On February 15th, the traditional Chinese Lantern Festival, the Men’s Snowboard Big Air final of the Beijing Winter Olympics was held at Big Air Shougang. Chinese athlete Su Yiming won the gold medal with his outstanding performance, becoming the youngest gold medalist in the history of the Winter Olympics. This was another gold medal following Gu Ailing’s win in the Women’s Freestyle Skiing Big Air and “flying in the snow” on February 8th. Once again, the blockbuster “Yiming” witnessed the glorious moment of Chinese athletes winning gold medals, and “Snowy Flying Apsaras” in Shougang Park was widely praised.

On the Lantern Festival, all events at Big Air Shougang were a complete success. At present, all four gold medals at Big Air Shougang in the Beijing Winter Olympics have been won, and two gold medals in the Women’s Freestyle Skiing Big Air and Men’s Snowboard Big Air were won by Chinese athletes Gu Ailing and Su Yiming respectively. Two gold medals in the Men’s Freestyle Skiing Big Air and Women’s Snowboard Big Air were won by Norwegian Birk Ruud and Austrian Anna Gasser respectively. China’s Rong Ge took 5th place in the Women’s Snowboard Big Air. This is the first time that Chinese athletes have participated in this event in the Winter Olympics and achieved historic breakthroughs.

As the venue of the Freestyle Skiing Big Air and Snowboard Big Air events of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, Big Air Shougang has also become the focus of Chinese and foreign media coverage due to its amazing appearance, and its popularity continues to be hot on the Internet. From February 5th to 15 o’clock on February 15th, 89,113 articles on Shougang Park were published by major news websites, MTs, WeChat, paper media, etc.. On February 11th and 12th, People’s Daily successively reported on Big Air Shougang under the titles “IOC President Bach Praises “Snowy Flying Apsaras”; I Witnessed the Birth of a Great Building” and “Why has Big Air Settled in Shougang Park? (Notes on the Winter Olympics)”. The former reads, “It has achieved the perfect integration of competition venue, industrial heritage reuse and urban renewal. Over seven years of attention, I have witnessed the birth of this great building.” IOC President Bach said that Shougang Park, as an Olympic venue, has brought surprises to the innovation and utilization of sports facilities.

On February 10th, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Big Air Shougang under the title, “The Winter Olympics You Don’t Know: Why is Big Air Shougang Famous Overseas?” Besides the dramatic competition process and the athletes testing their limits, Big Air Shougang has also become the focus of many overseas media groups. What makes Big Air Shougang famous overseas? To answer this question, the report introduces its unique background, design inspiration, “Shougang-made” steel materials, track conversion from a large smoke-free chimney, world’s first permanent site, high-tech assistance for athletes to take off, etc. Shougang Park has become an online sensation worldwide.

On February 9th, “Winter Olympics 1+1” on CCTV News focused on the keywords “Shougang Park” and its gorgeous transformation. As CCTV host Bai Yansong commented on the transformation, “Shougang made sacrifices because of the Olympics, and was then reborn because of the Olympics. After COVID-19 ends, Shougang Park will be an online sensation not only for China, but also for the whole world. This means the Olympics have given it a new lease of life”.

Big Air Shougang can be called an “Industrial Disneyland”. Germany’s Der Spiegel recently praised Big Air Shougang as an architectural model of the Winter Olympic Games, comparable to an “Industrial Disneyland”, and considered that it was reasonable, appropriate and sustainable to use abandoned industrial parks to develop winter sports. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) reported that Big Air Shougang is one of the most spectacular venues of this Olympic Games, and can be called an example of urban renewal. The world’s top skiers are struggling and striving to win Olympic glory. “At the 60-meter-high starting point, Olympians are treated to a magnificent panorama,” the Washington Post describes. “Straight ahead, they can see the magnificent Beijing skyline, with skyscrapers soaring into the sky. Behind them, they can see the steep, brown western hills in the distance. On their left, they can see a row of sci-fi cooling towers… Big Air Shougang may bring the most surreal images of this Olympics.” The Associated Press reported, “The rusty factories and machines remain, but the rest of the space is covered in lawns, mirror-like ponds and plenty of green vegetation. One of the blast furnaces has been transformed into a steampunk-style event space with shops, offices and exhibition halls”.

At present, all the events of this Winter Olympics have been completed at Big Air Shougang. Of all the post-Winter Olympic legacies, Big Air Shougang is the most storied. Along with the Dunhuang Apsaras and Beijing Shougang’s Olympic venues and industrial heritage, “Snowy Flying Apsaras” leaves a strong Chinese mark in Olympic history. After the “Bird’s Nest” and “Water Cube”, “Snowy Flying Apsaras” will become another landmark Olympic legacy of Beijing, the “Dual Olympic City”.

