The picture taken on Nov. 1, 2019 shows the general view of Big Air Shougang, the venue for Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, capital of China. Big Air Shougang is the only snow event venue in the downtown area of Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games. It will produce four gold medals during Beijing 2022. (Xinhua/Zhang Chenlin)
Saskia Schnorrenberger, the event director for Air + Style, was full of praise for the Chinese Olympic Organization ahead of next month's Beijing leg of the Air + Style tour.
BEIJING, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- In an interview with Xinhua in the heart of the remarkable Shougang winter sports center, Saskia Schnorrenberger, the event director for Air + Style, revealed the importance of a permanent big air facility in Beijing. She was speaking ahead of the Beijing leg of the Air + Style tour event to be held on December 15 at the newly founded Snowboard big air facility in Shougang, an area in western Beijing.
"It provides an all-year-round training facility as you have with the ski jumping and for being an old school snowboarder it's just crazy to see that we have this landmark and you can see events happening there. It's just so important for the sport to grow."
The landmark that sits in the middle of the old Shougang steel factory that has been expertly regenerated and rejuvenated for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. The newly built snowboard big air ramp immediately catches the eye. 164 meters long and 60 meters high, the venue is immediately visible to anyone visiting the park.
The picture taken on Nov. 1, 2019 shows the general view of Big Air Shougang, the venue for Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, capital of China. (Xinhua/Zhang Chenlin)
Schnorrenberger also made it clear that some of the biggest stars would be at the event, in spite of the fact that the final team lists had not been confirmed just yet, "We don't have a final athlete list because the nations still have time to change there athletes until December 3 but now we have Mark McMorris and Anna Gasser, I just hope they don't get injured before."
In addition to the enthusiasm of the riders at this year's event of December 14, Schnorrenberger praised how the Chinese fans had got behind the event.
"It means great things because we started ten years ago and to see how the sport has grown is just so exciting and it fills my heart with pleasure that spark is coming to China," Schnorrenberger told Xinhua, "We are lucky the interest is really high, and people are really interested in the Beijing Olympics."
Juan Antonio Samaranch Salisachs, chairman of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Coordination Commission listens to the introduction of the Big Air Shougang during their third trip to China to review preparations for the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing, capital of China, Sept. 17, 2018. (Xinhua/Ju Huanzong)
Finally, Schnorrenberger was full of praise for the Chinese Olympic Organization. "We are already seeing great progress because the Chinese ski association is very strong and they do a lot of effort to bring through a lot of athletes. We can see in past events that the Chinese are getting on the top podium stops," she noted in reference to the excellent development of Chinese athletes in the run-up to 2022. ■
