The wind tunnel makes ski jumping training no longer affected by the seasonal climate; the former air raid shelter is transformed into a four-season cross-country ski resort, creating a new environment for the training of ice and snow athletes; the snow wax car independently developed by the mainland creates a perfect workshop for waxers... Today's sports competition stage is not only a competition of sports skills, but also a contest of science and technology.
The Beijing Winter Olympics schedule has passed the halfway mark, and Chinese athletes have made breakthroughs in many sports, which is inseparable from the hard work of athletes and coaches, and also inseparable from the help of science and technology, which allows them to fly higher and skate faster. Whether it is the Chinese "ace division" short track speed skating team that has won 2 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze, or the Nordic biathlete Zhao Jiawen, who is standing at the Winter Olympics for the first time, they all mention one equipment in their training: the wind tunnel. How can the wind tunnel move from aerospace to sports and significantly improve athlete performance? Behind the progress of China's ice and snow athletes is that science and technology provide them with solid and powerful training support services.
Wind Tunnel: "Good wind with strength to send me to the clouds"
At present, there are three large and two small, a total of five sports professional wind tunnels, in addition to Laiyuan, there are also comprehensive wind tunnels in the Beijing Erqi Factory Ice and Snow Project Training Base, vertical wind tunnels in Qinhuangdao National Training Base, and two movable wind tunnel equipment.
After the completion of these wind tunnels, they have been fully utilized, and Sun Fan, the leader of the steel frame snowmobile national training team, said that through the test of the wind tunnel, the steel frame snowmobile athletes can know how to maintain the best posture of the most reduced resistance and the most time-saving on the sled, on the other hand, the sports equipment is further tested and improved through the wind tunnel test to improve the performance.
China has an ancient poetry cloud: "A good wind, with its strength, sends me to qingyun." So what kind of wind is a "good wind"? China's ice and snow in recent years has blown a "good wind", this wind can help athletes find the best resistance reduction posture, fly farther, skate faster, jump better, this wind can also help equipment developers develop more suitable clothing and equipment, this wind is the wind blown out of the wind tunnel training equipment.
Why can wind in a wind tunnel help athletes train? First of all, unlike the snow training that needs to "eat by the sky", wind tunnel training is not affected by the seasonal climate, and can be carried out all day and night, which is especially experienced by ski jumping and Nordic athletes, athletes in these two sports need to "fly" in the air without protective measures for several seconds, the risk factor is high, in order to protect the team members, the wind is too big to jump, and the wind direction is changeable, it is best not to jump... In the past, it was common for athletes to wear equipment and wax on a high platform for more than ten minutes or even half an hour or even not be able to train, and coaches could only temporarily change their training plans, rest or carry out physical training. But at bases with wind tunnels, athletes can go to the wind tunnels to continue training for the optimization of the jumping action.
Secondly, unlike a snow training that takes a long time but has limited actual training time, wind tunnel training can use time efficiently. In the Laiyuan Ski Jumping Training and Research Base, an athlete can only train up to 5 times a morning, and the flight time adds up to only 30 seconds, but in the wind tunnel, athletes can "fly" for 2 minutes at a time.
So how does the wind tunnel lab work? The first wind tunnel laboratory for ski jumpers in mainland China, located in the Laiyuan National Ski Jumping Base in Hebei Province, was officially opened in December 2020. Reporters have visited this place in the field.
On the first floor of the wind tunnel laboratory, there is a large running platform, like an enlarged version of a treadmill, large enough to accommodate 6 team members running at the same time, or 2 athletes wearing cross-country skates to slide side by side. While athletes are preparing for warm-up, wind tunnel laboratory staff are also completing the commissioning of force balances in the wind tunnel, which will accurately measure the athlete's foot force and the resistance caused by different movements in subsequent training.
Athletes put on one-piece ski suits after warming up on the running platform and take the elevator to the third floor of the laboratory, where they will perform "flying" training in the 32-degree slope area. The two staff members lifted a movable mat and worked together to pull up the two brackets to support the mat, creating a countertop parallel to the ground on a 32-degree slope.