All visitors are shocked by Big Air Shougang, and Shougang staff who witnessed its construction are even prouder. Shougang staff who watched the events at the scene witnessed the beautiful presentation of Big Air Shougang at the Winter Olympics, and were excited beyond words. “He can really fly!” Su Yiming locked the gold medal before the last jump with his super-difficult movements and super-stable landing amid a warm atmosphere. Zhang Xuesong of the Institute of Technology said, “17-year-old Su Yiming won the gold medal, and I’m sincerely proud of him. Sitting in the audience, Big Air Shougang looks like the Apsaras in the Dunhuang murals and the glass slipper in fairytales, towering and graceful against the snow in the distance and huge cooling tower nearby. Here, the century-old Shougang Industrial Park is reborn again. It not only records a period in the histories of Shougang, Beijing and China, but also becomes a model for the Olympics in the promotion of urban development, reuse of world industrial heritage and revival of industrial zones. As a Shougang person, I was overwhelmed with emotion when I saw such great changes and wonderful events held at Shougang’s old factory. After watching the competition, I’ll certainly bring the athletes’ fighting spirit to my work, and cooperate with my colleagues to contribute to Shougang’s reform and development. Let’s go into the future together!”

Gu Lisong of the HRD Center said, “The site of Big Air used to be the place where I worked for over ten years, and now it’s become a stunning “Snowy Flying Apsaras” and permanently reserved sports facility. I’m very excited to be here today. I’m honored to witness the winning of Olympic gold medals and the glory the ‘Dual Olympic City’ on my doorstep. I’m honored to witness Shougang’s world-renowned contributions to the Olympics, not only leaving the greatest legacy of the Winter Olympics, but also realizing the rebirth of century-old Shougang. In this magical land, Shougang people have always created one glory and miracle after another with the spirit of “daring to struggle, persist, innovate, take responsibility and work hard”. The Winter Olympic athletes fought hard in the field and achieved remarkable results. I want to bring this spirit of ‘being the first’ to my work, dare to make breakthroughs and innovate in my work, and make greater contributions to Shougang’s development.”

Su Yu of Shougang Fund said, “As a grass-roots staff member of Shougang, I’m honored to come to Big Air Shougang, the most beautiful new landmark in the west of Beijing. I’m sincerely proud of the rebirth of Shougang’s industrial heritage from ‘fire’ to ‘ice’! Under the blue sky, this ‘Glass Slipper’ building with industrial architecture as its background is so elegant and beautiful, just like the flying Apsaras in the Dunhuang murals. History and the present, and the present and future, make me think a lot... Big Air Shougang has realized the effective transformation and perfect combination of industrial heritage and Olympic venue. Looking back, Shougang staff will never forget the relocation and adjustment of Shougang in 2008 for the Summer Olympic Games. Today, as Shougang staff, we’re here to witness the miracle created by Chinese people at Big Air Shougang. Under the blue sky, countless bold leaps and the pursuit of extreme challenges were fully performed at Big Air Shougang. I applaud the Chinese athletes.”

Li Weifeng of Shougang Cold Rolling Co., Ltd. said, “It’s freezing today, but it’s quite warm at Big Air Shougang. As a member of Shougang, I’m extremely proud that the Big Air events were held in Shougang Park. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, China has presented a green, simple, low-carbon and environmentally friendly event to the world, while also showing the image of China as a confident, inclusive and open country to the whole world. We’re all very proud to be Chinese. As a member of Shougang, I personally watched the Winter Olympics and felt the indomitable spirit of the athletes. Through this, I encouraged myself to work harder in the future to make my greatest contributions to the prosperity of our Motherland and the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.”

Zhang Shuang of the Sales Company said, “Today is China’s Lantern Festival and also the final day of Snowboard Big Air. This is my first time enjoying Big Air Shougang so closely under the Olympic rings, and witnessing every leap of Olympic athletes from all countries. Rong Ge, a 19-year-old from China, secured 5th place with a score of 160.00 points. Compared to previously not qualifying for slopestyle, her trip to the Winter Olympics has been very successful. Gu Ailing, Su Yiming and Rong Ge constantly challenge themselves on the ski slope, and their greatest motivation comes from the love in their hearts.”

Zhao Yixuan of the Administrative Center said, “Today, we’re very excited to watch the competition at Big Air Shougang. From a distance, Big Air looks like a flying ribbon in the Dunhuang murals. Looking closer, it is naturally connected with the adjacent Shougang cooling tower. The skyline has a perfect transition, and the contour lines of the inclined elevator are roughly symmetrically distributed with the arc of the cooling tower at a small angle without feeling weird. We watched the wonderful performances of athletes from all over the world in the Women’s Snowboard Big Air final. They performed all kinds of difficult movements in the air, which made the atmosphere at the scene boil. I’m proud of every athlete. I can’t describe how excited I am. I’m overwhelmed by their spirit of ‘being the first’. I will bring this spirit back to my work, have the courage to innovate and make greater contributions to Shougang.”