With the Beijing Winter Olympics, the Chinese leadership is not only aiming to promote the country. Winter sports promise billions in turnover.
When coaching the Chinese national ice hockey team, Italian-Canadian coach Ivano Zanata instructs in English. Why not, after all? The 25 hockey athletes for the Winter Olympics, which kicked off in Beijing on Friday, include 13 Canadians, three Americans and a Russian. If they did not wear the typical red-yellow uniforms, few would have realized that it is the national team of the host country. Starring Jake Cellios, Jeremy Smith and Dennis Osipov. “We have been here for three years and we certainly feel very close to China, we want to win,” said defender Jake Celios.
Jake Celios? True, this is the Greek-American ice hockey star, who is currently supporting the Kunlun Red Star in the Chinese championship, having previously played in Chicago, Charlotte and Detroit. His father is Chris Cellios, a major US sports star with 1,900 games in the National Hockey League and a member of the American Hockey Hall of Fame. For his teammates in Beijing, Jake Cellios tells the German News Agency (DPA) that “they have known each other for a long time and that is certainly an advantage.” The team of hockey legionnaires composes an unusual ensemble that will compete in Beijing with the national colors of China, as the world sports federation doubted whether a purely Chinese team would really be competitive in such an important event.
A market of 150 billion in winter sports
According to the plan of the Chinese leadership, the Beijing Olympic Games will give the impetus for the development of winter sports in a huge market, which promises a turnover of up to 150 billion euros. By the end of 2021, there were 654 ski slopes and 803 ski resorts in China. An estimated 346 million Chinese have tried alpine skiing or some other popular winter sport at least once.
Of course, the road to establishment goes through success. That is why China is “introducing” champions, but also renowned coaches in recent years, in view of the Olympic Games. Among the 51 foreign coaches currently working in faraway China are Norwegian Ole Einar Bjordalen, a former biathlon champion, and German Andre Lange, a four-time Olympic gold medalist in bobsleigh. “It would be great if we could win some medals with our current athletes,” says Bjordalen. But the chances in this sport are minimal. A look at the top athletes based on the World Cup ranking shows the Chinese Chen Fang Ming only in the 60th place of the men and in the 64th place of the women his compatriot, Chu Wang Meng.
Excellent infrastructure in China
In order to improve the preparation of its athletes, China not only sends them for “retraining” in Europe, but also tries to provide them with the best possible training conditions. The Olympic facilities are impressive. “China is today one of the most important markets in the world and the growth prospects are excellent,” said Johan Elias, president of the World Ski Federation (FIS). Of course, fashion has also conquered the “ordinary mortals”. There are 35 closed ski slopes in China, many of which have been set up next to large shopping malls. Thus, the customer can easily combine his purchases with a … fast descent to the track. In 2016, 170 million winter sports fans were registered, while in 2021 their number has risen to 254 million.
Of course, all this is not enough for China to secure a leading role in the Olympic Games starting on Friday. The main goal of the Chinese delegation will be a better performance than the previous Winter Olympics in Pyongyang, in 2018. In that event, China had won 16th place in the medal standings, as its athletes climbed the podium a total of nine times.
Tom Bachmann (DPA)
Edited by: Giannis Papadimitriou
Source: Deutsche Welle
Source: Capital

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