OlymPicks: China to Learn From Established Winter Sports Havens
OlymPicks is an ongoing blog series whereby we highlight news, gossip, and developments regarding the buildup to Beijing's 2022 Winter Olympics.
Learning from Winter Sports Forebearers
China isn’t taking any chances when it comes to ensuring that the 2022 Olympics are successful, with coordinators looking at established winter sports havens like Finland for ideas about how to launch Beijing's first Winter Games without a hitch.
To that end, a new “Winter Sports Week” partnership was inked between the two nations last week during Finnish President Sauli Niinistö’s visit to Beijing. The bilateral cooperation comes on the heels of a meeting between Chinese Vice-Premier Sun Chunlan and a large group of China’s winter sports athletes, in which she encouraged them to take pointers from countries with longer winter sports track records in order to up their game in 2022, according to Inside the Games (insidethegames.biz).
Think of it as a brotherly pact, with winter sports elder Finland guiding comparatively junior Chinese athletes in events such as curling, cross-country skiing, biathlon, and ice hockey. On top of that, China is hosting ten Finnish coaches as they share their know-how with their Eastern counterparts.
The facilities and infrastructure for the 2022 Games are very, very nice.
While Chinese officials were no doubt impressed by those guests’ expertise, the praise went both ways. Business Finland sports cluster head Petri Tulensalo called facilities and infrastructure for the 2022 Games “very, very nice." He added: "The fast train [to Chongli] will be ready at end of this year and what a beautiful place that's going to be for the people in Beijing to go skiing. That is a very good example of thinking what to do after the Olympic Games.”
Olympic Buildup
A celebratory light show at the former Shougang Industrial Park in September
2019 is indeed shaping up to be a big year for Olympic infrastructure. Aside from the Chongli train's completion, construction of key venues at the site are also slated to be finished by year’s end, as pledged by Xu Qin, the governor of Beijing-neighboring Hebei province, where Chongli is located. China Daily reports that the governor was not only committed to timely preparations but also assured that the facilities would be of "high quality."
The towers and furnaces that were once operated by Shougang Group, one of China's largest steel enterprises, are now setting a vivid example of urban regeneration at Shougang Industrial Park.
Finally, Olympic development of a different sort is garnering attention by state media outlet Xinhua. Late last week, it published a compelling feature about the former Shougang Capital Steel Factory in the west Beijing suburb of Shijingshan – and one-time home to Intro Music Festival back in 2013 – that is being repurposed for the Games. One passage that's sure to grab your attention: “The towers and furnaces that were once operated by Shougang Group, one of China's largest steel enterprises, are now setting a vivid example of urban regeneration at Shougang Industrial Park.”
Photos: insidethegames.biz, China Daily, collegecandy.com
Want to know what awesome events are happening in town? Scan/Extract the QR code above to get the list of our Editors' Picks.
Got something to sell? Looking for a job? Or an apartment? Then scan/extract the QR code above to visit our Classified Ads.
Do you have what it takes to be a True Runner?
Scan/Extract the QR code above to check out our current job openings.
Always something fresh
Scan/Extract the QR code above to follow us!
Tap on the cover to access the latest print issue