As a senior technical operator in an IOC partner, I attended the 24th Winter Olympics in Beijing. I am also a photography enthusiast, and the Beijing Winter Olympics is a rare opportunity to shoot, so in my spare time, as long as I have time, I will take my camera and mobile phone to go around, leaving many precious pictures. After the successful conclusion of the Winter Olympics, I sorted out my own photos of the Winter Olympics, which were roughly divided into three categories: photos of athletes, photos of competition venues, and tidbits of photos inside and outside the venue. After spending four or five hours, I picked out more than 70 great works from the large number of photographs I took, and then added the backstory, hoping to introduce them to everyone in a graphic and textual way.
The "closed loop" of the Winter Olympics is called "bubble" in English. The 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics opened in an orderly manner under the same blue sky, separated by a wall.
Arena Media Center
In fact, it is not easy to enter the closed loop. From abroad with a Winter Olympic certificate to take a special plane from the airport directly into the closed loop, from the domestic closed loop also to check various documents, nucleic acid certificates, vaccination certificates, etc., the management is very strict.
Yanqing Winter Olympic Village
After entering the closed loop, I immediately met various professionals participating in the Winter Olympics, as well as athletes and coaches, and people were immediately in a state of excitement. The Winter Olympics is a big stage and a big family, in addition to athletes and coaches to achieve good results, other support teams and interview teams are also the world's top. Since everyone is for the same purpose, as long as they meet, they will chat with each other warmly and make friends...
The first hotel I stayed at was Wanda Realm Hotel, where our team was responsible for the Shougang Ski Jump and Wukesong Ice Hockey Hall. After dropping off my luggage, I couldn't wait to rush to the big jumping platform and had a big hug with my company colleagues from Switzerland...
Shougang Ski Jump
Ski jumping platform, the "high heels" next to this shougang blast furnace are really beautiful, and the athletes' graceful and dexterous and powerful aerial leaps make it more vibrant.
The main sports in Yanqing are alpine skiing and bobsleigh, and on the snow-capped track, athletes have a soul when they slide down. People can't help but pick up the camera to take pictures, but the reflection of this snow and the speed of the athletes make me unsure of what parameters to use, just next to the photojournalists of various countries with long guns and short guns, a Japanese reporter told me that the speed is 1/2500, ISO 400...
The bobsleigh run should be the most technical in the Winter Olympic venues, and the related competitions are also the fastest. It really resembles a swimming dragon in the rolling hills, and a trip along the track will always make you feel good.
Each bobsleigh is equipped with sensors, and through the photoelectric doors and positioning cameras installed along the slide, the speed, acceleration, position and sliding curves of the players can be obtained, and even the deviation data from the optimal curve can be displayed. This system can make the TV broadcast screen more professional.
The parameters for shooting bobsleigh races were told to me by an Italian photographer who said the speed was 1/4000, ISO 2500.
In the Yanqing area, I stayed at the Hyatt Regency World Garden Hotel. Every day's breakfast and dinner is the best time for various teams to exchange friends, and the most encountered here is the media friends of various countries, such as German TV ARD, German CCTV ZDF, Swiss TV, Canadian TV and so on. The angle of my picture below became the camera position they were going to seize next time...
One time at dinner time, after I had been speaking English for a long time, I suddenly heard someone next to me speaking German, and the familiar language made us quickly talk. It's a very special team of top doctors, from Germany, Austria and Switzerland, emergency doctors, orthopedics, surgeons and anesthesiologists respectively. They are all leaders in their respective areas of expertise. For example, a doctor from Munich is a knee specialist, and athletes from all over the world seek him out for knee surgery. In addition to their medical skills, another distinguishing feature of them is that they are very professional in skiing. When competing, they are generally on duty at the top of the mountain, and once an athlete is injured, they will slide down the mountain top and rush to the athlete's side at the first time... Now we are friends, and the next time we meet will be in Munich and Frankfurt!
Foreign doctors and their first aid kits
Back in Beijing, check into the Westin Hotel. It is inhabited by journalists from the Media of the United States, South Korea, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and their technical teams. The winter Olympics transportation is very convenient, in addition to the equipped car every 20 minutes from the main media center to the various venues and hotels of the bus, no matter if there are people on the car no one to the point to drive, the driver master is very responsible.
The medical protection team on the field
The ice hockey tournament at the National Stadium is the only collective confrontational event in winter sports, and it is very intense and good to watch. The son who was entrusted by the alumni to pat himself on the Chinese ice hockey team. It's really hard to shoot ice hockey, at the beginning, there is no way to find anyone in the camera frame nor the ball, you can only press the shutter blindfold...
The speed skating competition is held at the extremely photogenic National Speed Skating Hall (commonly known as the Ice Ribbon), which is simply so beautiful that it has a holy feeling.
China's Gao Tingyu won the men's 500m in speed skating
The seating area of the "Ice Ribbon"
Compared with Beijing, Zhangjiakou is a real snow world, the temperature is more than 10 degrees lower, and the overalls are issued with an extra set of outdoor clothes. The "snow ruyi" of jumping on the platform and jumping snow is beautiful in the straight, and the winter biathlon field is wide and exquisite...
Gu Ailing won the gold medal in women's U-shaped track skills in freestyle skiing at Zhangjiakou Genting Ski Park.
The staff leveled the snow after the athletes competed
Track camera
The most beautiful thing to feel the beauty of sports is the figure skating competition at the Capital Gymnasium, which is also the place where media reporters gather the most and the most densely.
In addition to figure skating, the Capital Stadium also undertakes the competition of short track speed skating, where passion and speed shine together.
In the curling competition held by Ice Cube, I found that the costumes of the Chinese curling team were very cleverly designed, and the girls and boys were all so slim and tall.
In the forest where camera cameras tower, the red-clad videographer who stands out on the sidelines is the most important – the footage he captures is the basis for the referee's score.
Referee scoring dedicated camera
At each Olympic Games, the exchange of medals is a traditional event in which almost everyone participates, and people from all walks of life in various countries exchange and exchange with each other, convey friendship, and even become friends.
Each of the badges exchanged has a little story that reminds people of the beauty of the time. On that day of the ice hockey game Latvia vs. Finland, at the entrance gate met the athletes of the two countries, they did not ask for a change, directly sent me two.
I still remember the appearance of the hockey boy who gave me the badge of the Ukrainian UA team, and I wish him peace. The little bear medal of the Russian Olympic team was given by a sweet figure skating girl who wished peace to the two countries.
The design of the German team has a heart, the medal has the Chinese word "winter", the competition uniform has the Chinese "German team", and the hat of the medal dress is embroidered with the tiger of the Year of the Chinese Tiger. The German sleigh boys were not only given badges, but also masks for the German team.
Also collectible is the Swiss coat of arms, which not only has goggles that winter sports must wear, but also the logo of the 2022 Winter Olympics. Omega's badge will be issued once every Olympic Games, and it is not easy to collect it for decades.
I exchanged the commemorative badge of the Beijing Winter Olympics
Although the Beijing Winter Olympics have ended, the excitement and emotion it brought to me will always be in my memory.
The picture shows Yu Fang, the author of this article