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Attention please! 7 Teachers of Harbin Engineering University assist at the Beijing Winter Olympics.

DATEFebruary 8, 2022
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The Beijing Winter Olympics has opened as scheduled and seven teachers from HEU will help out at the Winter Olympics as the assistant to competition director, starter, and announcer. On behalf of HEU, they all contribute to the Winter Olympics.

Help polish the crown pearl of the Winter Olympics - witnesses of the 11 gold medals

Huang Hongli, he is the Curriculum Leader of the Ice and Snow Program of the Physical Education Department in HEU. For the Beijing Winter Olympics, he serves as the track director for alpine skiing and is responsible for site management of the course. Huang Hongli has won seven championships in various domestic top-level events, such as the Chinese downhill skiing event, the National Winter Games alpine skiing competition, and the national alpine skiing competition, etc. He is called the leader of Chinese alpine skiing. My current task is to teach, educate, encourage more people to join winter sports, and to serve the cause of Chinese world sports power.

Beijing Yanqing Alpine Ski Center (Image source/Beijing Daily APP)

The alpine skiing event is known as the Pearl in the Crown of the Winter Olympics and has attracted worldwide attention because of its high level of difficulty and esthetics. Huang Hongli, serving as the track director of the event, manages a team of 50 people. He shoulders the task of pre-training, communication, coordination, and ensures the smoothness of the competition. Mr. Huang had the task of travelling to Beijing well in advance of the Olympic games to ensure that course conditions met the proper standards. The National Alpine Ski Center has built a total of 7 tracks, which will undertake 11 events such as alpine skiing, downhill, and the super giant slalom. Events at The National Alpine Ski Center will generate a total of 11 gold medals. To ensure that the competitors glide well on the course, the surface of the track must be kept in a crystalline state, and the surface is as smooth as that of the mirror, which is called ice-like snow track. Mr. Huang stated that the construction of the ice-like snow track has gone through thousands of trials and hardships. A total of 7 methods were used to achieve the 'ice-like snow.' For example, turning the snow track, breaking snow blocks, filling water, turning over and pressing, stirring, flattening, and shoveling floating snow. Huang Hongli will lead the Alpine Skiing Track Team to ensure the connection and operation of each link on the course.

1/69,carefully selected NTO

Tong Bo is responsible for the training of domestic technical officials in snowboard/freestyle ski slope obstacle skills.

Tong Bo, teacher of the Physical Education Department.As the assistant to the competition director of the snowboard slope obstacle skill event, Tong Bo mainly assists the competition director to organize the competition. He has served in the organization of competitions for the 2015 Snowboard World Cup, the 2019-2020 FIS World Cup of Snowboard and Freestyle U-Curve, and other events. In 2021, he was the lecturer of the domestic technical officer training course for the national snowboard slope obstacle skills event.

Filled with excitement, Tong Bo stated, I am honored to be representing HEU as the 1/69th NTO of the snowboard slope obstacle skill event and serve and contribute to the Winter Olympics. More than 300 professionals have applied for the Snowboard Slope Obstacle Skills event NTO (Domestic Technical Officer), which has strict requirements based on political background, technical ability, and foreign language level. Only 69 people were selected.

To pass the foreign language assessment, Tong Bo started the training of foreign language speaking 2 years in advance. He was finally selected as the assistant to the competition director with fluent foreign language speaking and rich experience in competition organization. He serves the competition director in managing and organizing the team.

High-precision manual timing referee - with the maximum error of 0.02 seconds allowed

Teacher Guan Chengxue's involved in the domestic tryouts for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics

Guan Chengxue, a Physical Education Department teacher, was awarded the international referee by the International Skating Union. During the Beijing Winter Olympics, she will serve as the manual timing referee for the speed skating event and is responsible for the manual timing of athletes' performance. She has won bronze for the all-around speed skating event in the 7th National Games in 1994. She has participated in more than 200 international and domestic speed skating events since 1999.

Ms. Guan stated, In speed skating, the moment the tip of an athlete's ice blade touches the finish line is the successful result of the athlete's skating. She has instructed the HEU speed skating team and she herself has won more than 20 provincial championships in Heilongjiang Province in the college students speed skating competitions.

Guan Chengxue participated in the training of the ISU speed skating referee

In addition to the IOC-certified timing and scoring team, the work of the manual timing referees is for reference. When the timing system fails, the manual timing results will be used to determine the final valid results of the competition. During the competition, the error among the three timekeepers must be within 0.02 to 0.03 seconds. The moment when the skater touches the finish line is counted as a valid result for the athlete. The manual timing referee will witness every Olympic speed skater crossing the finish line.

DJ in figure skating

Commentator in World Grand Prix of Figure Skating

Liu Yu, a Physical Education Department teacher, teaches street dance and aerobics. In the Beijing Winter Olympics, she is the chief announcer for the figure skating events. She is mainly responsible for announcing content, language, background display, music, and titbits of the figure skating event.

