"The ice is very good, I skate very easily and happily, I love the ice in this arena so much!" Recently, the ice surface of the Capital Gymnasium received the "praise" of Japanese figure skater Yu Yusei. Behind this "most beautiful ice", there is a group of ice "beauticians" who enter the arena between competitions to repair and level the small pits on the ice to lay a good foundation for the athletes' subsequent competitions.
"In competitions, athletes jumping and sliding may leave ice pits and ice tracks on the ice, and what we have to do is to make up for these 'flaws' with 'small brushes'. This requires us to be sharp on ice and to be in place. Li Changshun, an ice volunteer at the Capital Institute of Physical Education, said that mastering the art of skating on ice is the basic skill, and at the same time, it is also necessary to cooperate with the ice car to synchronize with the eyes and hands.
In order to complete the inspection and repair of the ice surface before the start of the competition, the ice repairer volunteers left the school early in the morning and immediately changed into skates and went to work after arriving at the venue. They glide on the ice with ice buckets, scan every corner intently, see the small pit, crouch down, fill the ice inside and scrape it flat with a shovel, and "make up" the ice surface.
Not only that, but they also have to be on standby after the start of the game. Within 5 to 10 minutes between individual races, the ice refillers work with the ice car repairers. They have to find the tunnel before the ice truck enters the pothole and quickly refill the ice to assist in the cleaning and repair of the ice truck. The ice refillers squatted up one by one, completed the ice repair work again and again, and also contributed their own strength to the amazing performance of the athletes on the field.
"I know the importance of this job. Any small ice hole may cause athletes to fall off the ice unsteadily, resulting in injury. Li Changshun said that he requires himself to be meticulous and observant in his work, "As I become more and more skilled in my hands and cooperate with my partners more and more tacitly, I fall in love with this position more and more." ”
Li Changshun
According to reports, during the Winter Olympics, the volunteers who served as ice refillers in the Capital Gymnasium were college students from the Capital Institute of Physical Education, Beijing Sport University and Beijing Dance Academy, some of whom had been professional figure skaters, and some of whom had been practicing skating hard for ice repair work. They are all working towards a common goal: to guard this "most beautiful ice".