MUST LIVE IN CAMP: Biathlon queen Mart Olspo Roseland has to live at the Olympic camp in Beijing with the rest of the skating team. Olympic Summit has rented its own Olympic quarter, but Chinese Corona rules force Norway’s ski stars to stay in one of the Olympic villages. Photo: NTB
Olympic Summit secured a separate Olympic quarter for cross-country skiing and biathlon and a Games community in Beijing. Infection control means that only Norwegian directors are allowed to live there.
Initially, Norwegian cross-country skiers, bodybuilders, and athletes were to live in a youth hostel in Zhangjiakou with a coaching staff and support staff. The 62 rooms were rented by Olympiatoppen three years ago.
But China’s Corona rules mean that the Norwegian ski stars and the biggest hopes for a medal must remain in one of the Olympic villages on an equal footing with all other countries.
Leather Hotel
– Fortunately we were able to get the hotel’s approval inside the corona bubble. About 70 of our managers have moved there and will live there. We are so happy. Winter sports director Helge Barnes says he wasn’t sure where we could have ended up.
Norway opted for a similar scheme at NOK 6.5 million at the PyeongChang Olympics. A record was set with 39 Norwegian medals. The investment in the Beijing Olympics will not be wasted, but the housing plan for the “Eagle’s Nest” (Eagle’s Nest) will not go as planned.
The Chinese Olympic Games will be held in three different locations. Figure skating, ice hockey, curling, and freestyle (big air) have been added to Beijing, while figure skating, bobsleighing, figure skating, and skateboarding are all taking place in Yanqing. Zhangjiakou will be the venue for cross-country skiing, biathlon, jumping, snowboarding, and other freestyle exercises.
Uncertainty about the preprocessing factor
There will be different initial stamps for different sports. Cross-country skiers also have an altitude training program to consider before the Olympics.
It varies from one sport to another when traveling. Everyone has to go so you get acclimated with time. The advice is that they leave about seven days earlier, so you can take one hour a day. That’s the recommendation to adapt, Barnes says.
– Then there is still uncertainty about this with aircraft. There won’t be many people traveling there during the Olympic period. Much is not clear, but we are in dialogue with SAS. Some sports may need more adaptation than others to finish the forces.
Olympic rules also state that you cannot travel to Beijing with an internal layover in China. Thus Hong Kong was eliminated as a potential stop on the road.
Test trip before Christmas
On January 20, the final Olympic selection will be ready. This time, the Norwegian preparations will not be as good as one would like. The coronavirus pandemic and restrictions make it more difficult, but Bartense stresses that the same applies to everyone.
We didn’t do an inspection trip to see the snow conditions. Usually we should be there two or three times. It’s been three years since we were last there. What we got with us is that there are great facilities. Ice rinks, ski jumps and cross-country ski trails look good. We have received video material of racetrack profiles that we have shared with the athletes, says Olympiatoppen’s Winter Sports Director.
He can also tell us that the organizers are planning to hold some demo events before the Games.
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– We go with some athletes combined and some jumpers to China 1-6. Dec. Five or six of the Olympic summit will also be joining to test what we can test at this time of year. We are looking forward to coming. It would be good even if it was special.
On Wednesday, there are 100 days left until the opening of the Olympics.
(© NTB)
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