Zhu Chengyi, former deputy director of the Winter Sports Management Center of the State Sports General Administration:

"300 million people participate in ice and snow sports", the Winter Olympics cold project has become a national craze

  On the evening of February 4, the Olympic Rings broke out of the "Bird's Nest" at the Beijing National Stadium, and the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics kicked off.

Outside the arena, more and more people are watching the Winter Olympics, and at the same time, they are also going out of their homes under the infection of Beijing, the "city of double Olympics", and devote themselves to ice and snow sports.

  As early as the beginning of its bid to host the Winter Olympics, China made a commitment to the international community to "drive 300 million people to participate in ice and snow sports".

A few days ago, a survey report released by the State Sports General Administration showed that this goal has been achieved.

The number of people participating in ice and snow sports nationwide has reached 346 million, and the participation rate of residents has reached 24.56%.

  On February 9, a reporter from the Beijing News interviewed Zhu Chengyi, former deputy director of the Winter Sports Management Center of the General Administration of Sports of the People's Republic of China. He said that in recent years, the gap between my country's ice and snow sports and Europe and the United States has gradually narrowed.

After the successful bid for the Winter Olympics, with the support of a series of national policies and the popularization of popular ice and snow sports, the domestic ice and snow industry has ushered in development opportunities.

  With "driving 300 million people to participate in ice and snow sports", ice and snow sports have been upgraded from niche competitive sports to popular fashion lifestyles, and it has become a general trend for ice and snow sports to fly into the homes of ordinary Chinese people.

"Competitive sports drive mass sports, and when mass sports reach a certain scale, it will also become the basis for the development of competitive sports."

  "Ice and snow sports" is one of the ways to pursue health and get close to nature

  On July 31, 2015, at the 128th plenary session of the International Olympic Committee held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Thomas Bach, then president of the International Olympic Committee, held up a sign of "Beijing 2022", and the Winter Olympics were finally scheduled to be held in Beijing, China. and Zhangjiakou.

In the process of bidding for the Winter Olympics, China officially made a commitment to the international community to "drive 300 million people to participate in ice and snow sports".

  A few days ago, the General Administration of Sports of the People's Republic of China released the "Statistical Investigation Report on "Drive 300 Million People to Participate in Ice and Snow Sports" (hereinafter referred to as the "Report"). The number of participants reached 346 million, and the resident participation rate reached 24.56%.

  Among them, the participation rate of residents aged 18 and over in ice and snow sports was 26.95%, and the number of people participating in ice and snow sports was 300 million.

From a geographical point of view, the number of participants in ice and snow sports in the northern region reached 186 million, and the number of participants in ice and snow sports in the southern region was 161 million. The participation rate of ice and snow sports in the northeast region was significantly higher than that in other regions, reaching 51.74%.

  On February 8, a reporter from the Beijing News interviewed Zhu Chengyi, former deputy director of the Winter Sports Management Center of the General Administration of Sports of the People's Republic of China. He said that the difference in the participation rate of ice and snow sports in the eastern, western and central regions is not obvious, which is due to the full implementation of ice and snow sports in my country. Strategies of “Expanding the North in the South, Expanding in the West, Expanding in the East” and “Expanding in the Four Seasons”.

Relevant departments have solved problems such as the obvious difference in climate between the north and the south, uneven distribution of ice and snow resources, and imperfect facilities and services, improving the time and space limitations of ice and snow sports.

  According to the "Report", from the perspective of the purpose of people participating in ice and snow sports, the proportion of choosing "entertainment and leisure" is the highest, at 70.35%; the second is "physical fitness", accounting for 15.78%; the proportion of choosing "hobbies" 11.49%.

Nearly two-thirds of the interviewed people expressed their willingness to participate in ice and snow sports, and nearly 60% of the interviewed people believed that the current atmosphere of participating in ice and snow sports is good.

  "Half of the people in the circle of friends during the Spring Festival holiday this year went skiing." Ms. Yan, a ski enthusiast, told the Beijing News.

It is hard for her to imagine that she "steps" to and from get off work on weekdays, and can get up from bed at six or seven in the morning on weekends and go straight to the snow field, just to enjoy a few hours of freedom and fun during off-peak hours.

  Zhu Chengyi believes that whether it is the goal of "driving 300 million people to participate in ice and snow sports" or the country's specific implementation of the strategy of "expanding the north, south, west, west and east", both are related to the upgrade of ice and snow sports from a niche competitive sport to a popular fashion lifestyle.

"With the east wind of the Winter Olympics, some new ice and snow games that are more suitable for ordinary people have also been incorporated into the generalized ice and snow sports, which have become a way for young people, especially, to pursue health and get close to nature."

  The gap between my country's ice and snow sports and Europe and the United States is gradually narrowing

  Zhu Chengyi introduced that skiing, as one of the oldest sports in the world, originated in Altay, Xinjiang, but modern ice and snow sports developed earlier in European and American countries.

In the 13th Winter Olympics held in Lake Placid in the United States in 1980, China sent a team to participate for the first time, which became the first experience of the Chinese ice and snowman.

