Asia's center of excellence on ice

To get the most from the venue in the post-Olympic era, the ISU signed an agreement with the Chinese governing body and venue owner last year to add it to its Center of Excellence project as a base for high-quality training, coaching exchanges, research and grassroots promotion in speed skating.

Among the project's five speed skating venues, the Beijing oval is the only one in the Asia-Pacific region in the lead-up to the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy.

This week's training camp, the first of many to be held over a four-year period, assembled 40 young hopefuls from eight countries and regions across Asia-Pacific.

The youngsters are helmed by a group of experienced coaches led by Chinese Skating Association president Li Yan, who has worked with China's celebrated short-track team.

Visits to cultural and historical landmarks in the capital help the skaters enjoy their downtime from training.

"The ice at the oval has been maintained since the Beijing Olympics and our campers are now enjoying literally the same quality of track as the Olympians did," said Li, who guided China's short-track squad to seven Olympic gold medals across three Games from 2010-2018.

The ISU reckons the combination of the Olympic-standard rink and world-class coaching is a game-changer for its outreach program, especially in terms of covering the tropical Southeast Asia region.