The 24th Winter Olympic Games will kick off in Beijing on February 4, 2022.

The Sports Department of Chinanews.com has launched a series of column "Hundred Questions about the Winter Olympics", which aims to popularize the knowledge of the Winter Olympics, answer hot questions, share interesting stories about ice and snow, and help everyone have a better viewing experience at the Beijing Winter Olympics.

107th Winter Olympics Questions | What are the people with the "kegs" doing during the interval?

　　Many events in the Winter Olympics are carried out on the ice, and the state of the ice surface will greatly affect the performance of the players.

　　In sports such as short track speed skating, ice hockey, and figure skating, players will leave a lot of scratches on the ice during the game.

In order to avoid the impact of ice wear and tear on the athletes, there will be staff carrying "small buckets and shovels" into the arena between games, and their task is to repair the ice surface.

　　The staff will place the ice-water mixture on the damaged ice surface, and then use a prop such as a small shovel to smooth it out.

In the process of ice surface maintenance, professional ice pouring trucks are also used.

The ice pouring truck will evenly water the ice surface through the sprinkler pipe at the rear of the car. Due to the cooling circulation system under the ice surface, the water will be fused with the ice surface to fill the defects and restore the ice surface to a smooth surface.

　　For example, in the men's 1,500-meter speed skating competition at the "Ice Ribbon" National Speed ​​Skating Stadium recently, after about half of the players appeared, the competition entered a pause period.

Three ice pouring trucks drove onto the ice surface. While cleaning the slag on the ice surface, the ice surface was repaired meticulously, so that the lost ice surface was restored to its original state.

Soon after the competition resumed, the two players broke Olympic records one after another.

　　Not only that, but ice makers also need to constantly detect the thickness of the ice and repair the flatness of the ice rink accordingly. If it is seriously damaged, it may need to be thawed and refrozen.

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