  Zhu Chengyi said that at that time, the overall strength of China's ice and snow sports was quite different from the world's advanced level.

"For China, the most important meaning of participating in the 1980 Winter Olympics is to return to the Olympics. Participation is more important than achievements. Only after this step can we move forward and even develop rapidly."

  After the Sarajevo Winter Olympics in 1984, the Chinese snowmen have higher pursuits in terms of competitive performance.

Zhu Chengyi recalled that the State Sports Commission (the predecessor of the State Sports General Administration) held a meeting on the development of winter sports in 1985, and proposed that China should strive for a breakthrough in achieving zero gold medals in the Winter Olympics.

However, due to the limited level of security and the backwardness of the overall level at that time, it was necessary to focus on the development of several key projects. Speed ​​skating, figure skating, short track speed skating and other projects became the focus of everyone's attention.

"As a result, the layout of ice and snow sports in my country has been continuously improved, and the gap with the level of ice and snow sports in Europe and the United States has gradually narrowed." Zhu Chengyi said.

  In the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France, Ye Qiaobo won China's first Winter Olympics medal in speed skating; in the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, Yang Yang won two gold medals to realize China's dream of winning the Winter Olympics in ice and snow; 2010 In the Vancouver Winter Olympics in 2010, Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo won the gold medal in the figure skating event; in the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, the Chinese team won the hardware to create a record high...

  Zhu Chengyi believes that, with the success of China's bid for the Winter Olympics in 2015 and the goal of "driving 300 million people to participate in ice and snow sports", the country has successively introduced a series of measures to promote the development of ice and snow sports.

In the "Ice and Snow Sports Development Plan (2016-2025)" and "Implementation Outline of "Driving 300 Million People to Participate in Ice and Snow Sports" (2018-2022)" and other documents, detailed plans have been made for the development of ice and snow sports. Ice and snow sports have entered a period of rapid development.

  The Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics will be held from February 4 to February 20, 2022. The event is divided into 7 major events and 15 sub-events.

Ren Ziwei, Gu Ailing, Li Wenlong, Su Yiming and other famous players successively won gold and silver, and the Chinese team temporarily ranks at the forefront of the Winter Olympics medal list.

  "Looking back at the development history of ice and snow sports in China, it is important to compete for gold and silver at the competitive level, but it is more important to let more people benefit from ice and snow sports." Zhu Chengyi said.

  Winter Olympics drive ice and snow economy to become a new fashion for consumption

  Having been dealing with ice and snow sports for decades, Zhu Chengyi has witnessed the development of ice and snow sports with his own eyes.

The new opportunities brought by the integrated development of science and technology, culture, tourism and sports brought by the Winter Olympics have made the ice and snow economy a new fashion for consumption, driving the further development of the ice and snow industry.

"The development of ice and snow sports is a long-term behavior. Relevant departments should take many measures to help ice and snow sports develop better in terms of policy guarantees, reserve force training, venue facilities construction, ice and snow sports activities, and professional talent training."

  According to Zhu Chengyi, before the 2015 bid for the Winter Olympics, most of the snow machines, snow presses, ice hockey sticks, snowboards and other materials used in China were imported from abroad, and the high price made ice and snow sports relatively small.

After the successful bid for the Winter Olympics, with the support of a series of national policies and the popularization of popular ice and snow sports, the domestic ice and snow industry has ushered in development opportunities.

Nowadays, some ski resorts also use domestic snow guns, and ordinary people have more and more Chinese products to choose from when buying skis and snowboards.

  The State Council's "Several Opinions of the State Council on Accelerating the Development of the Sports Industry and Promoting Sports Consumption" issued by the State Council in 2014 stated that by 2025, the total scale of the sports industry will exceed 5 trillion yuan, becoming an important force in promoting sustainable economic and social development.

At the same time, the "Opinions" pointed out that with special projects such as ice and snow sports as a breakthrough, the popularization and improvement of fitness and leisure projects should be promoted.

Formulate ice and snow sports plans, guide social forces to actively participate in the construction of a number of ice and snow sports venues, promote the prosperity and development of ice and snow sports, and form new sports consumption hotspots.

  Zhu Chengyi believes that China has narrowed the gap with European and American countries in a short period of time, which is a leap-forward development.

"This is also the law of sports. One of the important functions of competitive sports is to drive the development of mass sports. In turn, mass sports will become the basis for the development of competitive sports when it reaches a certain scale."

  Zhu Chengyi said that standing at the beginning of 2022, looking back at the "driving 300 million people to participate in ice and snow sports" in these years, you can feel the "ice and snow sports fever" everywhere.

There are many ordinary children who have participated in skating and skiing, and Bingdundun is loved by everyone, "one pier is hard to find".

  "As a country with great potential for the development of ice and snow sports, China's bid for the Winter Olympics ignited the fuse, and it has become a general trend for ice and snow sports to fly into the homes of ordinary Chinese people. When the vision becomes a reality, it becomes a strong support for the progress of China's Winter Olympics. It also laid the foundation for the sustainable development of ice and snow sports." Zhu Chengyi said.

  Beijing News reporter Li Ruiyang Mu Hongju