杨扬谈双奥之城:不同目标,共同价值
2022-02-24马振寰
马振寰
14年前,北京举办了夏季奥运会,今年又迎来了冬奥会,至此北京成为世界上唯一举办过冬夏两季奥运会的城市。2008年奥运会是在酷暑中进行竞技,2022年呈现的是冰雪覆盖的壮丽景象。
杨扬,中国首枚冬奥会金牌得主,也是2022年北京冬奥组委会运动员委员会主席。
场馆改造完毕后,北京和张家口在2022年2月4日迎来冬奥,这届冬奥会对中国和世界意味着什么?对话杨扬,听她讲述两届北京奥运盛会的不同目标和共同价值。
在北京首钢滑雪大跳台——雪飞天场馆旁,杨扬谈到,北京成为第一座双奥城市,这在奥林匹克历史上是第一次。所有中国人都记得,中国赢得夏奥会举办权的那一天是2001年7月13日。举办夏奥会14年后,北京迎来了冬奥会,虽然不如夏季奥运会那样被中国人民所熟悉,但这是一个极好的机会,让国民熟悉冬季运动。
當被问到为什么说这是一件里程碑意义的大事时,杨扬介绍,2008年中国努力向世界展现一场最棒的盛会,如今,正在努力让更多的人参与冬奥会,这也是中国当初对世界的承诺。北京冬奥会带动3亿人参与冰雪运动,这是对奥林匹克的重大贡献,举办奥运会对中国来说绝不仅仅是为了争金夺银。2008年北京夏奥会中国赢得世界瞩目,2022年中国把冬季运动推广给国人。“两次盛会将实现不同的目标,但体现的是同样的奥林匹克精神。”杨扬说道。
2022年,北京书写着新的历史,成为全球第一个既举办过夏季奥运会、又举办过冬季奥运会的“双奥之城”。北京冬奥会是中国重要历史节点上的重大标志性活动,是展现国家形象、促进国家发展、振奋民族精神的重要契机。
北京冬奥会,既是中国与世界的双赢,也是体育和经济社会发展的共舞。举办冬季奥运会,除了承担完成全球顶级赛事任务,还能带动冰雪产业发展,助推经济社会蓬勃发展。冰雪运动在中国市场前景广阔,具有巨大潜力,随着北京冬奥会等一系列活动成功申办、筹办、举办,将进一步点燃中国冰雪运动的“火炬”,带动亿万人民群众参与冰雪运动,弥补冰雪运动在中国的市场短板。
体育超越国界和种族,是全人类共同的语言,奥林匹克自诞生之日起就代表了对和平友爱的永恒追求。一个正在崛起的中国,必将以更加自信、开放、多元的形象,敞开胸怀、拥抱五湖四海的朋友。北京向世界各国朋友发出真诚邀请,欢迎大家来了解一个全新的中国。
A Dialogue with Yang Yang:
What the Beijing Winter Olympics Mean
By Ma Zhenhuan
Beijing hosted the Summer Olympics 14 years ago. Now, it became the only city in the world to have staged both the Winter and Summer Games. Just as the year 2008 saw sports played in the sweltering heat, the year 2022 sees a festival of ice and snow.
Yang Yang, China’s first Winter Olympic gold medalist, is the chairwoman of the Beijing 2022 Athletes’ Commission.
With renovation and transformation of the venues finished ahead of time, the Games kicked off on February 4, 2022. What do the 2022 Winter Olympic Games mean for China and the world? The Edgar Snow Newsroom of China Daily talked to Yang Yang about the different goals and shared values of the two Games.
Next to the Shougang Big Air, the freestyle skiing and snowboard ramp at the Shougang Industrial Park, where the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics organizing committee is based, Yang Yang said, “Beijing will be the first city to have hosted both the Summer and Winter Olympics,” the very first in the Olympic history. “I think all the Chinese people still remember the day when we won the 2008 Summer Olympics bid on July 13, 2001,” she continued. While not as familiar to the Chinese people as the Summer Games, the 2022 Winter Olympic Games are a great opportunity for people to understand winter sports.
When asked why the event is an important milestone, Yang Yang believed that China tried to present the best organization and the best Games in 2008, and now “we are trying to involve as many as we can so that more people can participate the Olympics”. That is what China promised to the world. In fact, over 300 million people have come to enjoy winter sports thanks to the Beijing Winter Games, which is a major contribution to the Olympics. As always, the Olympics are more than just winning medals. In 2008, China impressed the world and in 2022, China has brought winter sports to the Chinese people. “The two Games have different goals, but they reflect the same Olympic values,” Yang Yang said.
In 2022, Beijing, as a “Dual Olympic City”, is destined to write a new chapter in history. The Beijing Winter Olympic Games are an important milestone at an important juncture of China’s history, and present an important opportunity to showcase the national image, promote national development and inspire the national spirit.
The Beijing Winter Games are not only a win-win result for China and the whole world, but also a “dance” between sports and economic and social development. Hosting the Winter Olympics, apart from the sports events per se, will help promote the development of the ice and snow industry, boosting economic and social development. Ice and snow sports have a broad prospect and great potential in the Chinese market. With the bidding, preparation and holding of the Beijing Winter Olympic Games, the “torch” of the ice and snow sports will be further lit up in China, leading hundreds of millions of people to participate in winter sports and making up for the previous gap in the Chinese market.
Sport transcends national boundaries and races and is the common language of mankind. Since its birth, the Olympics has symbolized our eternal pursuit of peace and friendship. A rising China will embrace friends from all over the world with growing confidence, openness and diversity. Beijing is ready, and has extended sincere invitations to friends from all across the globe to understand a new China.