To offer an overview of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games to young Chinese and international students, an event titled "Experiencing Winter Olympics and Dialogue with Generation Z" was held in Beijing on Friday, three weeks before the sporting gala begins. Hosted by the China Center for International Communication Development (CCICD), the People's Sports Publishing House and Beijing Institute for International Olympic Studies, the event gave the young audience a chance to learn more about winter sports and the Games.
"Young people from 16 countries including Egypt, France and Jordan attended the event. We want them to know more about the Olympic motto of Faster, Higher, Stronger–Together," said Chen Shi, director of the CCICD.
The event started with a "real on-ice experience", where young people played ice-hockey and curling with professional trainers. For many, it was their first experience.
"This is my first time on ice, I think it's very exciting," said Takimoto Harumi, a Japanese student from a senior high school in Beijing.
"Daniel Oloo, a PhD student at Communication University of China, said "it made me excited. I never played this and it was a very good experience for me as well."
The event also invited Olympic medalists and world champions to share their success stories, and learn about the winter sports. The guests included short-track speed skating athlete Xiao Han, who once lost over 10 kilograms to help enhance her performance, and Li Jianjun, China's first man to win a medal in the Winter Games.
"I would like to talk to these students about the development of winter sports in China. For example, when we learned these sports in childhood, the conditions were very poor, most of the time we had to train outdoors during winter, but now you can experience winter sports all year round. I hope I can help them better understand winter sports," said Li.
The athletes expressed hope that the upcoming Winter Olympics will inspire more people to go on ice and snow and try their hands on winter sports.