By LI Linxu

From climate-friendly ice rinks to Ultra HD 8K digital broadcasting technology, Beijing has raised the technology bar for the Winter Olympics to new heights.

The Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 have made history in achieving an unprecedented level of digitalization and set new technology standards for the future, while allowing more people to experience the culture and excitement of the Olympics, said Thomas Bach, president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

In the National Speed Skating Oval, dubbed the Ice Ribbon, 10 Olympic records and one world record were broken.

Swedish speed skater Nils van der Poel, who broke an Olympic record and a world record in the Ice Ribbon, spoke highly of the ice surface, saying it was, perhaps, the best stadium he has skated in.

National Speed Skating Oval, dubbed the Ice Ribbon, sees a number of Olympic records broken. (PHOTO: XINHUA)

Behind the record-breaking performances, there are huge technological advances helping athletes become better, faster, and stronger.

For the first time in Olympic history, the Ice Ribbon has applied CO2 transcritical ice-making technology, said Yu Hong, director of the Beijing 2022 Organising Committee's technology department.

The ice-making process adopted one of the most advanced and energy-efficient technologies to create safer, smoother and faster skating experiences, which has won praise from the IOC as well as the International Skating Union.

Another first for the Games is that all of the 26 venues were fully powered by green electricity, owing to an array of key core technology breakthroughs.

In total, more than 200 sci-tech achievements were used to support the Games, said Xu Qiang, director of the Beijing Municipal Science and Technology Commission.

Among them, four technologies had the world debut and 33 technologies were used in the Olympic Games for the first time, added Xu.

Thanks to the ubiquitous use of high-tech showcased at the Games, it is the most technologically-advanced Winter Games yet.

To make the Games a high-tech one, a tentative plan for the High-tech Winter Games was proposed after winning the bid, an action plan was formulated in 2016, a key specialized project was established in 2017, and then a leading group was formed, according to Zhu Xuehua, director of the department of social development, the Ministry of Science and Technology.

Focusing on major sci-tech needs in the running, participating and watching of the Games, a series of cutting-edge technologies, such as ice-making, snow-making, smart transport, smart robots and hydrogen-fueled handheld torches, were successfully developed for the Games.

More than 10,000 researchers from over 500 teams were involved in the development of these high-techs, said Zhu.

Sci-tech innovation has provided strong support for the dazzling opening and closing ceremonies of the Games, said Huang Jing, director of the Administrative Center for China's Agenda 21. The ceremonies were perfect integration of creativity and technology, with the deployment of AI, 5G, AR, naked-eye 3D, LED and other advanced technologies.

These high technologies have not only ensured a successful running and participation of Beijing 2022, but also will play an active role in the country's high-quality economic and social development after the Games, noted Zhu.