On the evening of January 4, the countdown to the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics will enter 30 days. Beijing will become the first city to host both the Summer and Winter Olympics, writing a new chapter in Olympic history.
As the Winter Olympics draw closer, from athletes to epidemic prevention, from Chongqing to Beijing, let us look forward to this ice and snow gala together in 30 days!
The fiery passion of the mountain city and the pure white snow perfectly combine due to the hosting of the Beijing Winter Olympics. As the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics approaches, all preparations are entering the final sprint stage, and Chongqing is also striving to have athletes appear on the field and to have staff selected for the Winter Olympic officiating team. Currently, the athletes are actively training and preparing, sliding towards the Winter Olympics with full effort. Meanwhile, during the Beijing Winter Olympic cycle, from venues to events to promotion, the song of ice and fire is resonating in the mountain city.
Athletes
Cross-discipline selection, Chongqing athletes strive to appear at the Winter Olympics
Chai Xin
Between the sky and the snow, the athletes leap and flip, chasing their dreams of stepping onto the Olympic stage. To slide towards the Winter Olympics, the national training team members are all putting in their utmost effort, including several athletes from Chongqing.
According to a relevant person in charge of the Chongqing Winter Sports Management Center, there are currently several athletes from Chongqing training in the national training team, covering multiple events, all striving to compete in the Winter Olympic arena.
The team members come from cross-discipline selections. For example, snowboarders Wang Shiqi, Zhang Yuting, and Chai Xin are all currently in the national training team. Wang Shiqi and Zhang Yuting were previously divers, and due to their excellent balance skills, they stood out in the 2018 cross-discipline talent selection for ice and snow sports and officially entered the national training team. In an internal test competition held last September, Wang Shiqi won first place in the women’s group with a 720-degree inward rotation move.
Chai Xin previously practiced martial arts, with outstanding leg strength, explosiveness, and balance. She focuses on the snowboard obstacle slalom event. She expressed that she enjoys the thrill of competition, saying, “I really like this event; it is very visually appealing and exciting. There are many different obstacles on one track, and overcoming them gives a great sense of achievement.”
When facing opportunities, one must fully commit. Chai Xin’s current training and competitions are all centered around preparing for the Olympics, stating, “Every day consists of training during the day and reviewing videos at night for analysis.” According to Chai Xin, she does only three things every day: “Training, eating, and sleeping, that’s it.”
Referees
Chongqing referees also hope to appear on the Winter Olympic stage
Qiao Xinyu
In addition to athletes, Chongqing is also striving to have staff selected for the Beijing Winter Olympic officiating team.
On November 13, 2021, the second phase of the “Meet Beijing” domestic ice hockey test event concluded at the National Sports Center in Beijing. This event is one of the test events for the Beijing Winter Olympics, and Qiao Xinyu from the Chongqing Winter Sports Management Center served as the domestic technical official (NTO), commonly known as the off-ice referee.
The work is both important and busy, requiring a very strong level of expertise. Domestic technical officials in ice hockey are subdivided into observers and operators for player on-ice time, face-off, and shot statistics, as well as business pause operators and staff for the two penalty benches.
Qiao Xinyu’s role in the “Meet Beijing” ice hockey domestic test event was as a face-off operator, responsible for recording the results of face-offs between the two teams on a computer. “I am really honored to participate in the Winter Olympics test. I hope to appear as a referee at the Beijing Winter Olympics,” Qiao Xinyu stated.
Events
Top-level events continuously land in Chongqing
Top-level events are the best way to promote projects, allowing citizens to experience the charm of ice and snow sports right at their doorstep.
In October 2018, the week-long 2018 China Curling Open was held at the Chongqing Huaxi Cultural and Sports Center in Banan District, featuring world-class teams from China, the United States, Canada, Sweden, and other countries competing here, marking the first time Chongqing and the southwest region hosted a world-class ice and snow event.
In 2019 and 2020, the China Cup Grand Prix of Figure Skating was held in Chongqing for two consecutive years, making Chongqing the fifth city in China to host the China Cup after Beijing, Nanjing, Harbin, and Shanghai, and the most western and southern city to have hosted the China Cup.
