BEIJING, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- The vice president of the Chinese Ski Association, Zheng Liangcheng said both the International Ski Federation (FIS) and the Chinese Ski association urge athletes to use fluorine-free ski wax at the Beijing Olympic Winter Games to protect the environment.
Zheng, also FIS council member, said FIS has yet to develop a mature device to detect fluoride in ski wax and called for the athletes to take an active role in using fluorine-free ski wax in an effort to protect the environment.
In line with European Union environmental standards, the FIS plans to ban fluoride ski wax from all FIS competitions.
"All of our decisions need to be made with prudence. The equipment must be able to provide accurate test results to ensure a fair platform for all athletes," said Zheng.
Concerns about this device's accuracy include the possibility that the detection could be affected by the presence of fluoride in the environment, for example, that one has already existed on piste.
A basic understanding is, on the occasion of the competition scene, there's no possibility to fairly detect the fluoride without a piece of accurate portable equipment. This is because waxing is the top secret of athletes.
"If you visit a waxing workshop, you'll find that all the labels on ski wax have been removed, because the waxing technicians just don't want other people to know how they work.
"Waxing sometimes can really make a huge difference to performance, let's say the difference between the champion and the 20th," Zheng added. ■
