Olympic medalist Li Nina speaks on designing an "athlete-centered" Winter Olympic Bid

Two-time Olympic medalist and three-time FIS Freestyle World Ski Champion Li Nina – or, China’s "Snow Princess", as she is commonly referred to on Chinese social media – met yesterday evening with students at Beijing’s Language and Culture University. Li Nina shared her favorite Olympic memories and talked about her involvement as Ambassador in Beijing’s bid for the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. Joining Beijing 2022 Deputy Head of Communications Xu Jicheng in addressing a crowd of excited university students, Li Nina explained what hosting an "athlete-centered" Olympics means to her, and how Beijing 2022 will make sure that all athletes’ needs are fully met.

Mr. Xu first addressed the youthful crowd, explaining that Olympism "means so much more than obtaining gold medals. It is about inspiring future generations. And in the context of the Beijing 2022 bid, it means bringing the joy of winter sports right to the front doors of the Chinese people."

Since the very beginning of the Bid, Li Nina has made it clear on the campaign trail that helping to design a Winter Olympic Games specially tailored towards athletes’ needs is a goal she is extremely passionate about: Back in December, addressing a crowd of young athletes at one of China’s top sports schools, Beijing Sports University, Li asserted: "The question on every winter athlete’s mind…is when do we get to host our own OlympicWinter Games?" The Snow Princess recapitulated this message at Language and CultureUniversity today, saying "When it comes to preparing an environment that allowsathletes to compete in their best condition, few understand it at the level that theactual athletes do. Fortunately, the Beijing 2022 team understands this, which is whythey have brought myself and fellow members of Team China on board since the verybeginning to provide suggestions on how to provide a truly athlete-centered WinterOlympics."

As China’s first freestyle skiing world champion, Li Nina has been lauded as part of ageneration of athletes that have helped to launch China’s image as a true winter sportscompetitor on the global stage. Along with other famous Chinese Olympic athletesincluding former NBA star and international sensation Yao Ming, Olympic gold medalistfigure skating team Zhao Hongbo and Shen Xue, as well as Olympic gold medalist longtrack speed skater Zhang Hong, Li Nina has been a part of the Beijing 2022 WinterGames development plan since the very beginning in order to help ensure that Beijing2022 delivers a version of the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games that raises the barfor athlete experience.

Drawing on her own personal Olympicsstory, Li conveyed that the best people tohelp design the "end-to-end" athletesjourney were former Olympic athletesthemselves, saying "training andcompeting in three Olympic Winter Gameswas without a doubt one of the biggestchallenges of my life. Knowing thatathletes – who would also be under a lotof pressure – could receive extra supportfrom an Olympic host city during pre-Games, Games-time and post-Games is inmy mind the best way to make them feel at ease so they can focus on their owncapabilities."

Li Nina helped to explain what exactly staging an "athlete-centered" Olympics wouldentail by describing Beijing 2022’s careful designing of the "end-to-end" athlete journey,which includes optimal athlete conditions during pre-Games, Games-time and post-Games. This "end-to-end" journey, Li described, is all-encompassing and includeseverything from venues and cultural activities, to medical transport, even to ensuringthat athletes have an unforgettable Chinese New Year’s experience – including localcuisine and festive traditions – all at the foot of the Great Wall of China. "You have tothink both big and small when designing an Olympics specially catering athlete’s needs," Li said. "On one hand, you have to ensure that the overall atmosphere is memorable, but then you also have to focus on details such as barrier-free athletes’ villages and convenient transportation to competition zones, all of which are included in the Beijing 2022 bid."

Through sharing her own personal Olympic story, Li Nina confirmed that the inspiring stories of China’s Olympic Athletes are a big part of the rising popularity of winter sports in China. Born in China’s northeast Liaoning in 1983, Li Nina was originally training as an acrobat before being discovered by a local ski team at the young age of 11 (some say that her background in acrobatics has helped craft her unique approach to aerials); since then, she has consistently practiced freestyle skiing, competing in international competitions as early as 2000 after winning China’s national championships. Li reminisced on the first time she became acquainted with the sport of freestyle skiing when she was eleven: "I would sit and watch these professional skiers fly back and forth so gracefully through the air," Li said. "It was so inspiring; I thought it was so beautiful. You could say just watching these flying aerial skiers changed my life forever." Li burst onto the international scene after an extremely successful 2004-2005 season, which ended with her clinching the gold medal in female aerials at the 2005 FIS Freestyle World Ski Championships in Kuusamo, Finland. The following five years included two silver Olympic medals at Turino and Vancouver, as well as gold for female aerials at the next two consecutive FIS Freestyle World Ski Championships in both Madonna di Campiglio (2007) and Inawashiro (2009). In regards to injuring her right leg in 2013 and deciding to still ski at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Li said: "Friends and family asked me if I was insane. They said, ‘You’ve done it. You are already an Olympic champion; why don’t you find a steady job and home?’ But skiing is my love. I will forever be a skier."

Making the most out of both its experience hosting the 2008 Olympic and Paralympic Summer Games, as well as the rich resource of its own athletes’ experiences, Beijing 2022 has focused on designing a Winter Olympics that fully understands the needs of its athletes, and is ready to deliver all that is required so that the city of Beijing will once again be remembered as the city who provided ideal environments that allowed athletes to perform at their physical peak and shatter even more world records.

Li Nina concluded: "Having participated in three Olympics myself, I understand that being an Olympic athlete is also about being an ambassador, a role model, a national treasure. I and my fellow Olympic athletes appreciate the extra respect given to athletes in the IOC’s Olympic Agenda 2020, and commit all of myself to ensuring that Beijing 2022 raises the bar for what it means to deliver an ‘athlete-centered Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games!"

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