Suiting up for a shared future

German skiers' Chinese-language uniforms a 'show of respect' to host on the slopes 

Beijing 2022 is living up to its motto, "Together for a shared future", with the Games providing plenty of instances of goodwill among athletes from across the globe, despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

One unlikely cross-cultural encounter has been provided by the German Alpine skiing team－or more precisely, the team's racing suit design.

The uniform has caught the eye of Chinese audiences, who have been impressed by its use of Chinese characters to spell out "Team Germany". And the special design, according to the team leader, is intended to be a nod of respect to the host nation.

"This is only to show the people of China our respect. We would like to show them that we are connected. We are talking about the shared future together, and this is not just a sign for us," Wolfgang Maier, director of the German Alpine skiing team, told China Daily on Thursday.

"Germans and Chinese always have good relationships on the economic side and we would like to represent this kind of connection on the sports side."

Maier admitted he was taken aback by the design at first because he did not understand the meaning of the Chinese characters.

"I asked the designer what the characters meant. And I felt it's really cool and it's totally strange to our own culture. The designers explained it to me," he said.

"We are the only team in the world here to have such design on the racing suit. We are very proud and happy when the Chinese people appreciate that Germans use this kind of suit."

Maier traveled to Beijing in 2018 to see the preparations for the Winter Olympics. After finally leading his country's skiers to compete at the National Alpine Skiing Centre in Yanqing, he praised the quality of the course, describing the slopes as very challenging.

The skiers, too, were impressed.

"The course is pretty good. In good shape, good conditions," said Germany's Romed Baumann who finished seventh in the men's super-G and 13th in men's downhill.

"Yes, it's safe. We had some days of training on the super-G course and normally we are used to it. We knew what was going to happen in the training today.

"Nobody was having big problems. This is not the first time we have been on a new course and it's always the same."

Speaking of his journey so far at Beijing 2022, Maier said he was especially impressed by the opening ceremony of the Beijing Games.

"We had the limitation of the participant numbers, so I did not go to the opening ceremony. But people were very impressed by the techniques used and how the show was made," said Maier.

"One of my racers was there and she told me it was the most impressive opening ceremony she ever saw in her life.

"And my wish is that the difficult COVID pandemic situation can go away, and we can meet the Olympic idea of being together. So we can understand different cultures from different nations."

shifutian@chinadaily.com.cn