Winter Olympics: Hong Kong trio Audrey King, Adrian Yung and Sidney Chu assess slopes and rink ahead of events
- Alpine skiers Yung and King, whose training was halted because of Covid-19 precautions, describe ‘hard and compact’ snow in Yanqing
- Flag-bearer and speed skater Chu went from ‘confidence in the gutter’ to ‘tip-top’ shape after training in the Beijing Capital Indoor Stadium
With most snow-based venues reliant on artificial snow generators, King, Yung and head coach Marko Rudic have been doing their homework at the Yanqing National Alpine Skiing Centre.
Having spent most of their pre-Games camp in Rudic’s native Bosnia, King is set to kicks things off in the women’s slalom on February 9, before Yung competes in the giant slalom and slalom on February 13 and 16, respectively.
“The artificial snow here is different to other times I’ve skied on artificial snow,” said Yung, 17, adding the terrain was “definitely among the steepest I’ve been on”.
“It’s confusing because it’s aggressive, but not aggressive, grippy but not at the same time. For now, my approach is to go down as smooth as possible and try to get my technique and form right. It’s always important to, but now more than ever on the hard, compact snow here, which can be a bit unpredictable.
02:39
Final preparations under way for artificial snow production at Beijing Winter Olympics
“My experience so far skiing on this snow has been perfect and I’m looking forward to training more. The slopes are challenging but perfect for ski racing, especially the race piste.
