A few minor frostbites are acceptable, says Philipp Nawrath; for an Olympic medal, the willing biathlete is willing to suffer a little. However, warm thoughts are quickly no longer enough in the Chinese Olympic bubble, in which one still cannot be sure whether it is not all a huge, camera-monitored dome – and the temperature suddenly turned up again after the Olympic flame went out will. But now: minus 22 degrees, for example, there is quickly only one thing, so-called survival.
There’s no other way to explain how the reporters are standing there at the barrier in their six to ten layers of clothing. Carefully layered on top of each other in the hotel room in the morning, still with a high level of inner resistance to the ski underwear, the fleece sweater and the down coats in sleeping bag format, because the inside temperature in China tends to swing in the other direction: plus 27 degrees.
But you have to take what the Olympic bubble gives you, and you were prepared for the fact that it can get cold at the Winter Games. “Warmest jacket” searched on the Internet and found out: The “cuin” unit of measurement stands for the fill power of down fillings in relation to volume and weight. With a 700-cuin down jacket you could disappear into the eternal ice on an expedition – or wait for interviews with ski jumpers at the Olympics.
Of course, there is still jittering; and according to his nature, as a stubborn questioner, he now tries to defend himself against the approaching ice age. This happens in three stages: At the beginning there is swaying and jumping, some people bend their knees for a moment, but you quickly have to admit that the cold has already crept into your bones too much. Stage two is then freezing, all energy must be saved for the vital functions. heartbeat, breathing. Stage three is escalation: swearing. Swear words ease the pain, at least psychologically.
A bit uncomfortable, but maybe a leaf blower will help.
(Photo: Kim Hong-Ji/Reuters)
After capturing the impressions and quotes, the group of journalists then moves back into the saving walls, the pack comes along like a half-blind colony of penguins. Thanks to mouth and nose protection and fogged up glasses, glasses have long since been given up, ice crystals cling to eyelashes and eyebrows, chills form under the forehead. Running among the mountains of clothing is a swaying from left to right, from one block of ice to another. You lost your feet somewhere out there in the battle for the most impressive answer after third place in the team competition. The abbreviation of happiness is: VMC, Venue Media Center.
The overglove is the life insurance of the winter sports journalist
You think you’re safe, but it takes a while before you thaw: Your fingers are stiff, no smooth gliding over the keyboard, instead a vertical chop. The hands were also wrapped in two layers of fabric, the overglove is the life insurance of the journalist in Zhangjiakou.
You accept a few frostbites, you have to, that’s probably the whole truth of the story: you have no other choice. Just don’t think of one colleague at the biathlon, a cameraman from a Czech mountain village who has already made a name for himself at the World Cup locations in recent winters. Because he not only stands there without a hat, but also always: in shorts. In shorts every damn day at these ice games in Zhangjiakou! You could curse while watching.