"Dance in the Air" – freestyle skiing

Freestyle skiing is a sport that combines alpine skiing and aerial techniques, also known as "aerial dance". Athletes need to wear ski suits, ski helmets, goggles, ski gloves, ski boots, skis and sometimes poles.

Freestyle skiing has different sub-events, different sports and different competition venues. The Beijing Winter Olympics freestyle ski competition has 13 sub-events, including: men's and women's aerial skills, snow skills, obstacle chases, U-shaped track skills, slope obstacle course skills, big jumping competitions, and air skills mixed team events. The Big Jump competition is held at the Shougang Ski Jump, and the remaining 11 minor events are held at genting Ski Park.

Freestyle skiing originated in the United States in the 1960s. At the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, freestyle skiing was a performance event, and it was listed as a competition event since the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville. The Beijing Winter Olympics added a big jump platform and aerial skills mixed group event.

In the aerial skills competition, the venue consists of the departure area, transition zone 1, jumping platform, transition zone 2, landing slope and stop zone. Athletes start from the slope, jump from the platform through the transition zone, complete various flips in the air, and then land on the landing slope, and after buffering, reach the finish stop area. The referee scores based on the air, action, landing, etc., and the player jumps twice, and the two scores are added, and the one who scores the most points is ranked first.

Snow skill competition, the length of the field is 200-270 meters, the width is 15-25 meters, and the slope is 24-32 degrees. Snow packs are set up on the slopes, and players should glide on or between snow packs according to the shape of the snow packs arranged on the pitch during the descent. Scoring is based on skill, movement and time, with the highest scorer ranking first.

U-shaped track skills and slope obstacle skills are both events with a full score of 100 points, and players can perform twice during the qualifying round, and the higher score determines the ranking. U-shaped track skill competition venue, conducted in a U-shaped snow trough. Athletes complete flips, turning, grabbing and other actions.

The slope obstacle course has a complex terrain with multiple routes for athletes to choose from, including slopes, jumping platforms, tracks, etc., with a minimum vertical drop of 150 meters. In both events, the referee scores based on the athlete's movement height, rotation, skill, difficulty coefficient, etc.

The big jump competition requires athletes to slide down from a slope, smooth and backward, and then jump at the end of the slope to complete the combination of technical actions such as flips and turning. The referee rates the athlete's gliding performance.

Obstacle course chasing is the only pure racing event in freestyle skiing. Four runners chase the track, which is made up of various landscapes, and are ranked in order of passing through the finish line.

Finishing: Shi Zhe Draft: Zhang Fangman

People's Daily (2022-02-14 10th edition)