Athletes compete during speed skating men's mass start semifinals of Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics at the National Speed Skating Oval in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 19, 2022. [Xinhua/Wu Wei]

BEIJING, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) — The Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games came to a triumphant close on Sunday, and winter sports have become hugely popular in the dual-Olympic city.

With 177 athletes, its largest-ever presence at the Winter Games, China recorded its best-ever Winter Olympic haul of 15 medals.

These athletes, who come from 20 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities across the country, will likely become coaches and managers in the future, and drive more people to participate in ice and snow sports, according to Ni Huizhong, secretary-general of China's Olympic delegation.

Many ice-snow athletes have already dedicated themselves to the promotion of winter sports in Beijing after their retirement.

Chen Lu, China's first Olympic medalist and world champion in figure skating, opened a skating rink in Beijing after the city won the 2022 Winter Olympic bid. The rink has become one of the most popular spots for figure skating enthusiasts.

Former Winter Olympic silver medalist Zhang Dan has established the Zhang Dan Youth Figure Skating Academy also in Beijing, offering high-level professional training for young people.

Beijing is actively planning to promote the sustainable development of ice-snow sports and the high-quality development of mass sports in the post-Olympic era, making full use of the city's Winter Olympic legacy, said Ge Jun, deputy director of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Sports.

Many sports facilities and venues for the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games were remodeled from the structures built for Beijing 2008. The "Water Cube," the National Aquatics Center in downtown Beijing, was turned into an "ice cube" to host events including curling.

An ice sports center of approximately 8,000 square meters, which was built in the Water Cube, will soon open to the public and is expected to receive over 100,000 visitors each year, said Yang Qiyong, general manager of the National Aquatics Center. Yang expressed the hope that the venue would become a place to promote ice sports among young people.

Chinese athlete Gu Ailing competes during women's freeski big air final at Big Air Shougang in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 8, 2022. [Xinhua/Huang Zongzhi]

And then there is the Big Air Shougang venue, which was repurposed from a steel mill. Through this impressive creation, China simultaneously retained the capital city's industrial history and made an eye-catching feature for the Winter Olympics. After the Games, it will host high-level ice and snow events, provide ice and snow sports experiences and extreme sports for the public, and facilitate various cultural activities.

The National Speed Skating Oval will hold various ice sports and mass ice and snow sports events, and it will become a multifunctional ice center, according to Ge. The National Alpine Skiing Center will continue to hold alpine skiing events, provide a training venue for professional ski teams. It will also open to high-level skiers and offer mountain sightseeing and outdoor sports services.

As the spring academic semester began on Monday, students of Zhenzhuquan Primary School in Yanqing District have thrown themselves into ice skating lessons, getting a taste of the fun of winter sports. The river across the road from the school offers a natural rink as it freezes in the winter.

"Many ice-snow activities have been organized at our school, bringing us wonderful experiences," said sixth-grader Zhao Xinlei.

A fervor for ice and snow sports has been ignited in Beijing. The number of registered winter sports team members in Beijing has grown from 79 in 2017 to 7,565 now, a nearly hundredfold increase.

Winter sports are also being promoted among the next generation of athletes. There are now 200 schools in Beijing that offer ice and snow sports. A total of 2.1 million primary and middle school students in Beijing have gotten involved in winter sports.

(Source: Xinhua)