On Feb. 28, staff demonstrated accessible vehicles at the National Alpine Ski Center. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Sun Fei
Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, March 13 Title: The Winter Paralympic Games will make the "City of The Two Olympics" warmer
Xinhua News Agency reporters Li Dexin, Tai Sicong and Luo Xin
The Beijing 2022 Winter Paralympic Games are coming to an end, the second time that Beijing has hosted a large-scale international paralympic sports event after the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games. The excitement of the event, the fighting spirit of the athletes, the smiles of the volunteers, the safety and accessibility guarantee impressed the participants and the audience around the world.
In the past 14 years, taking the preparation of the Winter Paralympic Games as an opportunity, Beijing's barrier-free level has been significantly improved, the concept of helping the disabled has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and the "City of the Two Olympics" welcomes visitors from all over the world with a more convenient, humane and warm urban environment. The tie with the Winter Paralympics has made the city more "warm".
The event was praised by all parties involved in accessibility
"In previous Winter Paralympic Games, the accessibility of alpine skiing venues has often been the most challenging, and the alpine skiing venues of this Winter Paralympic Games are amazing." Recently, at the theme conference of "Barrier-free Environment Construction" at the Beijing Winter Paralympic Games, Ilyana Rodríguez, an accessibility expert of the International Paralympic Committee, praised the barrier-free facilities of the Beijing Winter Paralympic Games.
Athletes prepare to ride the cable car at the National Alpine Ski Center on Feb. 28. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Sun Fei
Rodriguez had visited Yanqing during the Winter Paralympic transition and was impressed by the accessibility. "For example, media streaming, even if using a wheelchair, journalists will feel very safe in the mixed interview area, which is the most 'barrier-free' I have ever seen."
Whether it is a competition venue or a winter Paralympic village where athletes live, barrier-free facilities can be seen everywhere, and the smooth connection of various streamlines makes many participating athletes and coaches feel comfortable and convenient.
American Paralympic ice hockey team player Kyle Sitch said: "The elevator has a lot of space, which is conducive to our use of wheelchairs, and our beds have also been lowered, which is very easy to use! ”
At the National Alpine Ski Center in Yanqing, athletes with lower limb disabilities can also wear ski equipment to directly ride the car-type cable car, which greatly saves the time for athletes to travel to and from the departure area and rest area. Dutch Paralympic Alpine Ski Team coach Nikki Ellswald, who participated in the Sochi and Pingchang Winter Paralympic Winter Games, was very satisfied. "The hardware and accessibility are some of the best I've ever been to the Winter Paralympics," he said. ”
Barrier-free seating at the National Alpine Ski Center in Yanqing, photographed on February 28. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhang Chenlin
Yang Jinkui, director of the Paralympic Department of the Beijing Winter Olympics Organizing Committee, introduced that the Beijing Winter Olympic Organizing Committee fully incorporates the characteristics and needs of the Winter Paralympic Games into the operation and services of the event. In terms of accommodation, the contracted hotel has newly renovated 109 barrier-free rooms; in terms of medical treatment, special medical assistance service training for the disabled has been carried out, wheelchairs, prosthetic maintenance services and guide dog services have been provided in relevant venues; in terms of transportation, 280 barrier-free vehicles have been invested to serve the Winter Paralympic Games; in terms of security, humanized security inspection specifications have been formulated to facilitate the disabled to receive security inspections.
The blessing of science and technology makes dreams shine into reality
Under the impetus of the Paralympic Games, a large number of "black technologies" have been implemented in the field of disability assistance, helping many disabled people to challenge themselves and achieve their goals in life.
The thumb is retracted inward, the bionic hand is five fingers together, holding the torch steadily, smoothly handing over to the next torchbearer... On the afternoon of March 2, at the Beijing Winter Paralympic Torch Relay Point in beijing's Temple of Heaven Park, Tokyo Paralympic champion Jia Hongguang wore a domestic intelligent bionic hand and successfully completed the torch relay.
In the torch relay, a disabled person with lower limbs, assisted by an exoskeleton robot, completed the independent walking of the torch relay.
On March 5, Chinese athlete Liu Zixu won the biathlon men's sprint (sitting) competition at the Beijing Winter Paralympic Games, China's first gold medal in the Paralympic snow event and a breakthrough in the field of winter sports research for the disabled in China.
China's Liu Zixu competes in the men's biathlon men's sprint sitting event at the 2022 Winter Paralympic Winter Games in Beijing on March 5. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Xue Yuge
Behind the medal, Ji Linhong, director of the Intelligent and Biomechanical Research Office of Tsinghua University, led the scientific research team to undertake the key special project of "Winter Olympics of Science and Technology" and the key task of "Key Technologies for Improving the Athletic Performance of Winter Paralympic Athletes". The team not only helps the disabled athletes to formulate a "one person, one policy" training plan, but also "moves" the snow sports training into the room, and systematically monitors the force and action posture of the paralysis and gliding process of the disabled athletes.
"I hope to summarize the sports rules of these athletes and manufacture domestic equipment suitable for athletes with disabilities." Ji Linhong said that in the future, there will be more and more "disability-aiding technology" to serve the ice and snow sports and daily life of people with disabilities.
Julian Nap, a maintenance technician at the Orthotics, Prosthetics and Wheelchair Repair Center, displays the tools needed for her work at the Genting Ski Park in Zhangjiakou on Feb. 25. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Xu Chang
In the Winter Paralympic Village, athletes simply scan the QR code on the athlete's manual to display information about the entire area of facilities, and after obtaining the starting point and destination, the platform will perform optimal calculations to navigate for those with accessibility needs. There are also a number of translation machines that provide speech recognition services for visually impaired people, and high-precision positioning and navigation devices that provide travel guidance for hearing impaired people, which shine brightly at this Winter Paralympic Games. In the future, these scientific and technological achievements will make the living environment of people with disabilities more relaxed and convenient.
Barrier-free is transformed by the "double Olympic"
As a "city of two Olympic Games", Beijing's barrier-free environment has also been significantly improved by the two Olympic Games.
Since November 2019, Beijing has launched a three-year action plan to promote the construction of barrier-free environments, focusing on the fields of urban roads, public transportation, public service venues, information exchanges and other fields in key areas, accumulatively rectifying and rectifying 336,000 points, carefully creating 100 barrier-free boutique demonstration blocks, 100 "one-quarter hour barrier-free and convenient service circles", and basically achieving barrier-free access to the core functional areas of the capital city, the Winter Olympic and Paralympic events and service guarantee related areas.
Du Peng, 41, is a municipal accessibility supervisor who travels through the streets of Beijing every day in a wheelchair to experience and survey accessibility. Airports, subway stations, shopping malls, hospitals and other public places have left his "footprints".
"In the past, many people thought that accessibility was only for people with disabilities, but now we are trying to advocate and promote the concept of 'universal accessibility'." Du Peng said that whether it is disabled or pregnant women, whether it is the elderly or children, any group may use barrier-free facilities at all stages of their lives.
Yan Jiarong, a spokesman for the Beijing Winter Olympic Organizing Committee, said that the Beijing 2022 Winter Paralympic Games is short-term, but promoting the construction of a barrier-free environment in the city is long-term. The continuous acceleration of the construction of a barrier-free environment will build a solid bridge for the "integration of the disabled and the healthy", so that more disabled people can better integrate into society, further arouse the care and concern of all sectors of society for the disabled, and promote the overall progress of society.