Chongli, Hebei, February 27 (Xinhua) -- On the track of the National Biathlon Center, venue staff and volunteers are sprinting for the transition period of the Beijing Winter Paralympic Games. When the reporter visited, he saw that the podium being tested was no longer the style of the steps at the Winter Olympics, but was changed to a ramp - to facilitate the sitting athletes to go on stage to receive the award.
The National Biathlon Centre consists of a racing field section, a stadium and a technical building, with a total of 11 tracks with a total length of 8.7 kilometers, built along the natural terrain of the mountain, and is divided into the main race track, the Paralympic sitting track and the training track.
On 25 February, the venues of the National Biathlon Center replaced the emblem of the Winter Paralympic Games. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Peng Ziyang
As the only venue in the three major venues of the ancient poplar tree venue group to undertake the task of competing in the Winter Paralympic Games, during the Beijing Winter Paralympic Games, it will host Paralympic cross-country skiing and Paralympic biathlon competitions, resulting in a total of 38 gold medals.
"In fact, the National Biathlon Center fully integrated the concept of accessibility into it in the early design, and the goal is to apply to all personnel, so all permanent facilities and temporary facilities of the venue can achieve barrier-free access and accessibility." Chen Guohui, venue and infrastructure manager of the National Biathlon Center, said, "In the conversion process, it is more about doing 'addition' on the basis of the Winter Olympics. ”
In order to allow people with disabilities to participate, work and watch the games smoothly during the Winter Paralympic Games, the venues have made sufficient preparations in terms of hardware and software.
Barrier-free ramp photographed at the National Biathlon Center venue on Feb. 25. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Peng Ziyang
"In previous Paralympic Games, many times there were only special passages for sitting athletes on the track." Chen Guohui said, "This time, the National Biathlon Center has set up a 2.5-meter-wide, nearly 1,000-meter-long dedicated passage along the outer edge of the track, and after the sitting athletes change their sitting skis, they can independently complete the whole process of warm-up, participation, waiting for results, post-race interviews and other full-process actions." ”
Liu Lili, Paralympic Integration Manager of the National Biathlon Center, told reporters: "During the conversion period, the venue will add wheelchairs, orthoses and prosthetic maintenance rooms, wheelchair storage rooms, seated athlete locker rooms and other functional rooms to provide basic guarantees for sitting athletes to participate." ”
Accessible restrooms photographed at the National Biathlon Center venue on Feb. 25. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Peng Ziyang
"The venue also specially printed a large-character anti-doping test glossary in Chinese and English to provide information accessibility services for visually impaired athletes." Liu Lili said.
In view of the characteristics of disabled athletes, the National Biathlon Center has also adjusted the mixed interview area. Coming to the mixed mining area, the reporter saw that the fence, anti-slip mat and iron horse in the mixed mining area had been removed. In the next few days, the venue will adjust the height of the snow surface, the slope of the ramp, and lower the height of the fence to facilitate the interview of the sitting athletes.
Photo of the official website of the Beijing Winter Olympics Organizing Committee
In addition to athletes, the National Biathlon Centre also takes into account the accessibility needs of other visitors.
"After the audience enters the 'Ice Jade Ring' passage, it is all barrier-free. In addition, all access for staff is also barrier-free, and everyone can access their work point through an accessible elevator. Liu Lili said.
The venue has set up barrier-free photography seats and media seats in the wide field of view of the stands, and set up barrier-free workstations in the media operation center of the venue to facilitate the work of disabled journalists; posted in braille at the entrance of the audience in large characters of the National Biathlon Center Introduction and Braille Touch Map to facilitate visually impaired spectators to understand the venue information; the Paralympic Family Lounge will provide a large Braille version of the National Winter Biathlon Center in Chinese and English for people to understand the venue and competition information.
"On February 27, the venue ushered in the first unofficial training session." Chen Guohui said, "From then until March 3, we will further optimize the conversion work based on the actual situation and feedback from all parties." ”