“There are two different pathways to develop sport. One is to create successful heroes – athletes like Yang Yang, who you had the honour of interviewing just now – and they will inspire youngsters, kids, the media, sponsors to create a lot of interest in the sport.

“The other way is mass participation, through activity. We are working on both solutions, both opportunities at FIS. On the one side organising competitions here in China, which will continue right through with the big progression plan to the 2022 Olympic winter games and long afterwards. This is having a great effort from the Chinese sports authorities to build up new champions to have a lot of success. That will inspire more youngsters, activity and participants.

“On the other side we have developed programmes to get into snow sports. For nearly 10 years the ‘Bring Children to the Snow’ programme has created a lot of interest in China, as well and “Snow Kids” activity and with the annual ‘Snow Day’ since 2012. And now here together with the WWSE in Beijing we will launch the ‘Get Into Snow Sport China’. This is an entrants level course designed to for people to be able to really begin being familiar with snow, learning the basics, enjoying having fun and making friends with snow sports. That’s what it’s all about.

“We are working with the Chinese Ski Association, with Beijing Sport University, with the institutions here in China and commercial partner Alisports to be able to market a course all over the country and create a lot of interest and really make it happen. So there are two ways; champions and getting kids started who have perhaps never seen snow before.

“The goal for the next generation is to have many happy and health new sports participants and, we hope, champions at future events.”

New events at Beijing 2022

“There are many opportunities to include new events. The philosophy of the IOC however is to ensure that the Games remain manageable, that there is not an over-explosion of new facilities required, so that can be many different countries and regions that are capable of hosting the Olympic Winter Games also in the future. So within the six FIS disciplines, we have an excellent blend of traditional sports and young sports and we are able to develop and adapt the disciplines and the events on the programme as society changes, as also the different opportunities – technology, skill, equipment, facilities – and this is exactly what we are doing.

“For Beijing 2022 we are looking at different opportunities. In ski jumping for example, like “friends from Biathlon”, we have a mixed team event for the ski jumping with ladies and men in one team – it’s part of the World Championships since many years. We are also proposing the inclusion of Nordic combined for ladies, which is also an activity we have within FIS, not yet at Olympic level. It will be on the programme of the Youth Olympic Games in Lausanne in 2020.

“We are looking to add to the Big Air competition for snowboards, which will be at this fantastic new venue in Shougang in Beijing. Not only snowboard but also to have Ski Big Air, like we have in the World Cup. And, on proposal of Chinese Ski Association and Chinese Olympic Committee, they will also submit a bid to have mixed team aerials.

“So there are some interesting opportunities across the difference disciplines within FIS that the IOC will be asked to evaluate and to consider if they will bring additional value to the Olympic Winter Games.”

This article, composed of statements Sarah Lewis OBE made to the press at World Winter Sports Expo in Beijing, first appeared in the Winter 2017 issue of Host City magazine

Host City: what role can China’s cities play in terms of getting citizens involved in sport?

Yang Yang: In cities, they are encouraging people to participate in sports. After Beijing won the bid, the education bureau from Beijing launched the policy encouraging every student to participate in one snow sport or ice sport. That has become a very major programme in the education system.

I live in Shanghai, so I have my skating club and I work with 26 schools. Through this programme their P.E. classes come from Monday to Friday in the morning and afternoon, at which time the club would otherwise be nearly empty. Since Beijing won the bid, that’s the way we are reaching the goal of 300 million people in China to participate.

Host City: How important is sports infrastructure in China reaching this goal?

Yang Yang: It’s very important that we need infrastructure; we need to build ice rinks, we need to build snow venues, which is on the way.

I was involved in the bidding committee. At that time, we barely found 13 rinks in Beijing, even including small ones. But now the number is going to be 72 in the next three years. I believe there will one day be more than a hundred rinks in Beijing.

Host City: And is the number of Championship events increasing in China?

As the host city of the 2022 Olympic Games we will have lots of test events, starting from 2020. Then all kind of winter sports will come to China before the Games. Of course, we also have some traditional events. For example, we have hosted the short track World Cup for 17 years in China – in Harbin and Changchun – and the last five to seven years in Shanghai. We have a Cup of China Figure Skating Grand Prix hosted every year in Beijing as well.

On top of that the new sports are also coming as well.

Host City: As an Olympic medallist, what do you think Beijing 2022 will do to develop your sport?

Yang Yang: China has so far won nine gold medals in short speed skating, but this is not enough. We hope Beijing 2022 is an opportunity to increase our standing.

Beijing 2022 is a great foundation for sports development in China that is market oriented.

This interview took place at WWSE and first appeared in the Winter 2017 edition of Host City magazine

[Source: IOC] As the next hosts of the Olympic Games, the organising committees for PyeongChang 2018, Tokyo 2020 and Beijing 2022 each featured celebrations of art, culture and sport for thousands of people on Olympic day.

PyeongChang 2018

With less than eight months to go until the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018, the Korean organisers seized on Olympic Day as an opportunity to spread the Olympic values far and near.

In Gangneung, the PyeongChang 2018 House featured a mascot photo zone, colouring projects and an Olympic torch exhibition. The festivities spilled over into Saturday, with opportunities for children to craft their own clay mascots, while families also tested their Olympic knowledge with interactive quizzes.

On the other side of the country in Seoul, students from Seoul University formed 70 dance teams at the Seoul Olympic Park and Lotte World Mall to create flash mobs that also featured Soohorang, PyeongChang’s mascot for next February’s Olympic Winter Games.

Tokyo 2020

While PyeongChang got creative on Olympic Day, Tokyo combined art with action, as students from 12 universities across the city came together for a day of music, dance and cheerleading performances. After watching dynamic routines, members of the audience voted for winners that they felt had achieved their “personal best”, which is one of the mottos of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.

Almost 1,000 students, in association with Tokyo 2020, co-organised the event. With students engaged in the planning and promotion of the festival, the celebration reflected both sport and Japan’s famous youth culture, providing a glimpse of what the world will get to enjoy as part of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.

Beijing 2022

More than 20,000 Chinese people from nine provinces took part in Olympic Day celebrations. The cities jointly launched a variety of activities that promoted the Olympic spirit, including a road race with nearly 2,000 athletes at the National Olympic Sports Centre. Beijing 2022 also organised “Olympic culture camps”, which allowed participants to practise both summer and winter Olympic sports.

Source: www.olympic.org