(Beijing Winter Olympics) Some events of the Beijing Winter Olympics were postponed due to snowfall. Reporters directly hit the scene of the Zhangjiakou competition area
China News Service, Zhangjiakou, February 13 (Reporter Wang Yu and Wang Hao) The Zhangjiakou Division of the Beijing Winter Olympics ushered in snow on the 13th, causing some games to be postponed. Among them, the freestyle skiing women’s slope obstacle skills qualifying competition was postponed to the 14th, and Chinese player Gu Ailing will participate in the competition.
Earlier, according to the Central Meteorological Observatory, from February 12 to 13, there will be widespread snowfall in North China. The amount of snow is mainly moderate to heavy snow, and there will be blizzards locally. The snowfall center is from northern Hebei to Beijing and Tianjin.
According to the reporter’s observation, in the early morning of the 13th, the snow situation in the Yunding Ski Park venue in the Zhangjiakou competition area was relatively small and the visibility was high. Athletes participating in the Freestyle Women’s Slope Skills Qualifying Tournament train normally on the track. Chinese player Gu Ailing also participated in the pre-match preparation and warm-up according to the original plan.
At regarding nine o’clock, the snow on the field gradually increased, and the athletes who were warming up might no longer be clearly identified on the side of the field. Immediately, the official announcement of the event announced that the qualifying match originally scheduled to be held at 10 o’clock was postponed to 12 o’clock. At eleven o’clock, the schedule was further updated to show that the women’s slope obstacle course would not be held that day.
The reporter saw that the U-shaped site and the slope obstacle site of Genting Ski Park have been clearing snow in the morning. At the same time, the second training of the alpine skiing women’s downhill in the Yanqing Division was announced to be cancelled, and the second round of the alpine skiing men’s giant slalom was also marked as “rescheduled” in the official system.
At 12:30, the official news of the event was released. The women’s slope obstacle skills qualifiers and finals will be postponed for one day as a whole. The qualifying round will be held on the 14th from 10:00-12:00, and the final will be held on the 15th from 9:30-11:00. In addition, the qualifiers and finals of the men’s slope obstacle course will be held on the 15th and 16th respectively.
Yang Shuan, vice chairman of the Beijing Winter Olympics Organizing Committee, responded at a press conference held on the 13th that the track of the Genting Ski Park needs to undergo snow pressing, shaping, and secondary shaping, so the track cannot have too much snow. At 5 o’clock in the morning, the Zhangjiakou competition area has organized thousands of staff to go to the stadium to clean up the floating snow. However, due to the heavy and urgent snow, it did not meet the visibility requirements. In order to ensure the safety of the athletes, the game of the day was postponed.
Yang Shuan said that the Zhangjiakou competition area has enough capacity to clear the snow on the track before the start of the next race day.
Most of the snow sports of the Winter Olympics are held in mountainous areas with complex terrain. The snow sports are thrilling and exciting. The competition of these brave people requires extremely high accuracy of weather forecasting in the competition area and venue. For example, for ski jumping, the wind speed cannot be greater than 4 m/s; for alpine skiing, the wind speed must be kept below 18 m/s.
According to media reports, snow will also have an impact on the track. For example, the new snow accumulation brought by the snowfall will make the track surface soft and increase the friction, which is not conducive to the performance of the players. Moreover, the visibility is low in snowy weather, which will affect the sight of athletes and referees. For athletes gliding at high speeds, any problems with visibility, wind speed and the slopes can be life-threatening.
Zhao Weidong, a spokesman for the Beijing Winter Olympics Organizing Committee, previously stated that the Beijing Winter Olympics will ensure the normal conduct of the event as much as possible on the premise of respecting the laws of nature, as well as the safety and health of athletes, staff and volunteers. Venue staff will submit the relevant weather data to the experts of the International Sports Federation, who will decide whether to change the schedule.
Zhao Weidong said that under extreme weather, the Beijing Winter Olympics Organizing Committee will work closely with the International Olympic Committee, the International Sports Federation, including the Olympic Broadcasting Service Company and other stakeholders, and start the relevant procedures for changing the competition schedule in a timely manner to maximize the performance. Reduce adverse effects. (Finish)
