To make better use of the legacy of Beijing Winter Olympics, give full play to the public welfare function of the venue, and promote the sports for the disabled, the National Speed Skating Oval held the "Light Up the Ice Ribbon for a Shared Future", an experience day for public benefits, and the opening ceremony of the "08-22 Football Field" in the south part of the venue on September 17, 2022.
Six blind soccer players and two coaches were invited to participate in the activity. They conducted blind football performance training, explained knowledge about the sport, and offered visitors on-site interactive teaching.
During the event, Zhang Qiang, a member of the China blind men’s football team that participated in the 2008 Summer Paralympics, appeared as a special guest and attracted the attention of the gathering. During the 2008 Summer Paralympics, the China blind men’s football team lost to the Brazilian team in the final of the football 5-a-side event and won a silver medal, the best result in the history of Chinese men's football. Now, the National Speed Skating Oval stands tall here as an iconic venue of Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, in which we witnessed ten Olympic records and one world record for speed skating events and the "fastest ice" known to the world.
The inheritance of the Summer Olympic Games and the sustainable development in the future were fully considered when selecting the site of the National Speed Skating Oval. Located on the northwest side of the South Park of the Olympic Forest Park, the "Ice Ribbon" was built on the location of the former hockey field and archery field of the 2008 Summer Olympics, where the blind football 5-a-side at the 2008 Summer Paralympics was held. As the only newly built ice competition venue in Beijing Zone for the Winter Olympics, this venue will gradually form a cultural cluster of Olympic Winter Games featuring "one lake, one field, and one track." The one field refers to the football field for today's event. Using the world's leading artificial turf production technology, it inherits and pays a tribute to the legacy of the Summer Olympic Games.
Named "08-22 Football Field", it is paved by All Victory Grass (Guangzhou) Co., Ltd., a professional turf manufacturer. It undertakes international blind football matches, provides professional teams with a training ground, and meets the 5-a-side and 7-a-side football match needs of the public. To better popularize blind football and win their support and care for the sports and disabled, the staff of the "Ice Ribbon" specially prepared eye masks and footballs for visitors, so that they could experience the football world of blind players. The venue will be open to the public in the near future. Please follow the Official WeChat Account of the National Speed Skating Oval for more information.
When guiding the public to change their summer leisure style and transforming from the "fastest ice" to the "ice for the public", the "Ice Ribbon" never forgets its social welfare responsibilities as a state-owned enterprise. The official opening of the "08-22 Football Field" marks the normal operation of the venue for social benefits. By experiencing the blind football by themselves, more people can be motivated to care for the social vulnerable groups and those in need of care, bring them warmth and strength, and pass on the "positive energy" of football. In the future, the National Speed Skating Oval will create an ice and snow sports center integrating sports competitions, mass fitness, cultural leisure, exhibitions and presentations, social activities for public good, and other functions, use the brand and space of the venue to serve social benefit projects, and serve as an important window to showcase the unique charm of Chinese culture and a gorgeous name card to demonstrate the development of ice and snow sports in China.
