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March 8, 2019

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Work on Winter Games is off to a flying start with smart technology

Preparation work for the 2022 Beijing Winter Games is going smoothly in terms of venue and infrastructure construction, technology support, market development and meteorological forecasts, according to an official with the Games鈥 organizing committee.

Wang Yanxia, deputy director of the sports department said most of the venue and infrastructure construction projects had been launched. Smart technology will be widely used in construction.

鈥淭he National Speed Skating Oval, the only newly built ice venue in the Beijing competition zone, will provide athletes with a digital system for timing and speed measurement,鈥 Wang said. 鈥淚t will also provide spectators with intelligent seat guidance and analysis of real-time events.鈥

Most of the competition venues for Winter Games will be ready for trial events next year. The first trial event, the alpine ski World Cup will be held in the Yanqing zone.

China is preparing for 15 trial events for the Olympic Games and five Paralympic Winter Games trial events.

Wang admitted that China is lacking in professional personnel for organizing competitions, referees and technical officials because of low participation in winter sports.

China has taken series of measures to establish a professional and international team.

She said that 1,000 domestic technical officials for all the 15 disciplines of the Games have been trained, and 25 international experts in planning and organizing competitions were brought in last year. Another 470 domestic personnel have been trained through competitions held both at home and abroad.

鈥淪pecialized postgraduates have also been jointly trained by universities and sports authorities,鈥 Wang added.

Sponsorship revenue

Meanwhile, the organizing committee has signed contracts with eight official partners and started soliciting second-level official sponsors.

More than 350 kinds of franchising products have been developed and sold through online and offline retail stores. The total revenue has surpassed 100 million yuan (US$14.91 million).

Unlike the Summer Games, meteorological guarantees are crucial for the Winter Games.

鈥淏iathlon competitions could be forced to stop if the temperature reaches minus 18 degrees Celsius, while ski jumping is greatly affected by the wind,鈥 Wang said.

A meteorological service center for the Games has been established, and 52 weather forecasters have set up a team to ensure every competition venue has full-time weather forecasters.

Wang said the 43 weather stations that have been set up at venues are collecting meteorological data to build accurate weather forecast models.

According to the preparation plan, volunteer recruitment will be launched next year.

鈥淥ther preparation work including transportation and security are being carried out simultaneously,鈥 Wang added.


 

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