With the conclusion of the award ceremony for the Paralympic Snowboard Women's Slope Slalom LL2 Competition, Zhangjiakou Awards Plaza successfully completed all the awarding tasks of the Beijing 2022 Winter Paralympic Games, achieving zero mistakes in the whole process. Han Song and his colleagues can finally relax.
Han Song is the manager of the flag-raising team at Zhangjiakou Awards Plaza. In July 2021, Han Song received a notice to be responsible for the flag raising work of Zhangjiakou Awards Square. "Just taking over this job, it can be said that the eyes are black, and there is no way to start." Han Song said that he had never been in contact with the work of raising flags before, and it was an arduous task to suddenly understand and master the flags of many countries and regions in the world.
During the Beijing Winter Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, Zhangjiakou Awards Plaza undertook the award ceremony for 49 Winter Olympic events and 44 Winter Paralympic events in Zhangjiakou. Compared with the other two award squares, Zhangjiakou Awards Square has a heavy award task, a compact award time, and a more complicated situation.
In order to hold the flag-raising ceremony for several minutes, the flag-raising team staff did a lot of preparatory work in the early stage.
Zhangjiakou Awards Plaza runs at night in cold and windy weather. By analyzing the meteorological data of the Chongli area for nearly 3 years, the flag-raising team grasped the lowest temperature and maximum instantaneous wind in the Chongli area during the same period. "In order to cope with such a special climate, we have added requirements for wind resistance and low temperature resistance to the flag-raising equipment of Zhangjiakou Awards Plaza, and supplemented the flagpole standards of the IOC (International Olympic Committee) according to the actual situation of Zhangjiakou Awards Plaza."
Through several on-site surveys and measurements, the flag-raising team determined that the terrain of Zhangjiakou Awards Plaza was slightly inclined, and the 9-meter-high flagpole at this angle would also tilt. The flag-raising team provided this information to the flagpole manufacturer in advance and made timely adjustments to ensure the best visual effect.
"We learned about flag culture and what each flag means. After studying, we have more empathy and can know how athletes may feel when raising the flag. "We want them to be treated with the utmost respect." ”
On the night of the ceremony, each flag-raising session was only a few minutes, which was the longest time that the flag-raising team performed in front of the audience. For this short time, the flag-raising team started busy from 10 a.m., with the team's 27 staff going through more than 40 steps. On the most of the day, they held ten award ceremonies, which were raised 30 flags. "Raising the flag is the highest moment for athletes, and it also reflects the respect for the country (region), and the flag raising must be perfect." Han Song said, "Zero mistakes is the bottom line. ”
"After the flag comes out of the flag storehouse, check whether there are stains, no draws, no damage, no errors in the pattern, and then iron them." Han Song said.
"The flag-raising operation device can't see the flag platform, and we rely entirely on the password to convey the information." Han Song told reporters that every day from the awards square to run, they have been stretching a string.
During the Winter Paralympic Games, the Five-Star Red Flag was raised 39 times at the Zhangjiakou Awards Square and the Chinese National Anthem was played 14 times. Han Song said that every flag raising may not be able to watch like the audience, but they have a deeper pride than the ordinary audience. "We have lived up to the trust of the country and we have successfully completed the task."
Reporter | Guo Yaru, Yang Fan