World's top ice and snow athletes descend on Chinese capital
A series of international winter sports events will, again, bring Beijing's Olympic venues to life with sledders, skaters, skiers and snowboarders vying for World Cup titles and Olympic ranking points. CHINA DAILY
Buckle up and brace for impact! The breathtaking sprints, jumps and collisions are back on the tracks and slopes of the Chinese capital, with fans in Beijing all set for a thrilling treat of winter sports action.
With Beijing's full set of Olympic-standard venues bustling with preparatory work, the world's first dual Olympics host city is gearing up for an exciting winter.
Nine international events, covering seven ice and snow disciplines, are scheduled over the next four months, keeping the legacy of Beijing 2022 alive almost three years on from the Winter Games.
Kicking off the Beijing swing of action will be the fast and furious skeleton race at the National Sliding Center in Yanqing district in the northwestern suburbs, where all the world's elite skeleton racers — including four of the six men's and women's medalists at Beijing 2022 — will return for the 2024-25 International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation World Cup series' third leg on Saturday.
Over 60 athletes from 16 countries have arrived in Beijing and are already testing their limits along the winding, 1.9-kilometer track, known as the "Flying Snow Dragon", which, with its daunting chutes and steep curves, takes extreme courage, composure and delicate control to tame.
The host has qualified eight athletes for the home race, led by men's world championships bronze medalist Yin Zheng and women's runner-up in Yanqing last year, Zhao Dan, in a bid to make faster breakthroughs against elite international competition that includes reigning Olympic champion duo Christopher Grotheer and Hannah Neise of Germany.
The track will continue hosting four events of the lower-tier skeleton Asian Cup through early December, before staging a second World Cup event, this time for the luge, in February.
A series of international winter sports events will, again, bring Beijing's Olympic venues to life with sledders, skaters, skiers and snowboarders vying for World Cup titles and Olympic ranking points. CHINA DAILY
A week later, the action will find its way to Beijing's downtown venues with two highly anticipated events — a speed skating World Cup and a free ski and snowboard Big Air World Cup. Both running between Nov 29 and Dec 1, the overlapping events will make it a hard choice for winter sports fans as to which one to choose. Both events will offer important qualification ranking points for the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, each drawing a glittering cast of international stars to battle for podium finishes in Beijing.
The Big Air World Cup — which involves skiers and snowboarders hurtling downward, taking off, performing spins, flips and grabs before landing in style — will return to the iconic giant slope at west Beijing's Shougang Industrial Park. It has emerged as perhaps the most sought-after competition this season, with two extremely popular Olympic champions in men's snowboarder Su Yiming and women's free skier Gu Ailing both having signed up for the home showpiece.
With the snow cannons blasting at full capacity and venue staff manicuring the steep ramp, the permanent Big Air slope at Shougang, the world's first of its scale, is taking shape as the optimal venue for hosting the high-flying event, and one that international athletes love so much.
As last year's Cup winner in Shougang, the 20-year-old Su is primed to defend his title at home, while his fellow Olympic champion Gu, who leads all men's and women's skiers with a record haul of 15 freestyle ski World Cup wins, will make an eye-catching return to the Olympic slope for the first time since her golden bow at Beijing 2022.
Tickets for the Big Air, and the concurrent live music concerts featuring renowned local bands, priced from 360-1080 yuan ($50-150), have been among the hottest in town, according to the organizing committee.
Leaving the awe-inspiring action aside, the Big Air slope itself will be a spectacle worth visiting during the event, with the massive, now iconic, smoke stacks from the former steel mill providing a backdrop to the gravity-defying tricks.
"Beijing's rich legacy in facilities and organizational expertise from the 2022 Winter Olympics has made the city more than competent to continue playing host to these international events," said Ge Jun, a deputy head of the Beijing Municipal Sports Bureau.
"Bringing in more events in the post-Olympic era helps to maximize the use of the venues and further promotes winter sports among the public, a commitment the central government made prior to Beijing 2022."
The speed skating World Cup's Beijing leg, this season's second stop following this weekend's opener in Japan, will build on Team China's successful campaign at the Four Continents Championships earlier this month, offering the host's speedsters a valuable test on home ice for their 2026 Olympics preparation.
Led by men's 500m defending Olympic champion Gao Tingyu and world champion Ning Zhongyan, a specialist in 1,000m and 1,500m, the Chinese squad will field 34 skaters to compete against international heavyweights, such as the Netherlands and Canada, at the National Speed Skating Oval, aka the "Ice Ribbon", for the World Cup showdown.
Team China bagged four medals, including a gold in women's team pursuit, from the Four Continents meet in Japan, showing scintillating pace at the start of the season.
"The hosting of a series of international events in China, for sure, will help our own athletes better improve themselves en route to the 2026 Olympics," said Xing Shuo, a deputy director of the National Winter Sports Administrative Center.
"The advantage of preparing for and racing on home soil is quite helpful for bringing out their best form."
