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winter olympics

The Winter Olympics' big air course raises eyebrows for its 'dystopian' backdrop

The Winter Olympics' big air course raises eyebrows for its 'dystopian' backdrop
Big Air freeskier has to go back up slope after dropping his ...
BBC Beijing Winter Olympics

The ski Big Air event is underway for the first time in Olympic history at the Beijing Winter Games - but people have more to say about the industrial setting of Shougang Park, likening it to a "dystopian" hellscape.

The colourful new park was built by Beijing and is quite the contrast to the former steel mill factory that used to stand in the west of the city. In 2008, China closed the factory when the capital hosted the Summer Olympic Games, for the purposes of an image overhaul and to improve air quality, AP reported.

With the bright artificial snow inside the 200-foot structure contrasting against a snowless backdrop, the urban surroundings glaringly stick out within the setting, while remains of factories and machinery rust, greenery and nature return as trees grow and can be seen in the background.

It seems the unusual setting is a hit with the Olympic competitors as American freestyle skier Alex Hall told AP: “The like, crazy smokestack things in the back are pretty cool."

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“You get to see some of the mountains in the background, you got this temple here, the city’s that way, the steel factory. You get to see a lot of stuff.”

“This feels like it was created in a virtual world, in a video game,” American freeskiier Nick Goepper also told the publication.

Though people on social media didn't exactly feel the same way and weren't a fan of the reimagined venue.









There were also some comparisons to popular TV and video games.




However, there were a few supporters who thought the transformation from an industrial factory to a sporting venue was inspired.




Some of the former industrial buildings have been transformed with one of the blast furnaces being transformed into an event space with shops, commercial offices and a museum, AP reported and there are even plans to turn one of the cooling towers into a wedding venue.

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