By Ji Fang, People’s Daily
The Beijing Organising Committee for the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games has recently revealed major elements of the award ceremony, including the podiums, awards tray, tray stand, custom-made souvenirs for winners, victory bouquets, and outfits for the award presentation staff.
The award ceremony of the Beijing 2022 has been planned based on the theme of “Ice and Snow, Glory and Honor”.
Adhering to the guiding principles of “simplicity, safety and excellence” in hosting the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, the elements of the award ceremony have been generally given simple and elegant appearance and useful and practical functions. They were made from environmentally friendly and sustainable materials and reflect the wide participation and sharing among various parties at the event.
The podiums, where medals will be presented, are made from recyclable and environmentally friendly materials. Colored sky blue in keeping with the main color of the color scheme for the Beijing 2022 Winter Games, they also incorporate core graphics combined with ice and snow lines of the event. For athletes’ special needs, the podium of the Paralympic Winter Games has added a wheelchair ramp.
The awards tray, also made from pro-environment materials, looks like an opened book, signifying that the Beijing 2022 shows to the world a new chapter of Chinese culture and friendliness among countries.
The color of its edge features a blue and white gradient, which demonstrates the painting technique of “yun ran” in oriental art that creates the effect of ink meeting water. The special design of the edge of the awards tray symbolizes the integration of Chinese and global cultures and shows China’s support for openness, friendliness, peace and inclusiveness.
A tray stand will be set up at the award presentation site so that trays with medals and souvenirs can be positioned properly beforehand. The stand is sky blue, with the words “Beijing 2022” on it.
Customized souvenirs for medalists are the combination of the official mascots of the Beijing 2022—Bing Dwen Dwen and Shuey Rhon Rhon, and a wreath featuring pine, bamboo and plum blossom, which are known as the “Three Friends of Winter” and symbolize tenacity, determination, and exuberant vitality. The gifts are designed to convey praise and respect for and good wishes to the medalists.
In an effort to put into practice the concept of delivering frugal and sustainable Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Beijing 2022 will present hand-knitted bouquets to the medalists. The bouquet for winners at the Olympic Winter Games includes six types of flowers, namely rose, Chinese rose, lily of the valley, hydrangea, laurel and olive, which symbolize friendship, tenacity, happiness, unity, victory and peace, respectively. The color of the silk ribbon for the bouquet is blue from the Beijing 2022 color scheme, a symbol of winter sports.
The bouquet for medal recipients at the Paralympic Winter Games has one more flower — blue coreopsis that symbolizes strong will. The silk ribbon of the bouquet for the Paralympic winners is yellow, which means liveliness and vibrancy.
The outfits for the award presentation staff have three different designs named “Lucky Snow and Cloud”, “Great Landscape” and “Flying Snow in Tang Dynasty”. Each set of the uniform includes jacket, hat, gloves, boots and thermal underwear.
The “Lucky Snow and Cloud” outfit will be worn in all snow event competition venues; the “Great Landscape” costume will be used in all ice event victory ceremonies; and the “Flying Snow in Tang Dynasty” costume will be used during award presentation ceremonies to be held at the Beijing Medals Plaza.
Each of the three series of the uniforms, which adopt elements of traditional Chinese painting and weaving patterns, includes a blue outfit for the person that leads the way and a red one for the person who holds the tray.
