Miller to stay in elegant village during Olympics
YANQING—ASA Miller will be staying at a two-bedroom unit inside the elegant and stateof-the art Yanqing Olympic Athletes Village in northwest Beijing for the duration of the Winter Olympics.
Chef de Mission Bones Floro and Athletes Welfare Officer Joebert Yu inspected Miller’s accommodation at the residential cluster which is composed of five four-storey buildings where Miller, his father Kelly and Philippine Ski and Snowboard Federation President Jim Apelar will be staying for the next three weeks.
Floro, tasked by Philippine Olympic Committee President Rep. Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino to oversee Miller’s campaign, gave the facility a thumbs up.
“I agree with my fellow chief chiefs of mission that the Olympic Villages is excellent. It’s new, well designed and built well,” Floro said. “All the facilities are first [rate]. I am confident that Asa [Miller] and all his fellow Olympians will be very comfortable during their stay.”
The cavernous mess hall, Floro said, offers hundreds of varities of food from Asian, Halal, Western and European and, of course, Chinese food. The Main Media Center, meanwhile, is a highceiling structure with robots roaming the restaurants to serve food to media.
And because the Athletes Village is in a bubble, everything the delegations need are available—including banks, self-service laundry, business centers, general and merchandise stores, telecom and newstands, among others.
“All the Covid-19 countermeasures were clearly explained, disseminated and followed,” Floro said. “The organizing committee has been extremely consistent with their protocols. I am very happy and safe that everyone abides by them.”
“It was a very busy first day for us. The sun was out but temperatures were down to sub-zero,” he added. “We were able to accomplish what we needed to do. We look forward to the succeeding days wherein much work is still in store for us.”
The National Alpine Skiing Centre perched on top of Xiaohaituo Mountain is linked with a cable car system. It takes 30 minutes to complete the 10.14-km ride from the Olympic Village. Each cable car can carry up to eight people.
Yanqing will also host the luge, bobsleigh and skeleton events.
The Beijing Olympic Village in Chaoyang District is the main village while Yanqing and the Zhangjiakou Olympic Village are the sub-villages.