A key aspect of the Beijing 2022 Organizing Committee’s visit to Moscow was the scheduled meeting with the Secretary General of the Russian Ski Association Georgy Mnatsakanov. The main topics on agenda were issues related to preparing and organizing the 2022 Winter Olympics.
Yan Cheng, Head of the Human Resources Department of the Beijing 2022 Organizing Committee, noted that China does not yet have the necessary experience in organizing and conducting large-scale skiing competitions.
– We urgently need qualified experts in order to hold the Olympic Games at the proper level – without them it would be impossible. That is why we decided to seek assistance from Russia, our long-standing partner in various areas. I must admit we were delighted with the professionalism of your experts in the ski disciplines who worked during the 2018 Games in Pyeongchang, and would like to establish cooperation with them. Moreover, we are interested long-term cooperation, – emphasized Yan Cheng.
On his part, Georgy Mnatsakanov promised that immediately after receiving the corresponding request from his Chinese colleagues he would jump-start meetings with the presidents of all the Russian ski federations.
– We will make every effort to ensure that all issues and questions are quickly resolved. I would like to remind you of the cooperation format that exists between national ski federations which was successfully tried and tested right before the Games in Pyeongchang – joint training camps. It would be interesting and useful for our coaches and athletes to see in advance the places where the Olympic competitions will be held. I am sure that such events can be organized at year-end 2020 and in the beginning of 2021, – said Georgy Mnatsakanov.
Furthermore, Georgy Mnatsakanov stated it would be beneficial for Russian specialists to travel to China to exchange experience in preparing the sliding surface of the skis and to study the features of the snow cover on the Olympic tracks.
Following the results of the meeting, the delegation of the Beijing 2022 Organizing Committee got acquainted with the work of ROC’s Innovation Centre and then proceeded to visit the training centre in Novogorsk (Moscow Region) where a tour was organized. For many years, the training centre has been the leading base camp for the national teams of Russia and can host more than 500 athletes and coaches at any given moment.
