The 80,000-capacity 2008 Olympic Stadium is preparing to hold the back-to-back aerials competitions - what promises to be one of the biggest events of the 2013-2014 FIS Freestyle World Cup season, according to race director Joe Fitzgerald - on December 20 and 21, as China works to establish itself as a winter sport hotspot.

"The Chinese Ski Association has organised FIS Freestyle Skiing aerials World Cup events for ten consecutive seasons," the Chinese Ski Association said in a statement.

"The race organisation and the venue preparation have been highly thought of and well-evaluated by FIS, the various national associations on hand, and the athletes themselves.

"However, this is the first time that FIS will host a World Cup event not only in the capital of China, but also in the intra-urban setting of Beijing.

"And, in another 'First', the competition venue of the National Stadium will be the first Summer Olympic venue to hold an event that will be featured in the Winter Olympics."

The FIS has signed an agreement to make the Beijing aerials competition an annual one until at least the conclusion of the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics and Paralympics


Skiing's world governing body announced that an agreement has been signed to make the Beijing aerials competition an annual one until at least the conclusion of the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Games.

It also revealed that this year's event will be broadcast live on television to a potential audience of more than 200 million viewers.

"This new event in Beijing is to be held in one of the world's great sporting landmarks, and within the 'Bird's Nest' stadium we anticipate an amazing and compelling competition for the people of Beijing," Fitzgerald said

"Together, with the performances of the Chinese aerial team [China's Xu Mengtao and Jia Zongyang are last year's women's and men's aerials Crystal Globe winners respectively], the iconic location, and in this winter Olympic season, this World Cup aerials event will generate a tremendous amount of interest in the promotion of skiing and winter sports."

China's Xu Mengtao is last year's women's aerials Crystal Globe winner


Today's announcement comes just one day after the Chinese Olympic Committee (COC) revealed that Beijing is launching a surprise bid to the 2022 Winter Games with Zhangjiakou as a co-host.

If the bid goes on to be successful - the host city will be named at the 127th International Olympic Committee (IOC) Session in Kuala Lumpur on July 31, 2015 - the capital will host the ice sports, while the northwestern Hebei province city of Zhangjiakou will host the snow sports.

Beijing's sports authorities have said that they believe their experience of hosting the 2008 Summer Olympics and Paralympics will give them the advantage in the 2022 bid race, in which they could face competition from Kazakhstani city Almaty, Lviv in Ukraine, a joint bid from Slovakia's Low Tatras and Poland's Kraków, the Norwegian capital of Oslo and Munich in Germany.

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