They are the lesser known heroes of the on-going Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. They are not competing in any of the events, but should any athlete suffer any injury, they set out immediately to offer them assistance.

These are the emergency medical staff workers at the Winter Olympic Games venues. Their task is anything but easy. They have to be good at medical skills, at handling emergencies and at treating the injured athletes, and－most of all－at skiing. Because the sporting arena is huge and the fastest way a health worker can reach injured athletes is by skiing. According to the International Ski Federation, the health workers must reach an injured athlete within four minutes. That involves skiing and reaching the injured athlete carrying 15 kilograms of medical equipment and checking them out.

A health worker must speak good English and preferably a few other languages, too, as the athletes come from around the world and may not be speaking Chinese. These health workers are the first generation of snow sport doctors for China.

Given the extreme difficulty quotient of snow and ice sports, both training and competitions remain tough for the athletes, especially in events such as Alpine skiing that combine both speed and techniques.

In other words, it would not have been possible to successfully hold the Winter Olympics without the presence of these health workers. In fact they hit the ground running, or skiing, giving first aid to two athletes in Yanqing district of Beijing on the very first day of the Winter Olympics. Their excellent services have won the hearts of both foreign athletes and officials, who have left notes to this effect on billboards at the games venue.

However, they work largely behind the scenes, and they said they want to remain so, as their job is to attend to the injured. So, next time you are watching the spectacular performance by athletes, please say a silent thank you to all the behind-the-scenes heroes.