The National Ski Jumping Center in Chongli District of Zhangjiakou City, north China's Hebei province. 

(PHOTO: XINHUA)

By HE Liang, QI Liming & TANG Zhexiao

On January 4, just one month before the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, investigated the preparations for the Games.

From the National Speed Skating Oval, in Olympic Forest Park to the the Main Media Center (MMC) and the Athletes' Village; from the Games-time Operations Command Center in Shougang Park to the Erqi Factory Training Base for Ice and Snow Sports near Lugou Bridge, this is Xi’s fifth inspection of the Games' preparatory work.

Making the smoothest ice and the most beautiful venues

The National Speed Skating Oval, also know as "Ice Ribbon", is as transparent as crystal. Its facade is made of 3,360 pieces of curved glass, and the curtain wall is surrounded by 22 light ribbons that float like "ribbons".

Another implication of "Ice Ribbon" is that the figure of speed skater speeding on the ice is as light as a ribbon. When the hard ice meets the soft curve, the combination of hardness and softness of the "Ice Ribbon" will add a special attraction to the Winter Olympics.

The National Speed Skating Oval is the only newly-built ice sports venue in the Beijing competition zone, and will stage speed skating competitions during the Winter Olympics.

In order to guarantee the competitors from home and abroad to have a high level performance in the Beijing Winter Olympic Games, the competition venue has also made breakthroughs in terms of event security with the help of science and technology.

In order to make the " smoothest ice", "Ice Ribbon" adopts the world's most advanced ice making technology---carbon dioxide transcritical direct cooling ice technology. The seamless stainless steel pipe is laid under the ice, and liquid carbon dioxide flows in the steel pipe to ensure that the temperature difference on the ice does not exceed 0.5 ℃. The smaller the temperature difference is, the smoother the ice surface will be. This is also more conducive to athletes sliding.

Such novel technology is relatively easy to implement on a small ice rink, while the National Speed Skating Oval has the largest all-ice design in Asia, with an area of nearly 12,000 square meters. This technology is unprecedented for current Winter Olympics speed skating venues. With repeated trials and upgrades, the overall ice surface reached the designed requirements of the ice-making for the speed skating track in January 2021.

Recently, with the launch of the "Super Brain", the "Ice Ribbon" has been built into a smart venue. With an access to 36 systems and nearly 100,000 points of real-time data, it can "feel, breathe, remember and think."

Providing a smart and safe home

MMC and Olympic villages are important parts of testing the service capability of major international events.

Zhang Wenlei, venue director of MMC, said that MMC is the headquarter of registered print media and broadcasters. After the Games start, the venue is expected to accommodate 5,000 to 6,000 accredited journalists and Rights Holding Broadcasters(RHB) per day, providing 24-hour and whole-process service of registration, interview, broadcast, technology, transportation, accommodation, epidemic prevention, among others.

Hundreds of robots are ready to take up their jobs at MMC. During the Games, they will provide services such as patrol, delivery, guidance, disinfection, and waste disposal. In the smart restaurant, there will be about 120 catering robots serving thousands of people at the same time. By scanning the QR code via mobile phones, accredited journalists can easily get 24-hour catering service.

Epidemic prevention and control become crucial because of the prevailing COVID-19. The Beijing Winter Olympic Village is home of athletes and team officials during the Games. It is expected to receive 1,670 athletes and team officials from 54 countries and regions.

At athlete accommodation suite in the Winter Olympic Village, the disinfection for bedroom, bathroom and living room includes 22 steps. Besides, a polyclinic with construction area of 1,500 square meters is opened in the village, with 18 disciplines including emergency, physiotherapy and rehabilitation, imaging, traditional Chinese medicine and dentistry. During the Games, it will open 16 hours a day for basic outpatient service and 24 hours for emergency medical needs.

Bringing life to century-old industrial heritage

President Xi also visited Erqi Factory Training Base for Ice and Snow Sports, which was transformed from a 120-year-old integrating industrial heritage in 2018. Equipped with domestic leading physical and special training instruments in Physical Hall, and an intelligent training system in Speed Skating Hall, ice sports training for athletes can realize digitalization and intelligence. Bringing with an anti-dizziness trainer for training pilots, the six-degree-of-freedom training halls can achieve simulated snow training in summer.

In the Erqi Factory, the power of science and technology has revitalized the ice and snow sports. The wind tunnel laboratories can help athletes for drag reduction, domestic bobsleigh is made of new materials, mobile dental treatment vehicles and mobile surgery vehicles can realize one-stop medical protection. The R&D of ice and snow sports is being integrated into China's independent innovation.

Thanks to science and technology, the development of China's ice and snow sports has been continuously improved. As President Xi Jinping emphasized, “We should take advantage of the Beijing 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games to promote the development of competitive sports, and eventually stimulate the development of the ice and snow sports.”