Curling volunteers keep lanes in perfect order

At the National Aquatics Center in Beijing, volunteers were working for the 2021 World Wheelchair Curling Championship, a test event that concluded on Saturday, ahead of the 2022 Winter Olympics that will be held in China.

The venue was called Water Cube during the Beijing 2008 Olympics, and will be known as Ice Cube for the upcoming Winter Games.

"Our daily work is busy but delightful," says Wang Yijia, leader of a volunteer team.

He is a student from the University of International Business and Economics, with a total volunteer service of more than 450 hours.

The cleanness of the ice surface is critical for curling events, as even the tiniest piece of dust or hair will affect the turning of stones used in the sport, so Wang and his teammates need to carefully wipe the wheelchairs of the athletes before each event to ensure the fairness of the competition.

During the event, the volunteers cleaned the curling stones before handing them to the athletes, and assisted the referee in collecting invalid stones at the end of the rink.

There are 16 stones for an eight-game match, which means volunteers need to wipe the stones over 100 times in total.

Each stone weighs nearly 20 kilograms, so it is not easy for volunteers working continuously for hours.

"When a match is over, our masks, gloves and clothes are soaked in sweat," Wang says.

In addition, the volunteers need to know the rules of curling and be able to communicate with referees in English to ensure the event runs smoothly.

"Although we are tired every day, and our legs are sore, we learn a lot and can always feel the warmth of the staff, athletes and our teammates," Wang adds.

"The Russian athletes give us candies after the match," Wang says. "Swedish athletes say, 'Perfect, thank you' when we put the curling stones in order, and Chinese athletes often remind us to take a break."

"This is a valuable experience for me as a college student. It would be my great honor to be an Olympic volunteer to emphasize my dedication to the Olympic spirit," Wang adds.