Beijing 2022 will usher in 'new era' of figure skating culture in China

However, since finding out that their nation's capital was bidding for the 2022 Olympic Winter Games, the two have focused all of their efforts on stirring excitement and enthusiasm for the bid through numerous skating and charitable events.

"Since retiring, we have spent the past five years doing everything we can to bring this 'new era' of Chinese figure skating to fruition," Shen Xue said. "But there truly is nothing like hosting a Winter Olympics on their front doorsteps to inspire our fans to pick up figure skating. We truly believe that Beijing 2022 will be instrumental in ushering in the new era of figure skating culture in China."

As lifelong athletes who have also been working as coaches helping to train China's rising stars, Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo have witnessed the athlete experience from multiple perspectives: Thus, they have a unique gift to offer Beijing 2022 in its pursuit of designing a Winter Olympics bid that is fully athlete-centered, from the "end-to-end" athlete journey (including pre-Games, Games-time and post-Games) to the committee's plans to establish an Athletes' Commission involving athletes from every sport on the Winter Olympics program, which will help ensure that all athletes' needs are fully met.

"In my years as an athlete, I have learned that a gold-medal effort involves the commitment of many, many people behind the scenes, including multiple generations of Chinese athletes. I am happy to do what I can to help make Beijing's bid as perfect as it can be," said Shen Xue.

As part of her efforts to promote both the bid and winter sports development in China, Shen Xue traveled to Sochi's Russian International Olympic University (RIOU) with a delegation of twenty-four other sports officials from all over China to begin a training course on all aspects involved when organizing and hosting a high-profile sports event. Shen Xue, who is working as Deputy Director of the Figure Skating department at the Winter Games Center, studied everything from on-site training to post-Games use of venues directly from those who held the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games.

As Chin's president Xi Jinping put it, a cornerstone of Beijing's bid for the 2022 Olympic Winter Games is that it would inspire "300 million Chinese to participate in winter sports." In the same vein, Zhao Hongbo called out to the local crowds at a Beijing 2022 charity event last April, saying: "Come on, get up, get out, and get active! We athletes are here to take our love of ice and snow, and share it with all of you."