Beijing completes tests for 2022 Olympic Games

With 300 days to go until the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games, the “Experience Beijing” testing program has come to a delightful end.

From the fluttering snowflakes in Zhangjiakou and Yanqing competition zones in February to the crystal ice surfaces in the five venues in downtown Beijing in April, the mission has been accomplished ahead of Beijing 2022.

Testing and analyzing all possible scenarios by the Olympic standard is the fundamental principle of the “Experience Beijing” testing program.

As the oldest of all five Olympic venues in Beijing, the Capital Gymnasium is the only venue that has to switch between two sports in the middle of a day, namely figure skating and short speed skating.

Fulfilling seven conversions in six days, staff members at the Capital Gymnasium faced challenges of completing the conversion work including protective pads, camera stands, temporary structures, ice making within two hours and are now able to deliver in an orderly and timely manner.

The National Indoor Stadium and the National Aquatics Center, which will host the Paralympic ice hockey and wheelchair curling events, were also upgraded from Olympic venues to accommodating Para athletes with accessibility facilities and traffic flow.

“We did a lot of testing based on the Olympic schedule,” said Yan Cheng, head of human resources of Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

“For the ice events in particular, we managed conversions on the ice, and the transitions between Olympics and Paralympics, testing all the facilities and adjusting team collaboration, which is very important and beneficial for our entire team.”

The “Experience Beijing” snow and ice testing programs have engaged more than 9,000 people at 11 venues, and epidemic control and prevention was also well-tested.