As the 2022 Olympic Winter Games is approaching, all preparations head towards the home stretch. Chongqing is endeavoring to make sure that the world can enjoy the athletic movements of players and fair decisions by umpires from the city. Athletes are training, preparing for Beijing 2022 with all their strength.

Athletes are training with national teams

According to Chongqing Winter Sports Management Center, several Chongqing athletes in different events are training with national teams to compete in Beijing 2022.

Interestingly, they all stood out from the talent transfer program. For instance, Wang Shiqi, Zhang Yuting, and Chai Xin are now snowboarders training with the national team. But before this, Wang and Zhang were both divers. With outstanding balance, they came to the fore during the talent transfer program for winter sports in 2018 and became national team members. Wang even took the crown in the women's group with backside 720 during the domestic test held in September 2021. 

Chai, a martial arts player before, enjoys excellent leg strength, explosive power, and balance. She is focusing on the snowboard cross.

To do three things a day only to prepare for Beijing 2022

Chai, born in 2002, sees the silver lining to compete in the Olympics. Martial arts practice gave her remarkable explosive power and balance, which are required abilities for the snowboard. Through the talent transfer program, she engaged in winter sports, and after three and a half years of training, she is now a member of the snowboarding national training team and welcomes an opportunity to let the world see her at the competition venue of Beijing 2022.

The snowboard cross player said she really enjoyed the excitement of the race. "I love the event. It's a fun and exciting competition to watch. I have a sense of accomplishment after navigating a number of turns and obstacles."

Devoting herself to seizing the opportunity is what Chai does right now. With eyes on Beijing 2022, Chai said, "I train by day and watch the video and analyze what needs to be improved at night. Training, dining, and sleeping are all I do every day."

The talent transfer program

Since 2018, the General Administration of Sport of China has developed the talent transfer program for snow sports, and Chongqing excelled during the process.

In March 2019, 30 athletes from the city became members of the national training teams. It's worth noting that 29 (10%) out of the 287 snowboarders selected in total are from Chongqing, which ranks first in the country in terms of candidates.

"Though there is no snow, we can still do the talent selection. Besides, requirements for athletes vary from sports program to sports program," introduced a relevant official from Chongqing Winter Sports Management Center. For the talent of, for example, the snowboard cross, explosive power is important. "Snowboarders with good explosive power are easier to bag the best places." But when it comes to talent selection for the Snowboard Big Air and the Snowboard Slopestyle, body balance and flexibility are more important. "Stretching movements in the air are similar to diving movements, so children who learned diving, gymnastics or trampoline before are more suitable."

All the little players that have passed the preliminary selection will be further trained under the management of the General Administration of Sport of China. By that time, their talent in getting the hang of skiing will matter very much. "Some just cannot get the hang of it, but some learn the ropes very quickly. At the same time, interest is also important. Some children lack interest, but some are very interested and thus willing to learn more about it."

Chongqing's umpire expected to participate in Beijing 2022

Besides athletes, Chongqing's umpires are also striving to be selected in the umpire team of Beijing 2022.

On November 13, the second stage of the "Meet Beijing" ice hockey domestic test was finished at Beijing National Indoor Stadium. At this one of the test matches for Beijing 2022, Qiao Xinyu from Chongqing Winter Sports Management Center served as a national technical officer (NTO), which is commonly known as an off-court umpire.

Qiao's position was face-off operator who records the face-off results of the competing athletes on a computer. "I feel very much honored to be able to participate in the test match for Beijing 2022. I hope I can appear at the stadiums of Beijing 2022 again as umpire next February," said Qiao.

Chongqing's focus of the winter sports program is developing more Chongqing athletes to qualify for Beijing 2022, and more officials selected for the umpire team of Beijing 2022 and planning the preparation and participation work for the 14th National Winter Games. Therefore, Chongqing Winter Sports Management Center will urge potential athletes, umpires, and other officials to do their best in preparation to participate in Beijing 2022 and relevant departments to perform their duties to provide all the needed service and logistics support. For the 14th National Winter Games, Chongqing will keep a close eye on the preparation of Chongqing's athletes and teams to get them ready to compete at any time.