The spectacular defeat of the Chinese. “Like a knife digging into a skin”

In the Beijing region in winter you can feel like you are in Siberia. And it is from its direction that powerful, frosty winds blow towards China. In Chongli, the district of Zhangjiakou, where almost half of the Olympic Games are held, it was around -20 degrees Celsius in the morning of the first weekend. During the day, the indicators go up by a few dashes, but the so-called the perceived temperature does not change. All because of the wind – strong, gusty, irregular. He is the most disturbing factor for many athletes.

We know about it from the reports of ski jumpers who compete in random conditions. – on Saturday some of their training sessions were canceled by the wind, and on Sunday the downhill competition. Snowboarders and biathletes also complain. The Chinese wanted to control many things, but they did not manage to win the wind blowing from Siberia or the Gobi Desert.

“Sucks”

– We put as many layers as we can, but it’s still like in a freezer. You can see everyone waving their hands, jumping in place. Everyone is freezing here, said the Belarusian biathlete Hanna So³a. – It would be good if the starts were a bit earlier. When the sun goes down, the chill is so strong that it is difficult to bear skiing alone – she described.

But shooting is also very important in biathlon. Meanwhile, aiming at a golf ball-sized hole from a distance of 50 meters in severe frost and strong winds is reminiscent of the Chinese version of “Mission Impossible”. This is where millimeters count, and wind can affect the trajectory of a 0.22 inch projectile.

The “feel of the trigger” is also important for the players. Sometimes it’s hard to talk about something like that with frozen fingers. Norwegian biathlete Tarjei Boe admitted that he took 20 pairs of gloves for the Olympics, differing in thickness and layers. Hope some will be appropriate.

Biathletes adapt to winter conditions as much as they can. The shooting tests are carried out, for example, in a cooling chamber. They see then how different types of ammunition behave at a given temperature. However, it is also important how the players themselves behave in the cold and in the wind. In China, they feel great discomfort. “It is like a knife piercing the skin” – Yahoo journalists write about the words of sportsmen telling about the weather. “It sucks,” Jamie Anderson, a medal favorite in several snowboard competitions, said bluntly.

China’s Wind Wall? “They would need a bigger wall”

From the Olympic Village you can hear that you can try to cope with the cold, but it is difficult to be ready for a sudden gust of wind, up to 32 km / h. Especially when someone is about to be in the air – like snowboarders.

– It is the worst when it blows from different sides, then it is difficult to choose the right speed before a given trick. It can have unpleasant consequences – said the American snowboarder Hailey Langland. “It’s awkward to do tricks in the wind,” added two-time Olympic champion Jamie Anderson.

Journalists asked her if the Great Wall built along the track, carved in ice, fulfilled its function. – I like. I think it helps a little, she said. – But for these conditions the organizers would need a larger wall – she added half-jokingly, half-seriously.

Photo Lee Jin-man / AP

Alpine skiers do not have a mood for jokes in Beijing. On Saturday, some of their training sessions were canceled, and on Sunday – the entire rally in the downhill ride. “It had to be postponed to another day due to the current situation with gusts of wind and the updated weather forecast. The new starting time for the men’s rally is not known at present. Further details will be announced soon,” the organizers said.

– That’s what outdoor sports are like. They are not always fair – said Markus Waldner, the director of the race on Saturday, after the canceled training sessions.

Jumping against the wind

As for the wind in Chongli and the construction of facilities intended for jumpers, the Chinese had a headache. Two ski jumps were built on the slope of a hill that sheep and goats used to traverse. The design works on the hill started in 2016. Two years later, before the construction began, the engineers made significant adjustments to the plan. Instead of directing the landing hill to the South-East, it was directed to the East. It was supposed to better protect skiers from side and tail wind. Additionally, monstrous windbreaks were erected along the ski jump.

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“Additional elements may cause unnecessary problems. You could see them on Thursday and Friday training sessions” -. The point is that the wind that hits the hill from the front bounces off the side walls and creates air turbulence. The Chinese noticed this problem earlier on the example of a similar facility in Oslo, so the side shields on their hill were made of perforated metal. However, they did not solve the problem at all.

$ 60 million was generously spent on the construction of a spectacular complex, iron barriers, or even building an ice wall, the wind did not stop or stop the wind. The Chinese now focus on precise weather monitoring. Their devices provide complete data every 10 minutes – both live and forecast. It is already known that the biggest problems with the wind will be on February 7, 13 and 18.