Asia's center of excellence on ice

"The ISU set up the Center of Excellence facilities in many different countries that have a strong tradition in skating. And China, of course, is a strong skating country with a beautiful facility," said Kim, the first non-European leader of the ISU in its 131-year history.

"We really appreciate our Chinese colleagues for hosting the camp to develop skating not only in China, but throughout the world.

"This is a great opportunity for the skaters from the warmer-climate countries to train with top-level coaches on the fast Olympic ice ...We look forward to coming back to the Center of Excellence in Beijing with more opportunities for athletes from different countries."

Xiang Qin, a 26-year-old amateur skater from Singapore, said she was "overwhelmed by the magnificence" of the venue as soon as she stepped onto the ice.

"I really appreciate the opportunity to skate on the Olympic track at such a giant oval, which isn't possible in Singapore," said Xiang, who has been training part-time in short-track racing for three years at a shopping-mall rink in Singapore.

"I am so motivated by the Olympic atmosphere to make the best out of every day training here," she added in fluent Mandarin.

Located in Beijing's northern downtown area, where the altitude is close to sea level, the Ice Ribbon earned a resounding thumbs-up from Olympians at Beijing 2022 as one of the world's fastest tracks. Ten Olympic speed skating records were broken at the Games, matching the record total from Salt Lake City in 2002, where the oval is situated over 1,400 meters above sea level on the Utah highlands.

High-altitude tracks, such as the Olympic Oval in Calgary, Canada, are more conducive to producing faster runs because there is less air resistance.

Another technical highlight of the Beijing oval is the use of an eco-friendly cooling system that adopts carbon dioxide as a refrigerant, instead of the harmful substance Freon, for the first time in Olympic history.

The new system freezes quicker and helps maintain a consistent temperature, density and firmness of ice across the track, allowing skaters to push their limits.

The Beijing leg of the 2023-24 ISU speed skating World Cup series is expected to wow the world's best speedsters upon their return to the Chinese capital, Kim said.

"The Ice Ribbon is not only one of the most beautiful venues, it also boasts a very fast track," he said.

"So we'd like to come back here regularly for more ISU events. We are very excited for the ISU World Cup because again athletes loved to skate here in 2022 and I'm sure they'll be so happy to be back."

The Ice Ribbon is scheduled to host the Beijing leg of the World Cup from Nov 17-19.