Second week behind the scenes

Final touch

As we are finalizing the preparations for the start of the Games, looking around me I can see how venues are constantly evolving and taking their final shape at an incredible pace. Like a time-lapse of a HUGE puzzle being completed step by step, all locations are getting ready for the “modern gladiators” who will be competing within the field of play in many indoor and outdoor arenas starting Feb 7^th.

Once again, the athletes from all parts of the world will be in the spotlight, writing sports history by going “faster, higher, stronger”, as the Olympic motto Citius, Altius, Fortius suggest, whilst keeping in mind that the most important thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well. This is what the Olympic spirit should be about ever since the origin of Olympics in ancient Greece, ages ago.

The idea has not changed ever since, however, the sports disciplines and especially the arenas have been constantly developed to reach the modern high-tech level… 

Alpine & Bobsleigh

Ice hockey

Speed skating

Curling

 Ski jumping

Biathlon

During my second week, we successfully tested and went live with the IT applications described in my previous post. In addition to that, I was able to visit some of the venues and was truly amazed by their exquisite looks, size and capacity, as well as the immense complexity of every single activity behind the scenes. Let me give you an example...

Ice, ice baby!

Well, it’s Winter Olympics and, as you can see in the images above, the colour of purity, perfection and fairness is dominant in all Olympic venues. Very idyllic: white Olympic flags, mountain tops, snowy ski runs and ice fields, everywhere. Due to the fact that ancient arenas like Colosseum were named after the sand on the field (lat. harena, a fine sand used to absorb blood), the modern Winter Olympic ones certainly deserve to be named after the white snow and ice fields (that hopefully absorb only sweat and tears) on which the athletes compete (#Icerena #Snowrena). Speaking of which…

The crucial prerequisite for any of the competitions to take place is (... that the athletes show up of course but not talking about that one) an excellent quality of the snow or ice on the fields of play. 

Ice? So trivial, one might think... Just throw tons of ice cubes from a super-sized fridge all over the field and let’s get the games started, aye? Or pour loads of water on the field, let it freeze overnight and that’s it, right?

Well, sorry to disappoint you but there is a whole SCIENCE behind ice making and it takes a full team of professional ice makers one week of intense work to get one curling arena prepared. Still a bit less complex than what IT provider Atos and time&score keepers Omega are doing here - but surely also very fascinating to see.

Although I am not a scientist, *puts on a white lab coat, goggles and gloves* let me try to break down the ice making process for you and explain it in a few steps which are leading to the final result, like a puzzle that I’ve previously mentioned. Again, some surprises and spoilers ahead! At least they were to me. If you wish to skip this highly interesting topic (and miss some really cool stuff) just jump to the final result below, otherwise – here we go:

Step 1: Measures.

The field is precisely measured and displays get synchronized with the help of the projectors on top of the arena. The field has to have the form of a rectangle, not a star.

Step 2: Keep it clean.

The field gets cleaned and prepared for the ice. We don’t want any car keys or French fries stuck beneath the ice!

Step 3: The Ice Age.

A thin layer of specially purified water gets manually applied to the whole field. A very time-consuming step that can take up to an hour for only one layer to be completed. The cooling system located beneath the field will eventually freeze the water and create ice. There goes the super-size fridge! The cooling system is controlled via an IT system used by the ice maker to optimize the “weather conditions” within the arena (#digital again). Once the water freezes, the ice maker checks the temperature and quality of the ice. 

Applying new layers of water and checking the ice are repeated multiple times until a certain ice thickness is reached.

Step 4: Paint it black white (sorry Rolling Stones, I do like the song tho).

Now this one actually surprised me a lot… I expected the ice on the field to somehow magically get as white as the iceberg that sank “The Titanic” once the guys have applied, like, one thousand layers of water. To my big surprise, they actually just started PAINTING the ice using a special white mixture. That’s cheating again! Probably they just got bored of applying ice layers and wanted to get over with it already :) And one more time, my imagination got destroyed. 

On the other hand, it perfectly makes sense. The ice is not white but transparent like water; it just sometimes seems to be white due to the presence of air in it, which reflects the sunlight. So I don’t know why I’ve never thought about this before and just accepted the illusion they create. Note for the ice makers: black colour would have been a good choice as well and fit good to that legendary Rolling Stones song.

Multiple layers of the white colour are applied until the field gets snow white. Like an iceberg. What a perfect illusion. It does, however, have a practical use – the borders and markings on the field can be seen well with a white background.

Step 5: Drawings on the ice.

Field borders, throwing circles (so-called houses), logos and other curling-specific markings are painted - using the measures from before. Eventually, everything is covered with another layer of ice.

Step 6: Divide and conquer.

The whole field gets divided into four sheets (A,B,C,D) - meaning that four curling matches can be played at the same time. Everything outside of the sheets is covered with wooden plates & carpet so that the players, referees and staff can walk between the sheets without slipping.

Almost there, right? WRONG! This is where the cool part starts.

Step 7: Physics.

Unlikely ice hockey or speed skating, curling requires a field of play with ice that is NOT flat. Why? Sliding ~20 kg heavy granite stones across a flat surface would never work as far as 46m (the length of a curling sheet) - because friction would halt the stones quickly. It’s physics. So how do they do it? 

They cheat again and it's called pebbling! This means freezing small droplets of water across the field between each match. Kind of like fake raindrops that freeze on top of the surface. On the picture, the ice maker is simulating the rain and creating the “raindrops” with his can. The final result looks like this:

The pebbles or “raindrops” reduce the friction by minimizing the contact between the stones and ice and enable the curling stones to slide and curl/rotate even further (that's where the name of the game comes from).

*

In case you were asking yourself why the guys in front of the stone (also called sweepers) are sometimes furiously brushing the ice with their brooms like there is no tomorrow after the stones were delivered by the thrower - you are not alone. Maybe they just like their ice clean? Partially true, they don’t want the stone to hit any dirt or bulge and be slowed down, so they clean. But they do it mainly because pebbles melt a bit when in contact with stones or other objects creating a micro-layer of water on which the stones glide even better. 

Finally, the "raindrops" get equalized.

Step 8: Test with the curling stones.

Time to curl some stones!

Step 9: Enjoy the view.

Et voila! That was easy, wasn’t it? It just took ten people one week of intense work. And it's "just another brick in the wall" called Olympics.  It is absolutely mind-blowing how big this event is.

Even after the field is ready and the competition has started, ice makers monitor ice temperature, air quality and humidity levels, checking the conditions in their software and making adjustments on the fly to ensure the pebbles can last through the match. #digitaleverywhere

Yesterday I was making small talk with one of the ice makers. He was happy they have finally finished the ice of the "Icerena" and was checking the final result. "We are good at perfectly replicating outdoor ice conditions, let's say of a frozen lake, in an indoor arena like this one", he said.  "Yes, the ice field looks great, good job!", I answered. At the same time, I was thinking about the beautiful frozen lake right next to the Olympic park. On this natural, not "faked" ice field we could curl without that much preparation, the way curling was originally played when the game was invented. It would probably be a nice experience to enjoy the sports outside in the fresh air with the nice scenery. Of course, I didn't say that out loud. He would have slapped me. 

With the fields ready, the games can start! The first competitions begin on Feb 7th, two days before the opening ceremony. Can't wait! Stay tuned for more news from Korea!

*https://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/PJ-BS646_SP_CUR_P_20140114170044.jpg