Volunteers rise to the challenge and serve with a smile

Volunteers play an integral part in the running of every Olympics, and the volunteer work at Beijing 2022 will leave an important legacy for years to come, according to the Games' organizing committee.

Teng Shengping, director-general of the volunteer department of the Beijing organizing committee, said that after the Games an extensive review will be carried out to learn from, transform and promote volunteer work in the areas of human resources and digital and intellectual heritage.

"After the Beijing Olympic and Paralympic Games we will keep in touch with the volunteers to preserve talents for development. We will also review all the mechanisms, policies and projects formulated for the Games so they can contribute to the Olympic culture," Teng said.

There are more than 18,000 volunteers at the Beijing Winter Games, including those working directly in the competitions, as well as venue management, language services and media services. Among them, 63 percent are working in the Beijing competition zone, 12 percent in Yanqing and 25 percent in Zhangjiakou. About 94 percent of all the volunteers are aged under 35.

"Before they serve the Games, all of them received extensive training, including those for both general and specific positions," Teng said.

With the Games taking place during Spring Festival, a time annually when families traditionally reunite, a special "home for volunteers" was created inside the closed loop to provide a more festive atmosphere for them.

Teng said there were greater challenges in organizing the Winter Games volunteers compared to the Summer Games in 2008, because of the pandemic and a lack of knowledge and experience in serving winter sports.