The 2022 Winter Olympic Games took place in Beijing, China, in the surrounding regions of Yanqing District and Chongli District. The event officially opened on February 4 and included a record number of sporting events (109) and disciplines (15), seven of which were presented in this edition for the first time: men's and women's big air freestyle, women's mono-bob, mixed team competitions in freestyle skiing, ski jumping, snowboard cross and the mixed short track speed skating relay.
The Olympics, however, are not just competitions: behind the scenes, the athletes train and before entering the ice, they walk the ring around the rink already with their skates on. The fitness areas and the transit zones need equally high performance flooring.
MONDO, already a supplier of the sports flooring used in the warm-up gyms and ice arenas for numerous editions of the Winter Olympic Games - from Albertville 1992 to Lillehammer 1994, from Nagano 1998 to Salt Lake City 2002 up to Turin 2006 and Vancouver 2010 - has been chosen to supply the surfaces for Beijing 2022 as well.
Let's find out together which venues of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games have been equipped with MONDO flooring and why our sports surfaces proved ideal not only in the sports areas, but also around the skating rinks.
The National Speed Skating Oval is the dedicated speed skating arena for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, the only new venue designed and built specifically for this international event.
Among the few ice arenas in the world to use a natural refrigerant instead of traditional environmentally harmful synthetic refrigerants, this building was designed completely with environmental sustainability in mind. Therefore, even the sports flooring installed in the heating zones had to meet the project's eco-sustainability imperatives.
The Mondotrack WS athletics track, a surface on which - in the last edition of the Summer Olympics alone - no less than 3 World Records were broken, was installed together with the Sport Impact rubber flooring in the Elite Training Center designed in the basement of the structure.
Both floors are Greenguard Gold certified for minimal VOC emissions, contain no isocyanates and are manufactured using recycled raw materials free of contaminants.
But the choice of MONDO flooring for training areas testifies, in addition to attention to the environment, the attention of the Chinese Olympic Committee for the athletes involved: training must be carried out on sports surfaces that meet the biomechanical requirements, maximize the performance of athletes and minimize accidents and injuries. And in this, MONDO rubber flooring, uniform and with excellent shock absorption values, is unbeatable.
Shougang Park, a steel mill converted into a cultural and sports complex in the Shijingshan district in western Beijing, is the headquarters of the Beijing 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Organizing Committee. The area is home to the famous "Big-Air Shougang slope", the venue for outdoor jumping competitions.
This complex houses the city's largest dedicated winter sports training center, a curling arena, a figure skating center and a dedicated short-track speed skating arena.
MONDO supplied the Sportflex Super X 720 K39 athletic track and Sport Impact rubber flooring for the training center.
Sport Impact is also the surface of choice for the ring around the rink, transit areas and locker rooms in the curling, figure skating and speed skating arenas.
This ultra-durable sports flooring, thanks to its 3 mm compact rubber wear layer (out of a total thickness of 10 mm) is able to withstand the cuts and lacerations of skate blades and the temperature changes and humidity typical of an ice arena.
The National Ice and Snow Sports Training and Research Base has been used by the Chinese team as a training center in preparation for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. It occupies a total area of approximately 58,600 m2 and consists of a speed skating rink, a roller skating rink, a dormitory and a rehabilitation center. For this facility, Mondo has provided Sport Impact and Ramflex flooring installed at the edge of the rink and in the transition areas.
The National Bobsleigh and Tobogganing Center can boast the status the first bobsleigh and tobogganing track in China, the third in all of Asia. After the Winter Olympics, the center will be used to host international competitions and will also become the training venue for the Chinese national team. For this facility, MONDO supplied the Sportflex Super X 720 K 39 athletic track and Sport Impact rubber flooring.
Hebei Chengde National Saihanba Training Base covers a total area of 41,000 m2 and its facilities cover a large area of 24,000 m2. Built at an altitude of 1,300 meters, it is a complete facility for the practice of ice sports: a circuit for speed skating and figure skating, curling and speed skating on a short track, this center does not seem to lack anything!
The Hebei Chengde National Saihanba Training Base has been used by the Chinese team as a training facility in preparation for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.
The indoor athletic track was made with Sportflex Super X 720 K39 surface, while the ring around the ice rink, locker rooms and transit areas were made with Sport Impact.
Watch the interview that Claudio Raimondo, general manager of MONDO China gave shortly before the start of the Games on national television.
For the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, MONDO has once again proven that it has the right sports surfaces in its range for ice arenas and high-level training centers. Contact us to discuss your project.