"The venue was perfect!" Swiss ski veteran: It is a great practice for China to make artificial snow with green resources

Swiss skier Nevin Galmarini is returning home from a nine-day trip to the Beijing Winter Olympics. On the 10th, In an exclusive interview with the Global Times reporter, Garmarini summed up the "China Trip" in this way: Participating in the Beijing Winter Olympics is a very good experience, which is an eternal and special memory! Hope to come back to China again!

Nevin Galmarini is a 35-year-old Swiss ski veteran who competed at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and won the silver medal and gold medal in the men's parallel giant slalom event at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics and the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, and the Beijing Winter Olympics is his fourth time at the Winter Olympics. However, Garmarini, who played as the defending champion, failed to qualify.

Garmarini told the Global Times reporter that after arriving in Beijing on the 2nd, he immediately entered the closed loop and came to the Winter Olympic Village in Zhangjiakou, where food, accommodation, transportation and other aspects were arranged very well. The food court here is home to European, Chinese and KFC. He ate the KFC Fried Chicken Burger, thought it was "not bad", and wanted to try other Chinese dishes.

Gamarini contracted COVID-19 in Switzerland in January and recovered from his recovery to participate in the Beijing Winter Olympics. There are voices outside that the closed-loop measures of the Beijing Winter Olympics are somewhat strict, and Garmarini said, "I don't see any problems!" From a macro perspective, hosting the Winter Olympics during the pandemic is a daunting task, and rules must be set and some security measures must be taken.

He said that in the Winter Olympic Village, nucleic acid tests are required every day, but this is not a problem. The Swiss delegation had a special test point that could be measured in less than 1 minute, which was very efficient. Garmarini said: "I think China is doing a very good job! Athletes understand that if they want to protect themselves, they must abide by the relevant epidemic prevention rules, and I think everyone understands this."

The veteran of international competitions praised China's snow field, telling the Global Times reporter, "I feel very good on the Chinese snow field!" Have to say, a race venue like snowboarding is fantastic! Compared to the Previous Winter Olympics, it was perfect! ”

Galmarini explained that he lives in the high mountains of Europe and has a lot of natural snow, but still uses a lot of artificial snow because artificial snow can extend the season and is more suitable for racing. And, China uses a lot of green resources to make artificial snow, which is a great practice. In addition, the volunteers and staff of the Beijing Winter Olympics also impressed Garmarini, "Everyone I met here was very friendly, competing with athletes from all over the world, and enjoying a very happy time." He said.

The failure to attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics was a "small regret" for Garmarini. He told the Global Times reporter that because it takes some time on the road, considering the priority of safety during the epidemic, he finally decided to watch the TV broadcast of the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics in the hotel room. "I have participated in the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics before, but some of the young athletes in the delegation who did not attend the opening ceremony were participating in the Winter Olympics for the first time, and it may be the last, because no one can predict the length of their careers, and I feel 'sorry' for them."" ”

As the champion of the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in the men's parallel giant slalom event of snowboarding and the runner-up of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, but failed to enter the qualifiers this year, Galmarini frankly shared his heart journey with the Global Times reporter.

It turned out that Garmarini suffered a back injury 2 years ago and missed an entire season due to surgery. It took a year of rehabilitation to return to normal life and considerable effort to regain the level of the world's top athletes. He said calmly, "The situation is completely different now than it was 4 years ago, when I was always the number one in the world, and my favorite thing was the gold medal." But the experience after the injury made me feel that I was already very happy to participate in the Beijing Winter Olympics."

Garmarini does not hide his desire to "want more", but says that "reality must also be accepted". He has achieved enough in his career that after a day or two of frustration, he will maintain a positive attitude and continue to move forward.

In fact, the Beijing Winter Olympics is the "Olympic curtain" of the 35-year-old veteran. He made it clear that he would not be able to participate in the next Winter Olympics in four years' time. He has just received a master's degree in science and has some other things to do in life, looking forward to learning new things and finding new directions.

In the interview, Garmarini spoke about what he saw as the Olympic spirit. He told the Global Times reporter that looking at the world, there are conflicts between countries, there are political differences, there are also religious differences... But in sports, none of this matters. No matter what country they come from, no matter what color they are, the world's top players will compete fairly on the field and work hard, which will bring an amazing force, which is what he understands as the Olympic spirit.

Source: Global Times - Global Network