Gold medalist Gu Ailing of China reacts during the awarding ceremony of women's freeski big air at the Beijing Medals Plaza of the Winter Olympics in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 8, 2022. (Xinhua/Ju Huanzong)

As the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games reaches its halfway point, new records have been created, new stories have been written.

BEIJING, Feb. 12 (Xinhua) -- New records have been created, new stories have been written, and the Olympic spirit is shining here on Saturday, as the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games reaches its halfway point.

RECORDS SHATTERED

Nils van der Poel of Sweden competes during the speed skating men's 10000m of Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics at National Speed Skating Oval in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 11, 2022. (Xinhua/Zhou Mi)

The National Speed Skating Oval, widely known as the Ice Ribbon, has been hailed as the "fastest ice" at sea level, where Nils van der Poel of Sweden created a new world record of 12 minutes and 30.74 seconds to win the men's 10,000m speed skating on February 11.

Van der Poel bettered his own world record by over two seconds, and was almost 14 seconds faster than any other skater in the race. This is the only world record set at sea level. The other speed skating world records were set in high-altitude rinks in Salt Lake City and Calgary, where the lower air resistance allows skaters to go faster.

World record holder Kjeld Nuis of the Netherlands broke the Olympic record to retain his men's 1,500m speed skating title.

Nuis clocked one minute and 43.21 seconds for his third Olympic gold medal, shattering the previous mark of 1:43.95 set by American skater Derek Parra in Salt Lake City in 2002.

Dutch speed skater Irene Schouten emerged victorious in the women's 3,000m with 3:56.93 on February 5, shattering the 20-year-old Olympic record set by Germany's Claudia Pechstein.

Dutch speed skater Suzanne Schulting broke the women's 1,000m short-track speed skating world record in 1:26.514 at the Capital Indoor Stadium on February 11.

A total of two world and 11 Olympic records have been broken in speed skating and short-track speed skating so far in the Games.

OLYMPIC SPIRIT SHINES

Claudia Pechstein of Germany gives a thumbs-up sign before the women's 3,000m final of speed skating at the National Speed Skating Oval in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 5, 2022. (Xinhua/Ding Xu)

Claudia Pechstein, who will turn 50 two days after the closing ceremony of Beijing 2022, has become the first-ever female Olympian to compete in eight Winter Olympics. She served as one of Germany's two flag-bearers at the opening ceremony on February 4.

In the women's 3,000m speed skating, she competed against Ahenaer Adake of China, who is 27 years younger than Pechstein. Pechstein finished last among 20 skaters and saw her 20-year Olympic record shattered by Schouten, but the five-time gold medalist said she was satisfied.

"I was not too fast, but I smiled when I crossed the finish line because today I've achieved my goal to race in my eighth Olympic Games and it was important for me," she said.

Lindsey Jacobellis, a six-time world champion and 10-time X Games champion, ended her 16-year wait for a gold in the women's snowboard cross in her fifth Olympic appearance.

At 36 years, 174 days, she becomes the oldest snowboard gold medallist, surpassing Benjamin Karl of Austria.

At Turin 2006, while Jacobellis was in the lead for almost the entire final, on the second to last jump she pulled off a backside air, lost her balance and fell, allowing the gold to Switzerland's Tanja Frieden.

"There was so much pressure on me to be the golden girl. I'd won so many races going into it and it's a lot for a young athlete to have on their plate," said Jacobellis, and she never gave up to chase her Olympic dream.

Shaun White of the United States, 35, also competed in his fifth Olympics in Beijing, finishing fourth in the men's snowboard halfpipe.

Besides these veterans, many young athletes are chasing their dreams and surpassing themselves.

Gu Ailing of China competes during women's freeski big air final at Big Air Shougang in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 8, 2022. (Xinhua/Wu Wei)

China's prodigy Gu Ailing claimed a historic gold with a 1620 trick she had never done before in the women's freeski big air at Big Air Shougang.

With a combined score of 188.25 points -- 93.75 from her first run and 94.50 from the third -- Gu came back strong from third place before the final run to take gold on the event's Olympic debut.

France's Tess Ledeux, the silver medalist, had set a benchmark of 94.5 on her first run but failed to improve on her final score with a flaw on the landing during her last run.

Just moments after Ledeux finished her competition, Gu and Switzerland's Mathilde Gremaud, the bronze medalist, came together to console Ledeux, who lost her father last year.

"We are going through the emotions at the end," said Gu. "I won because of them, because they had inspired me so much and made me who I am. I just wanted to express my gratitude. We are all out here to do this together."

BEST ORGANIZATIONS EVER

For American snowboarder Tessa Maud, 18, a warm moment came at her first-ever Olympic opening ceremony, and she teared up when she recalled how she was warmly greeted with "Welcome to China" by a Chinese volunteer.

Maud posted a vlog on Tiktok in which she said that she kept watching the opening ceremony video that she documented over and over again. "I was crying because it was the cutest thing ever, and that moment was just so crazy, like a feeling I've never experienced."

"All the volunteers were so sweet and so kind. They are so happy we are here, and we feel so welcomed," she said.

Maud soon received a letter from Sun Zeyu, the very volunteer she mentioned in her post. Sun thanked Maud for her kindness and invited her to come back to for a tour in China when COVID-19 is over.

Atakan Alaftargil, president of the Turkish Ski Foundation, said he believes the Beijing Winter Olympics are organized with "incredible care", and preparations have been at the "highest level".

"I have participated in two Winter Olympics so far. One was in Salt Lake City and the other one in Turin, and in both of them, the organizations were worthy of the Olympics. Nevertheless, I said to myself I wished I could have participated in this one in Beijing," he told Xinhua.

Christophe Dubi, IOC Olympic Games Executive Director, said athletes had given "positive feedback" on the organization of Beijing 2022.

"Many athletes wrote that the conditions are heavenly," Dubi was quoted by Russia's TASS news agency as saying.

"You don't hear that often, believe me. It is very difficult to organize competitions in such conditions. So, it is great that we see these laudatory reviews," he said.

A participant takes photos of "Bing Dwen Dwen", the mascot of Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 12, 2022. The Main Media Center of Beijing Winter Olympics held on Saturday a group interview to introduce the design concept of "Bing Dwen Dwen", the mascot of Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, and invited "Bing Dwen Dwen" to interact on the spot. (Xinhua/Ju Huanzong)

Bing Dwen Dwen, a panda mascot for the 2022 Games, has gained massive popularity among athletes and Olympic fans internationally. From the beginning of the Games, Bing Dwen Dwen has led to hours-long queues of people lining up outside Winter Olympics merchandise stores in China.

The hot sale of the mascot, high-tech facilities and non-human cafeteria, as well as the flood of Olympics-related social media posts are all parts of the organization of the Beijing 2022.

For the first time in Olympic history, carbon dioxide refrigerants have been introduced to make the "fastest" ice ever; weather forecasting radar equipment and weather tracking stations have been set up in the two mountain areas of Yanqing and Zhangjiakou, forming a meteorological monitoring network to achieve accurate weather forecasting at the level of minutes in time dimension and 100 meters in spatial dimension, and the Olympic broadcasting service is 5G-based.

When the Beijing 2022 is on its climax, all these on-and-off-court memories will be cherished by everyone who experience them.