Ice hockey players compete at the National Indoor Stadium in Beijing on Friday. Photo: Lu Wenao/GT

The National Indoor Stadium kicked off a series of ice hockey events on Friday as part of a rehearsal for hosting the 2022 Winter Olympics, with the epidemic prevention measures remaining at a high level.

"We are analyzing if our epidemic prevention measures could be enough to prevent the spread of the virus during the 2022 Olympics," Song Yan, vice chief of the medical operation staff at the National Indoor Stadium, told the Global Times.

"Currently, all athletes, referees and staff participating in the events are from non-high-risk regions in China, but we are still on alert and trying to see what we could do to improve our emergency plans."

Only domestic athletes are competing in the ice hockey races, Song said, adding athletes need to submit a verification of vaccine injection or a negative nucleic acid test certificate within seven days before the race.

Along with the men's ice hockey events at the National Indoor Stadium, curling events are being held at the neighboring National Aquatics Center. Wukesong Arena in southwest downtown Beijing will host the women's ice hockey events.

The Capital Indoor Stadium will host figure skating and short-track speed skating races, while the only newly built stadium in downtown Beijing for the 2022 Winter Olympics, the National Speed Skating Oval, will host its first formal competition since its inauguration late last year.

Though the series events are not officially the test events for the 2022 Olympics, which are expected to take place in the second half of 2021 when foreign athletes are likely to attend, they are taking Olympic-level operational measures in hosting the games.

Don Moffatt of the US, formerly chief icemaker for Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics, on Friday was seen driving an ice resurfacer at the National Indoor Stadium, a multi-function venue that hosted gymnastics events during the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics. 

"We invited Moffatt as our chief icemaker, along with 15 domestic icemakers, to provide the athletes state-of-the-art ice conditions for them to compete," said Lei Ming, a senior official of the venue. "We hope his experience could also help us cultivate domestic world-level icemakers."