slide to about halfway through. The jumping point refers to the area where the runner needs to take off, briefly take off, and then land on the ground to continue to slide due to the large slope and other reasons. These points are excellent to watch and are a favorite part of TV viewers, and the most exciting scenes in the snow "Trapeze Wars" take place here.

In order to ensure the safety and fairness of the competition, the entire competition must be carried out in a stable state of weather, ensuring that each athlete is not affected by unstable factors when sliding down. There are weather forecast stations at the beginning of the descent, all the jumps, and the end point, and there are weather forecast stations in all places where the weather may affect the safety of athletes, one set every three or four hundred meters, and the athletes will receive forecasts for these places every hour, and they will always pay attention to the weather conditions at these points.

The organizers of the event will reserve "alternate days" with reference to the experience of previous Winter Olympic Games, and select the date on which the original plan did not arrange the competition, in order to cope with the adjustment of the competition schedule. According to the provisions of the Fission International, the Referee Committee has the right to decide on the postponement, postponement or cancellation of the match. The Committee is an event decision-making body composed of Snow Federation officials and multinational (regional) professionals. The weather support team of the organizer of the event provides meteorological forecast products for it to provide services for determining the date of the competition.

After observing and judging the weather, the tournament's referee committee announced that the men's downhill match will be held at 12:00 on February 7.

Image source: Xinhua News Agency

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Organizer: Hebei Provincial Sports Bureau

Producer: Guo Lijun

Editor's proofreading: He Wanxuan