Norwegian Ambassador to China Signe Brudeset delivers a speech at the 1-year countdown to the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics & Paralympics on Friday in Beijing. Photo: courtesy of the Norwegian Embassy in Beijing

The Norwegian delegation celebrated the 1-year countdown to the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics & Paralympics via a video conference on Friday to warm up for the games and to increase public attention and enthusiasm, with participants from Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou in China and Oslo in Norway attending the meeting.

Signe Brudeset, Norwegian Ambassador to China, revealed that Norway has been cooperating with China on exchanging experiences on best practice in order to make the Winter Olympics in Beijing 2022 a great success. Norway and China signed an official sports cooperation agreement in 2017. 

"Norway offers unparalleled expertise in design, management, and construction of winter sports infrastructure. We look forward to seeing more business exchanges, as companies in China and Norway get together to develop the products and services needed to develop Chinese winter sports culture,” Brudeset said. 

"Norwegian coaches and athletes are cooperating with Chinese cross-country and biathlon teams in their preparatory work for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. Many Chinese youth athletes have been training in Norway in recent years, attending sports high schools and training for upcoming seasons.”

Tore Øvrebø and Cato Pedersen, heads of the Norwegian delegation for the 2022 Beijing Paralympic Winter Games introduced the Norwegian preparations for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. 

At the event, young Norwegian athletes preparing for the Beijing Winter Olympics also sent videos to Beijing, including the famous Norwegian skier Einar Bjorndalen who won three gold medals in the men's 10km, 15km and 12.5km biathlon in the 2002 Winter Olympics biathlon. He is known as the "king of biathlon" in Norway.

Lise Nordgaard, consul general of the Norwegian consulate in Shanghai told the Global Times on Friday that there is a saying that “Norwegians are born with skis on their feet” and winter sports is a big part of Norwegian culture and history, adding “comradeship, inclusiveness, equality and a healthy lifestyle are values that are important for Norwegian society.”

Nordgaard has previously spent five years in Beijing and believes Beijing and Northern China are ideal places for the Chinese public to learn about skiing and cultivate enthusiasm for winter sports. 

With a population of 5 million inhabitants, Norway is a top winter Olympic nation with 368 Winter Olympic medals, including 132 gold medals, and it is among the most successful countries at the Winter Paralympics with 315 medals, including 134 gold medals.

The event was jointly organized by the Norwegian Embassy in Beijing and the consulates in Shanghai and Guangzhou.