We are nearly one week into the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China, and in the Wilson household, the TV has been tuned in for a lot of the action.
The Olympics are a lightning rod when it comes to controversy – doping scandals, political views and the economics of hosting this event – but it has been a welcome distraction from everything going on in the world.
It’s also the one time every four years where everyone becomes an “armchair expert” about every sport on TV.
I caught myself doing that on Sunday evening while watching the men’s slopestyle snowboarding event.
“Oh, he over-rotated on that,” I stated matter-of-factly, like I’d done such jumps before in my life.
But I digress.
What I have found intriguing about these Olympics is the technology, both good and bad, used to make them a reality. In the interest of brevity, I’ll talk about one good and one bad use of technology.
Human-made snow
Believe it or not, this particular region of China, historically, does not get much snow.
In Yanqing (where the alpine events will be held) and Zhangjiakou (where many of the other snow events are will be held), the annual snowfall is about 20 cm or 7.8 inches.
Not ideal for a Winter Olympics.
In February, temperatures peak right above freezing and dip down to -10 degrees Celsius at night in this region.
That is ideal.
So, as CNN reported earlier this month, organizers opted to create 100 per cent of the snow needed to host the games.
TechnoAlpin, a company based in Italy, was tasked with creating all of the snow for the games. This task began in 2018 when the company started sending a full arsenal of snow guns, fan-driven snow generators and cooling towers to Beijing.
How much snow is needed? Roughly 1.2 million cubic metres to cover 800,000 square metres of competition area.
What’s that in terms of water, you ask?
Forty-nine million gallons. Enough to fill 3,600 average-sized backyard swimming pools, equivalent to one day’s worth of drinking water for nearly 100 million people.
While I love watching the snow sports, just because we can make snow in a region that typically doesn’t have that much, should we?
Oh, and I should mention that many athletes, according to NBC, say the fake snow is actually icier and harder. Doesn’t sound like a fun surface to fall on during a ski jumping event.
“Water Cube” turned “Ice Cube”
One really cool use of technology at these games, in my opinion, is the transformation of the “Water Cube” to the “Ice Cube.”
The “Water Cube” is the nickname given to the Beijing National Aquatics Centre, the swimming facility used during the 2008 Summer Olympics.
For those following along at home, that was the Games where American swimming legend Michael Phelps won eight gold medals.
This year, the building has been dubbed the “Ice Cube” and is hosting the curling events.
Yes, they turned a swimming pool into a curling ice surface.
How?
According to an article on shine.cn, Beijing officials began planning to convert the building from swimming to curling shortly after being awarded the Games – a process that took two years.
After draining the swimming pool, a convertible structure featuring 2,600 steel beams and precast concrete panels is assembled to support four sheets of curling ice. A removable ice-making system was specially designed to cut down on the energy consumed during ice making for sustainability, according to the article.
Han Wuthrich, a Gimli, Manitoba native who is the head ice technician for these Olympics, told CBC there are some challenges with the building. For example, 20 humidifiers have been installed to avoid losing the ice.
The hot tub used by the swimmers in 2008 is also running, but not for the comfort of the curlers. Instead, it is being used as an additional humidifier.
“Having to set up humidifiers instead of dehumidifiers to (avoid) losing your ice is quite unheard of,” Wuthrich told CBC on Feb. 2.
According to the Xinhua News Agency, it takes 20 days to convert the facility from curling to swimming.
Pretty damn cool, if you ask me. It’s a great way to re-purpose a building.
The cost?
While no news outlet has reported what making all of this snow or converting a swimming pool into a curling rink costs – and we’ll likely never know – you have to admit it is interesting seeing how these Games have come together.
However, one thing that needs to be addressed is sustainability.
How many stories have been told over the years of venues being built that are now sitting empty or abandoned? The softball stadium in Athens, Greece or Olympic Stadium in Montréal immediately come to my mind.
With several cities having recently hosted games, it’s time that the International Olympic Committee looks at designating a handful of sites and rotating the Winter and Summer Olympics through them.
By doing so, you would ensure that the billions – perhaps even trillions – of dollars spent on infrastructure by host nations become long-term investments instead of eyesores. It would reduce the cost of hosting the Games, in turn increasing profits which could be put back into various programs around the world.
Sounds like a gold medal idea to me.
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Mike Wilson is the editor of Midwestern Newspapers. Comment and feedback can be sent to mwilson@midwesternnewspapers.com.
