Athletes off to battle during holiday period
With the COVID-19 pandemic casting a shadow over the 2020-21 season, China's winter sports governing body is launching a series of internal test events to compensate for the current lack of international competitions.
Usually a rest period for China's winter sports athletes, the upcoming National Day holiday will this year instead offer the nation's best skiers, snowboarders and curlers the chance to do battle in a series of domestic events, which will also facilitate organizational preparations for the 2022 Beijing Olympics.
From Oct 1-13, all available national team athletes in eight sports-curling, freestyle skiing aerials, mogul, cross-country skiing, snowboarding and freeski big air, ski jumping and Nordic combined-will compete at events staged to international standards in five locations-Beijing, Qinhuangdao in Hebei province, Chengdu and two venues in Jilin province-according to the National Winter Sports Administrative Center.