Top-tier events have sparked a craze for ice and snow in Chongqing. During the 2019 China Cup, hotels around the competition venue were fully booked from the day of the main event until a few days after, with price increases. Some ice sports fans from outside the city could only book hotels several kilometers away and took the light rail to watch the competition. The enthusiasm for ticket purchases was high, with tickets for the free skating event being the most popular, and the most expensive tickets in designated areas sold out within three minutes.
Venues
International Skating Union Praises, 15 Ice and Snow Venues Open Year-Round
Venues are the foundation for holding high-level events and allowing citizens to participate in the projects. Currently, Chongqing not only has internationally standard ice and snow venues but also has ice and snow facilities spread throughout the city.
The 2019 and 2020 China Cup Grand Prix of Figure Skating competitions were held at the Chongqing Huaxi Cultural and Sports Center. Before the 2019 event, the Vice President of the International Skating Union, Reikonen, visited Chongqing to inspect the preparations, and after meticulously examining every detail of the competition venue, Reikonen praised, saying, “For figure skating competitions, Chongqing undoubtedly has very good venues!”
Currently, Chongqing’s ice and snow facilities are spread throughout the city, with a total of 6 ice rinks and 9 ski resorts. Notably, the 6 ice rinks and 2 indoor ski resorts located in various districts of the main city are open year-round for citizens to choose from. To facilitate citizens’ access, the Chongqing Winter Sports Management Center also released a hand-drawn “Chongqing Ice and Snow Map” in 2021.
At the same time, Chongqing has also jointly launched the “Sichuan-Chongqing Ice and Snow Sports Map” to promote the development of ice and snow sports in the region.
Local
Ice and Snow Events Debut at the Municipal Sports Games
In 2021, the sixth Chongqing Municipal Sports Games were successfully held. The Chongqing Municipal Sports Games is the highest specification, highest level, and largest comprehensive sports event in our city, held every four years, and ice and snow sports also made their debut in this event. Ice hockey, figure skating, and snowboarding were featured for the first time, with all competitions being live-streamed online for citizens to watch in real-time.
After the event, Ke Ping, director of the Chongqing Winter Sports Management Center, stated, “Ice hockey, figure skating, and snowboarding were included in the Municipal Sports Games for the first time. The Winter Sports Center meticulously planned and organized every aspect from the early preparations to the execution of the event, ensuring a smooth and successful debut of ice and snow projects on the Municipal Sports Games stage, further promoting the popularization and development of ice and snow projects in the city, and creating a strong atmosphere for the preparation of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. I believe that in the next Municipal Sports Games, the overall level of Chongqing’s ice and snow projects will reach new heights.”
Promotion
Diverse Methods to Promote Ice and Snow, Figure Skating Aerobics to Enter Schools
Most people have heard of ice and snow sports but have never experienced them. Allowing everyone to first encounter this sport in the simplest way to feel its charm is key to project promotion. Chongqing insists on the “Seven In” activities for ice and snow sports (into government agencies, into the military, into schools, into factories and mines, into rural areas, into communities, and into families), allowing more and more people to feel the charm of ice and snow sports.
Among the series of activities, the experience of land curling has been very popular. One major obstacle to developing ice and snow sports in the south is the limitation of venues and equipment, “but land curling is easy to start and does not require real ice or snow; it can be conducted as long as there is a venue,” a relevant person stated.
In the 2021 activities, e-sports experiences were also integrated for the first time, allowing citizens to operate skiing games through e-sports equipment, immersing themselves in the fun of skiing.
In addition, the first set of figure skating aerobics in the country has also been promoted in Chongqing.
On the 100-day countdown to the Beijing Winter Olympics, this innovative aerobics routine made its debut in Chongqing. Subsequently, the Sichuan-Chongqing online public competition for figure skating aerobics was held, lasting a month, with no registration fee and no age limit, and prizes were awarded. After learning this innovative aerobics routine, participants expressed their creativity through self-made videos. Zhang Ge, deputy director of the Chongqing Winter Sports Management Center, stated that there are plans to promote this among young people. “The promotion and popularization in our city is also a channel and means for implementing cross-discipline talent selection for figure skating, conducting specific attempts for land-to-ice transitions, and laying a foundation for cultivating reserve talents in figure skating in our city.”
According to upstream news
Editor | Chen Yu