“China has been preparing for the Games for about seven years.” How the 2022 Olympics were created

The Olympic Games in Beijing are over. The athletes have returned home: some went straight back to their well-deserved vacations, and some returned to training. However, there are still those who were “on the other side” of the screen in Beijing – the organizers and volunteers.

Alexandra Seryogina, master of sports in alpine skiing and a member of the organizing committee of the Olympics-2022, told us when the Games really started and how they worked at the venues.

Olympic organizing expert

This is the third Games that I am holding as part of the organizing team.

Like any other organizing committee, the Beijing one started preparations 6-7 years before the Games themselves. That’s a long time, but all Olympic and Paralympic Games are major events that require the involvement of many parties and organizing bodies. I joined the Beijing team earlier than four years before the competition – as an expert.

Prior to that, I worked at the 2014 Sochi Olympics and the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games. The main differences from the other Olympics are the COVID-19 prevention measures and the new rules brought by the pandemic. Of course, all the games are different anyway because of the difference in the cultures of the countries.

I worked at a ski facility and was responsible for coordinating the foreign referees (about 100 people). They helped in exchanging experiences, organizing the ski slopes and ensuring safety on them.

My typical day during the Olympics usually started very early, around 3:30. Our bus to the ski area would leave at 4:00-4:30. We had to arrive early enough to finish preparing the slopes before the jury inspection. When we arrived at the site, we would have a short briefing, change clothes, and head out to prepare the piste.

We were usually at the site until 17:00-18:00 and returned to the hotel around 20:00. I also served as a COVID-19 prevention officer during these games. It was a very busy period, a lot of work and extra communication.

Along with me, my dad worked at these games, it was his first Olympics. He is engaged in high-rise works and here for three years he participated in the preparation of security networks at the site. By the way, he is a master of sports of the USSR in mountaineering.

When organizing the sports part of the competition, communication with athletes and teams is inevitable. We held meetings of team captains, where all coaches were present. We used the same elevators and gondolas as the athletes. But because of the epidemiological situation, there were rules that everyone adhered to.

For example, we had to stay at least two meters away from the athletes to protect ourselves and the athletes. Everyone does their job here. We – prepare the courses for fair and safe competitions, the competitors – show results.

I’ve been living in China for over four years now. I am learning the language and I can speak a little, but I use the most necessary phrases for ordinary life. I need to finish learning it.

If we talk about sports, basketball, soccer and other team sports are popular here. Chinese people in general are very active. Many people run and go to fitness gyms, older people dance in parks. For example, the main building of the Organizing Committee had a free gym for employees. And last year I started a women’s rugby team. And we do have a lot of Chinese players who are keen to develop abilities and try to make women more visible in the sport.

At the moment, we’re still in Beijing. Firstly, because we have been working on the facility from the first to the last day of the Games. Alpine skiing is very weather dependent, which is why the jury, the International Olympic Committee and the Organizing Committee decided to move our last competition to the final day. Secondly, the Paralympic competitions are ahead and we will continue to work on our facility.