Athlete Zhao Zihe stood on the platform, put on a snowboard, and hung a safety rope. Jiang Xue, a staff member of the wind tunnel laboratory, entered the given wind speed on the main control system of the ski jumping training equipment, and the oversized "electric fan" with 24 blades began to operate. Then the staff put the bracket down, the countertop was restored to an ordinary cushion in the slope area, Zhao Zihe, who had no support, was vacated under the traction of the safety rope, and under the action of traction and gravity, he flipped 90 degrees, shaking parallel to the ground, and the gradually rising air flow in the wind tunnel gave Zhao Zihe a third force, and Zhao Zihe, who was in balance when the wind speed reached 24 meters per second, could pose for ski jumping with the help of the staff, and maintain this aerial action for up to 2 minutes under the protection of the instructor. Effectively exercise the athlete's ability to maintain the best posture in the air and control the balance of the snowboard flight, and even regulate the wind speed, so that the athletes can experience the control of the small muscle groups of the body at different wind speeds, which is an advantage that is not available in the jumping platform training.
Hanging flying is only a way of use in the wind tunnel experimental area, the wind tunnel test area contains two slopes of horizontal and inclination of 11 degrees and 32 degrees, which can test all the technical actions such as athletes' sliding, jumping, leaping, etc., which can not only prolong the effective training time, but also can be affected by weather conditions and seasons, and realize four seasons of training and efficient training. According to Sheng Yongli, head of the wind tunnel operation team, Laiyuan's wind tunnel laboratory also reserves an interface for other racing sports projects, which is currently the most comprehensive test wind tunnel of similar wind tunnels in the world, the wind speed in the wind tunnel can reach 50 meters / second, which is equivalent to about 15 winds, using special frequency conversion equipment control, which can achieve one-thousandth of the speed control, which is the most precise risk control in the world.1 millionth of similar wind tunnels. (Peng Xiaoen/Wen Lulin/Photo)
Domestic snow wax cars help the Winter Olympic athletes to create good results
The Beijing Winter Olympics is not only a competitive stage for world sports, but also a window to show China's scientific and technological strength. The first snow wax car made in China with complete independent intellectual property rights is currently being fully guaranteed for the national cross-country ski team in Zhangjiakou. Cross-country skiing is the project with the highest requirements for snowboard waxing, and serving the national cross-country skiing team is full trust and affirmation of domestic snow wax vehicles. In the many cross-country skiing events that have been concluded, the performance of the Chinese team has improved significantly compared with the previous session.
In order to do a good job in the guarantee work, Shandong Province has set up a 16-person support team led by the Provincial Department of Industry and Information Technology and the Provincial Sports Bureau, with the participation of China National Heavy Duty Truck Group and Shandong Sports Industry Group, and stationed in Zhangjiakou for service guarantee. The security work was officially launched on January 12, and the staff has been sticking to the front line during the Spring Festival and has been working for one month now. The support team has made careful arrangements in technical services, system construction, team management, epidemic prevention and control, etc., studied and compiled a series of work specifications such as "Snow Wax Vehicle Service Guarantee Manual", "Vehicle Daily Inspection System", "Accessories Inspection System", "Air Conditioning Operation Rotation Plan", "Epidemic Prevention and Control Manual", "Guide to Shooting Relevant Data", etc., and determined the guarantee principle of "doing things as soon as there is a problem, high quality and high efficiency, unity and cooperation, and mission will be achieved", and is on standby 24 hours a day to provide professional and high-quality services.
During this month, snow wax trucks provide waxing services to all members of the national cross-country ski team, with an average working hour of more than 16 hours, sometimes running 24 hours a day, and up to more than 600 pairs of snowboards are tested and waxed every day. In the cold weather and ice and snow environment of minus 20 degrees Celsius, the support team overcame many difficulties, worked continuously, and strictly implemented various work systems, so that the snow wax truck was always in the best condition, providing a comfortable environment for the waxer to work. The leaders, coaches, waxers, athletes, etc. of the national cross-country skiing team all praised the snow wax car, especially the low-carbon environmental protection, intelligent control, novel design of the waxing table, workbench lighting, cabin accessories and air conditioning fresh air system.
