The site for the ski and snow freestyle events, located in the middle of a former industrial complex in the western suburbs of Beijing, aroused indignation among many spectators. The organizers highlight the successful conversion of the territory, transformed into a “green and ecological” leisure park.
For its great Olympic baptism, the “Big air” played big in Beijing. Sold as one of the new attractions of the winter fortnight by an Olympic Committee (IOC) anxious to unite a new fringe of spectators, the ski and snow freestyle event had to succeed in its Games, carried by its assets: a huge springboard, spectacle, adversity and a good dose of suspense for the medal. Contract respected so far, culminating in the crazy scenario of the women’s freestyler final, and a first Chinese gold medal at stake.
The acrobatics of Eileen Gu, Tess Ledeux and others were very appealing. But they were partly eclipsed by a controversy widely relayed on social networks: the site of the competition, unpacked by the Chinese organizers in the middle of an industrial wasteland in the western suburbs of Beijing.
A juxtaposition of photos widely used on the canvas shows an off-piste with the air of a dystopian setting, ideal for shooting a remake of the “Mad max” franchise, ironically those who denounce the ecological absurdity of such a choice. “A joke”, “a disgrace”, “skiing in a nuclear power plant!?”one can read among other disillusioned comments.
Behind the launching ramp of the springboard, which culminates at 60 meters in height, it is impossible not to linger over this greyish expanse where chimneys, blast furnaces and cooling towers mingle, vestiges of a gigantic former industrial complex on which the China and the IOC saw fit to bet.
Rehabilitation
Fifteen years earlier, the place, which extends on the shore of Lake Qunming, was the prerogative of the Shougang group, a huge private steel company. A true flagship of Chinese industry: still in 2020, it was one of the ten largest steel producers by tonnage in the country. The giant factory, emblematic of Beijing, was one of the largest employers in the capital and its surroundings. Among the most polluting sites, too.
Ahead of the 2008 Olympics, several government-initiated economic restructuring and pollution control initiatives forced the group to partially shut down, before relocating in 2010 to Caofeidian in neighboring Hebei province.
The local authorities left the site deserted for a time, before rehabilitating it over the years into a vast leisure park – “Shougang Park” – while retaining its steelmaking experience. The city of Beijing also considers the site as a “green and ecological demonstration area”which could spread to other declining territories.
It is in this context that China received the approval of the IOC to plan the 2022 edition of the Winter Games. The organizers therefore deemed it appropriate to set up what is currently the first and only permanent “Big air” site there. Too bad if it lacks a simulacrum of mountain scenery to give the illusion of being in a high station.
The organizers defend themselves by highlighting the “successful conversion” of the place, in the process of hosting a complex of office buildings, a museum, a shopping center, cafes and a water park. And sports facilities, therefore. In addition to the springboard, several adjacent historic buildings have been integrated into the Olympic adventure: the training centers have been erected in the middle of the old furnaces, while a former iron ore storage tower currently houses the Beijing headquarters. 2022, which boasts of the reduced investments of the process, in contrast to other projects created from scratch.
Still, in terms of image, the contrast of the site, accentuated by the artificial snow, risks remaining like a good thorn in the spatulas of China and the IOC. Especially since the “Big air” site is not the only one to be vilified by public opinion. The one in Yanqing, where the alpine skiing events take place at an altitude of 484 m, has been strongly criticized for its location in the heart of the Songshan National Nature Reserve, founded in 1985 with the aim of protecting its dense forests and its meadows.