Editor's note: The translators DUO Renyue and ZHU Xuehan are students of School of Foreign Languages and Literature of Beijing Normal University.

On February 7, at the joint regular press conference of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Beijing Organising Committee for the 2022 Olympics, the IOC Sports Director Kit McConnell said China has made a profound impact on promoting winter sports worldwide.  

McConnell told the press that the venues of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games are outstanding. Not only did they host this event, but they will also become an Olympic legacy that will continue to advance the development of winter sports in China. “The venues are absolutely outstanding, and we knew that going into the games from the test events. Equally, the operations around the field of play have really been excellent. So here the feedback from the athletes themselves and from the Global Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF) has been fantastic.” McConnell said that with the support of venue facilities, the improvement of related technologies as well as the security provided by the venue operation team, China has made a profound impact on promoting winter sports worldwide.

“300 million people in China have participated in winter sports, and they will be definitely inspired by the athletes competing in these sports,” McConnell said. He believed that the impact of the Winter Olympics can be reflected not only in the tangible venues, but also in the feelings it brings to people and the long-term development of winter sports in the future. He pointed out that the Chinese sports delegation has traditional strongholds and will also partake in some new sports at the current Winter Olympics. He hoped this trend would continue.

In response to a question at the press conference about whether athletes will set a series of records in the Beijing Winter Olympics, McConnell stressed that athletes focus on the competition and improve themselves, so breaking records will continue to happen. “We extend our warmest congratulations to all the athletes for their outstanding performance. For athletes, they prove and show their ability and for the sports event, their performances are something remarkable.” he said.

Source: People’s Daily (February 08, 2022  Page 10)

http://paper.people.com.cn/rmrb/html/2022-02/08/nw.D110000renmrb_20220208_2-10.htm