In the past, China's foundation in cross-country skiing was relatively weak, and its support capacity was relatively limited. Now the use of domestic snow wax vehicles provides a better basic guarantee for the Athletes of the Winter Olympics to strive for good results. It is particularly worth mentioning that in the cross-country skiing men's doubles chase, China's Liu Rongsheng won the best position in the history of the Chinese team in the Winter Olympics event. In the men's 15 km traditional technical competition of cross-country skiing, Chinese players Shang Jincai and Liu Rongsheng also surpassed the best position in the history of the Chinese team in the Winter Olympics in this event. In the women's 4×5 km relay race of cross-country skiing, the Chinese women's team also achieved a new breakthrough and entered the top ten for the first time. (Ge Huizhong/Wen, some pictures transferred from Xinhua News Agency)
The "Snow Cave" allows cross-country ski teams to train for all seasons
Beishan Park is located in the hinterland of Jilin City, where the air is fresh and the environment is beautiful. However, in the 1950s and 1960s, the entire mountain was hollowed out and dug into an air raid shelter. Later, the demand for bomb shelters here gradually disappeared, and it was used as a parking lot, a small commodity market, and a warehouse.
Changes came quietly in 2017, and people later called it a "snow cave". In January 2019, the "Snow Cave" unveiled the true face of Lushan Mountain, and the Beishan Four Seasons Cross-Country Ski Resort was officially opened. This is the fourth in the world, the first all-weather standardized ski training ground in Asia, and the only "snow cave" in the world that has been reconstructed by civil air defense projects. It not only makes up for the shortcomings of the mainland cross-country skiing training venues, but also solves the problem of cross-country skiing, biathlon, Nordic summer training, and is also favored by professional teams and athletes from all over the world.
In the first year of completion, beishan four-season cross-country skiing resort received 31 cross-country skiing teams, including the cross-country team of the Winter Management Center of the State General Administration of Sport, the cross-border cross-country team of the Water Sports Management Center of the State General Administration of Sports, the Nordic biathlon second team of the Winter Management Center of the State General Administration of Sports, Heilongjiang Province, Liaoning Province, Hebei Province, Tianjin Municipality, and Korea and Japan, and more than 17,000 people trained throughout the year, of which 649 athletes were stationed for long-term training.
Why it is so popular is because the North Mountain Four Seasons Cross-Country Ski Resort has a total length of 1308 meters, the usable track width is 8 meters, and it can accommodate 500 people to train at the same time. The snow cover of the slopes is 50 cm thick, with natural snow base and artificial snow on the surface. The slopes drop by 21 meters, with one-third uphill, one-third downhill and one-third flat tracks. Shooting zones and penalty laps are built according to official competition standards. The snow field maintains a constant temperature of minus 7 degrees Celsius and snow surface temperature of minus 10 degrees Celsius throughout the year, and the refrigeration equipment operates 365 days a year.
In addition to indoor ski slopes, there is also a 3,000-square-meter athlete service center, supporting 1,616 meters of outdoor ski slopes, 500 meters of public ski trails and 1,500 square meters of four seasons ice and snow experience hall. Liu Yijun, deputy director of the Jilin Municipal Sports Bureau, said: "This snow cave has reached the world-class level, and the snow conditions are better than those in Europe and the United States, the main reason is that the temperature of the snow cave is strictly controlled, and the snow tracks are in a state of powder snow all year round, and there will be no ice or too slippery and too hard." ”
According to reports, the daily maintenance of the "snow cave" mainly includes two aspects: one is the maintenance of the venue for the professional training team, and the snow is pressed three times a week on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and the snow surface of the site is polished and sorted to ensure the snow quality; the second is the daily inspection and maintenance. The staff of the snow cave will inspect the snow cave every morning and afternoon to check whether the machinery and equipment are operating normally and determine whether each equipment needs maintenance and testing.
Source: China Sports News