On Thursday 20th and Friday 21st July 2017, FIS Secretary General Sarah Lewis participated at Leaders Sport Business Summit in Beijing (CHN) where she led a Workshop Session about the impact of Beijing 2022 on the development of Winter Sports. She was joined by Chinese Ski Association Vice President Steve Dong Yang and Martin Wang Dong, Vice President International for Alisports and the group communicated the objectives and actions with Get Into Snow Sports-China(GISS-China), which is designed to engage 30 million new winter sports participants over the next five years.
The previous day Sarah Lewis met with the management of the Beijing Sports University Winter Sports College which has now been up and running for one year. This specialist institution that already works very closely with the Chinese Ski Association will host the GISS-China office and provide staff to administer the project. The course material will be developed by the FIS Academy using the methodology and institutionally recognised certification system by the World Academy of Sport.
In addition to meetings with the Chinese Ski Association and the Organisers of the World Winter Sport Expo Beijing 2017, she also visited the new Ski Centre in the Olympic Park Forest. The complex which comprises of dry ski slopes which occupy 20'000 square meters is now up and running. The facility has been built on the site of the dining room for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games and uses a new form of plastic invented in China, and already in use at other ski centres including the Olympic Park in Park City (USA). This new ski centre complex will combine the role of enabling many newcomers to learn to ski and snowboard, and providing dedicated training facilities for the Chinese Ski Teams.
Sarah Lewis said: "There is great drive in China to maximise the opportunity presented by the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games to produce more athletes at the highest levels, but also to use as a catalyst to develop the sport and industry recreationally all over the country. The "Get Into Snow Sports-China" will contribute significantly to the Chinese Government's goal to engage 300 million new winter sport participants by 2022."
