Beijing will host a cross-country skiing competition for the first time this March, with events taking place separately in three of the city's new winter sports stadiums.

The three-day competition will be on March 1, 2, and 4, taking place at the western square of the National Stadium (also known as the Bird's Nest), the Shougang Industrial Park, and the Badaling International Convention Center of Yanqing district, respectively. The event is held by the International Ski Federation (FIS) and sponsored by Beijing Capital Group Company Limited.

"We are trying to make a good start of 2019 by hosting the competition, and it will greatly promote the development of cross-country skiing in China and play an important role in event organization, training of professionals, and so on," said Chen Jie, deputy director of Beijing Municipal Sports Bureau at a press conference on Monday.

Prize money attractive to international participants

Two hundred athletes will compete for a record-high prize pool of 1.5 million yuan (US$221,400). Half of them are domestic competitors, with the other 100 international players coming from 20 foreign countries. According to Ding Dong, executive deputy director of the Winter Games Center of the General Administration of Sports, some players from China's national teams, who are now training in foreign countries, will also return and participate in the competition.

Kikkan Randall, Olympic gold medalist and a breast cancer survivor, is picked as the spokesperson of the competition. Randall has won World Cup championships 13 times and dominated the first spot of the World Cup Ranking in women's short distance skiing for three years in a row. 

FIS Secretary General Sarah Lewis said the competition is without a doubt an important opportunity for Beijing to introduce skiing to the public, and wished it a great success.

Promoting the development of winter sports

"In the past, most of the snow sports were held in deep mountains and forests," Ding said. "This time we are going to hold a high-level international cross-country skiing competition in the core area of the capital, so it is more convenient for the public to watch the events at a closer range. By attracting more people to participate, we will promote the development of ice and snow sports in China."

Cross-country skiing is a very important part of the Winter Olympic Games. Of all the 109 events in the Beijing Winter Olympic Games, 26 are related to cross-country skiing. However, at present the competitive level of cross-country skiing in China is still lagging behind. "This competition has attracted many high-level international players. It provides a good opportunity for Chinese players to compete and learn. Besides, the competition will also help Chinese athletes to earn points and strive for eligibility for the Beijing Winter Olympics," Ding said.

High-quality event organization underway

In recent years, Beijing has held many large-scale, high-level international ice and snow events, but none has been a cross-country skiing competition. In March, the average outdoor temperature of Beijing will rise to about 10 degrees Celsius, and snow making will be the first challenge of hosting the competition. According to Chen, the organizing committee has adopted the suggestions of experts from FIS and deployed the most advanced snow-making and snow-storage technologies, which have greatly improved high-temperature snow-making and scientific snow storage. Up to now, the snow-making work of the three races has been completed, the laying of the track will begin on Wednesday, and the construction of the ancillary facilities, landscape layout and other structures are also being carried out in an orderly manner.

"The organizing committee has equipped two sets of teams in the aspects of organizational timing, live recording, track shaping, and so on, and has worked out in detail the contents, steps, and timetables of the transition of competition terrains," Chen said, adding that he hopes Beijing's experience of hosting the competition will play an exemplary role for other cities to carry out similar events in the future.

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