The National Stadium switches from “winter to summer” in seven days and sets sail again – Xinhuanet – Xinhuanet Beijing Channel

Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, December 6 Title: The National Stadium switches from “winter to summer” in seven days and sets sail again

Xinhua News Agency reporter Ji Ye, Li Chunyu, Zhou Wanpeng

From December 7th to 13th, the National Stadium will start an extremely busy but lively seven days. First, it will host the ISU World Figure Skating Grand Prix Finals from December 7th to 10th. Only three days after the game, China will usher in Home game of the Men’s Basketball Professional League (CBA) North Control Team. From figure skating to basketball, this “Double Olympics venue” known as the “Sail of Ice” will set sail again in the process of “winter and summer” amphibious transformation.

The National Stadium, located in the Beijing Olympic Park, hosted gymnastics, trampoline, and handball competitions during the 2008 Beijing Olympics. It is close to the National Stadium “Bird’s Nest” and the National Swimming Center “Water Cube.” But compared with these two well-known sports venues, the National Stadium is slightly “low-key”.

During the Beijing Winter Olympics and Winter Paralympics, the renovated National Stadium hosted ice hockey and sled hockey events. After the Beijing Winter Olympics, the National Stadium changed its business philosophy, inherited the Double Olympics culture, and used the “Double Olympics” venues to strive to build the Olympic venues into a “cultural and sports paradise” and achieve the integrated development of “sports + culture” multi-business formats.

On the 5th, reporters walked into this place again. The ice hockey rink during the Winter Olympics has been transformed into a figure skating rink. The ice making work on the venue has been completed. The event landscape layout has been completed. The staff is conducting pre-match tests in an intense and orderly manner. The participating athletes We also started pre-match field acclimatization training…

In the center of the venue, the “Ice Sail”, the emblem of the Figure Skating Grand Prix Finals, has been “buried” under the ice. Compared with ice hockey, the ice surface temperature in figure skating is higher, the ice surface is thicker and the hardness is lower. This ice-making team is composed of Chinese ice-makers. The team has provided support services for the Beijing Winter Olympics and Figure Skating Grand Prix China Cup (Chongqing Station) competitions, and has rich ice-making experience.

As the owner of the National Stadium, Beijing Performing Arts Group will coordinate and guide the National Stadium operation team to ensure this event. Wu Xiaonan, deputy general manager of Beijing Performing Arts Group, said that this competition is the highest level ice and snow event hosted by the National Stadium after the Beijing Winter Olympics. , making the venue team more confident. Although the event returned to Beijing after 13 years, the International Skating Union is very satisfied with the preparations for the event.

The utilization of large sports venues has always been a world-class problem. If after the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the National Stadium mainly catered to corporate customers and provided facilities and other services to enterprises, today’s National Stadium expects to be more directly oriented to consumers and allow more citizens to enter the “Double Olympics Venue”. Enjoy great shows, sporting events and diverse experiences.

During the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Wu Xiaonan was one of the earliest participants in Olympic construction in Beijing. He directly participated in organizing the design bidding and preparation for the groundbreaking ceremony of the “Bird’s Nest” and “Water Cube”, and was fully responsible for the hockey rink and archery field. construction tasks of Olympic venues. At the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, Wu Xiaonan served as chairman of the Beijing National Speed ​​Skating Stadium Company, another iconic venue for the Beijing Winter Olympics. Now moving to the National Stadium, this experienced “Double Olympics man” said that the National Stadium will make efforts in “sports events, performing arts, mass fitness, cultural and sports training, tourism exhibitions, social welfare” and other aspects.

In April this year, the National Stadium “Ice Sail” signed a strategic cooperation agreement with the “Bird’s Nest” and “Water Cube” and the National Speed ​​Skating Stadium “Ice Ribbon”. The four major venues of the Beijing Winter Olympics launched coordinated operations for the first time. Wu Xiaonan said that the four major venues are all located in the Beijing Olympic Park, with close geographical proximity, close human connections and close business ties. Launching coordinated development will help bring together their respective development advantages and brand influence, deepen the sharing of multiple resources such as culture and sports tourism, and attract more professional sports events and sports consumption activities to settle in Beijing.

Now, as a result of the cooperation between the four museums, a study activity with the theme of “Returning to the Winter Olympics” has started at the “Ice Sails”. Young students will experience four museums at once in “2 days and 1 night”. Including watching ice hockey games at the “Ice Sail”, participating in the ice hockey equipment market, and appreciating Chinese folk music performances; learning about “water-ice conversion” at the “Water Cube”, experiencing curling competitions, and conducting overnight stays at venues; and taking a panoramic tour of the “Bird’s Nest” “In the process, we visited the Golden Hall, the Olympic VIP area, and checked in at the air corridor; the last stop was at the “Ice Ribbon”, where we studied carbon dioxide ice-making technology and experienced “the fastest ice”, etc.

At the same time, sports events and cultural activities of all levels have also been held at the National Stadium. Only three days after the Figure Skating Grand Prix Finals, the CBA North Control Team’s home event will be held here. In addition, various small and medium-sized sports events such as the opening ceremony of the Second Beijing Winter Games, Beijing Interschool League for Primary and Secondary School Students, Beijing Ice Hockey Open, Chaoyang District Badminton Tournament, territorial land curling, and youth tennis events are also held here.

In terms of national fitness, as a legacy of the Winter Olympics, the National Stadium Ice Hockey Hall is open to the public all year round, carrying out youth ice hockey training, Beijing ice hockey team training, and ice skating and other projects. As a venue for the Summer Olympics, the National Stadium introduced rhythmic gymnastics projects, inherited the spirit of the Double Olympics, and carried out rhythmic gymnastics training for children. In addition, the National Stadium makes flexible use of venue space to carry out public fitness projects such as tennis and badminton.

Relying on the advantages of Beijing Performing Arts Group, the National Stadium also focuses on combining sports and culture. Cultural activities such as the Chinese Film “Huabiao Award” award ceremony have been held here. The Asian premiere of the 2023 Plushenko Dream Ice Show “Swan Lake” and “The Nutcracker” will also be held here.

In Wu Xiaonan’s view, the architectural beauty, technological light, Double Olympics heritage and Chinese culture of the “Double Olympics venues” should all become key factors in solving the problem of post-game utilization of the venues.

Continuing the tradition of the Winter Olympics, the figure skating Grand Prix Finals has specially designed the event emblem. The name is similar to the National Stadium’s nickname “Ice Sail”, which blends the figures of the figure skaters with the longitude and latitude of the earth. As a whole, they together form a “figure skating sail” moving forward.

“I look forward to the ‘Sail of Ice’ taking advantage of the ‘winter’ wind to set sail again.” Wu Xiaonan said.