Three years from Winter Games, 'Twice Olympic City' Beijing marches toward excellence

Participation in all disciplines of the Games

"Sports set the stage for a stronger and more prosperous country," Chinese President Xi Jinping notably said.

The president also said that every individual's dream and the country's dream of becoming a strong sports power are closely linked with the Chinese Dream of the nation's great rejuvenation.

For Chinese athletes, the 2022 Winter Olympics is the best chance to realize their dreams.

Lacking an established tradition of winter sports, China had had no presence in around one-third of Winter Games disciplines by the time the country won the bid to host the 2022 Games.

After the country won nine medals, including one gold, in PyeongChang in 2018, a grand plan was put forward to have China compete in all 109 disciplines in 2022. The last time a host nation participated in all available disciplines at a Winter Olympics was the U.S. at Salt Lake City 2002, when only 78 disciplines were available.

"After the PyeongChang Games, we established national training teams in all 109 disciplines within a year," said Ni Huizhong, Director of the Winter Sports Administration Center of the General Administration of Sport of China.

By October 2018, Chinese national training teams contained a total of 4,004 people, in comparison to just 499 in 2014. Among them there are 3,257 athletes, up from 345 in 2014.

Chinese national training teams have expanded their selection pool by choosing suitable athletes from summer sports and schools of dancing and martial arts. Around 1,200 athletes entered the team through these channels.

To better serve China's national ice sports teams, four new training venues have been built in Shougang Industrial Park. These venues, commonly known as the "four ice rinks," were all converted from disused powerplants.

"Great changes have taken place in the Beijing Olympic cycle. This brand new training venue has been built for the 2022 Games. In the past, we had to travel around China and overseas to prepare for the Winter Olympics, and it was very tiring. But now we have top training facilities here at Shougang," said Ba Dexin, China's men's curling team captain.

Wu Dajing, the men's 500m short track speed skating Olympic champion and world record holder, is eager to challenge himself over longer distances.

"Everything we are going to do is for the 2022 Beijing Olympics. My dream is to win golds at home," the 24-year-old said. "I want to make breakthroughs not only in the 500 meters, but also in the 1,000 meters, 1,500 meters, 5,000 meters relay and 2,000 meters mixed relay."

Five-time Olympian figure skater Zhang Hao is still fighting on the rink.

"It's an once-in-a-lifetime chance. I am always ready for 2022," the 34-year-old said.

China has also sought to learn from other countries and regions with a rich history of winter sports.

The year of 2019 saw China and Finland inaugurate the China-Finland Year of Winter Sports, which will see China's cross-country skiers, biathletes and ice hockey players training in Finland, while ten Finnish coaches have come to China to share their training methods and philosophies.