Liu Yu was hired by CCTV as a commentator for the 2020 Cup of China ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating

Liu Yu, who has 20 years of experience as an announcer in competitions, is the general manager of commentary work for the figure skating display team whose duty is to demonstrate the charm and beauty of figure skating in an all-round and multi-dimensional manner. “This job is the “DJ” during competition Liu Yu said with a smile. Liu Yu was required to arrive at the venue 20 days in advance of the Olympics to ensure everything was on schedule and to supervise work being done. “The strict control of each link can ensure the smooth progress of the event. This is my responsibility and an honor for the motherland.

Witnessing the debut of the Chinese bobsleigh team at the Winter Olympics

2020 sledding world cup

Feng Di, a Physical Education Department teacher and national table tennis referee, is serving as the referee for the bobsled event in Beijing Winter Olympics. He is responsible for the inspection of the competitors’ sleds in the finishing area. This includes the temperature of the sled body, and whether the sleds’ length, width, and height meet the requirements. In 2010, he led the HEU table tennis team to victory in the national college table tennis mixed doubles championship and the women's singles bronze medal. Feng Di also led the team to victory in the Heilongjiang college table tennis championships several consecutive times. In 2019, he was admitted to the international sled referee association.

Volunteers in World Cup of Sled Event in 2020

Fairness is the most important thing in the spirit of sports, and my job is to ensure that the competition tools are compliant. Although the sleds of the athletes have been inspected at the starting point, according to the rules of the competition, they also will be inspected again in the finishing area. From the weight of athletes to the specifications of the sled body parts, every detail should be accurate. This is the last hurdle to strictly control the fairness of the sled event.

According to Feng Di, the Chinese national bobsleigh team will be debuting at the Winter Olympics stage for the first time. The sledding event of the Beijing Winter Olympics will be held in Yanqing. The track of the sledding event is 1,500 meters long and has 16 turns. The fastest sled can go through the turns at a speed of 150 km/h and can reach the finish line in less than 1 minute. Feng Di will be a witness to this event, which makes him very honored.

It's hard, but worth it.

Liang Hong, a teacher in the College of Foreign Languages. In the Olympic Games, she serves as the assistant to the competition director of the U-shaped venue. She is also responsible for assisting the competition director in coordinating medical services, the test skater team, and the competition secretarial team. She served as a referee for the Winter Universiade and was an interpreter at the Sports Science Conference. She has also worked in more than 20 international ice and snow sports events such as the World Championships and the World Cup.

Liang Hong has been fond of sports since she was a child, and her English teaching experiences gave her more opportunities to get involved with large-scale ice and snow events. From the beginning, Liang Hong has participated in various ice and snow events as a volunteer, served as an interpreter for ice hockey referees, curling, aerial skills, snow skills, and U-shaped venue. Liang Hong has continuously enriched her professional knowledge of ice and snow sports, giving full credit to her foreign language skills. This time she serves as the assistant to the competition director of the U-shaped venue. It can be said that she is the housekeeper who coordinates and communicates among teams. Liang Hong has done a lot of preparation work, including establishing a communication and coordination mechanism with each team in advance, grasping the specific work of each team and the connection of each link. She also serves as the trainer of the domestic technical officer (NTO) of the U-shaped venue of the Winter Olympics and the interviewer to select the NTO.

It's hard, but it's worth it. Liang Hong believes that international sports events will give her a lot of practical experience and will improve her professional knowledge and ability. She believes that the experience she will acquire will be conducive to improving her English level and talent training capabilities.

The perseverance of the starter - 10 hours of work in the cold

A group photo of Zhu Gexun and FIS officials in 2019

Zhu Gexun, a teacher in the College of Foreign Languages, is working as a starter in the half-pipe venue of the Winter Olympics. Mr. Zhu assists in the management of the facilities and arranges athletes in the starting area. He was the starter for the 2019 FIS World Cup of Freestyle Ski and Snowboard.

Zhu Gexun worked as the starter of the 2019 FIS World Cup of Freestyle Ski and Snowboard.

The two events of freestyle skiing and snowboarding in the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics will be held at the U-shaped venue of Chongli Yunding Skiing Park in Zhangjiakou. Zhu Gexun will serve as the starter for all the events at the venue. To help the referees to know whether the athletes are ready, the starter needs to use a walkie-talkie to communicate with the referees accurately to inform the referees of the athletes’ starting direction and posture. Zhu Gexun also needs to maintain the order and the equipment of the starting area. He needs to communicate with the snow pushers and the medical team and prepare the athletes' greenhouses, etc. This requires a solid English foundation and overall coordinative ability.

The U-shaped venue of Chongli Yunding Skiing Park in Zhangjiakou

The starting area is usually at the windward opening of the top of the mountain, and the temperature can be as low as -40 Celsius. To ensure the smooth progress of the event, the starter has to work for 10 consecutive hours from 4:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. They must prepare various tasks, sometimes even without a bite of food. “After finishing work and returning to the hotel, it took more than several hours to recover. I felt the cold deep into my bones, Zhu Gexun said. He loves ice and snow sports, and is more impressed by the athletes' spirit that challenge the limits and their perseverance. He is willing to apply translation teaching into practice, strengthen translation skills, so as to further improve teaching.

Ignite winter with enthusiasm, serve the Olympics with professionalism. Blue Gene, Snow White Field, to the future with Beijing Winter Olympics together, HEUer, keep moving forward!