The big-air competition slope in Shougang a striking feature of Beijing's Winter Olympics

A key selling point at the Beijing Winter Olympics is the organisers' claim to be the «green» Games.

«The Sustainability and Legacy Games» is a phrase that appears regularly, as well as being written on all official communications and documents.

The sustainability aspect comes from the organiser's commendable aim to be 100 per cent carbon neutral, using carbon dioxide refrigeration techniques, low-carbon transport options and the use of existing venues from the last Games.

Beijing's Summer Games unveiled some of the most spectacular venues in Olympic history.

The Birds Nest, the Ice Cube — both bear witness to history taking place in 2008 and have been used in 2022 as well.

But green doesn't always mean planting trees and carbon storage. Sustainability comes in many forms, including the regeneration of inner-city brownfield sites.

One of the most spectacular venues at this Games is a case study in urban regeneration.

Shougang, in Beijing's west, used to be an industrial wasteland, host of the former Shougang Steel Mill, a storage and production centre for iron ore that pumped noxious fumes into the atmosphere for decades.

Now, the only things launched skyward are the world's best big-air skiers and snowboarders, flipping and twisting their way acrobatically towards Olympic glory.

And those athletes are big fans of the world's first-ever permanent big-air structure.

China's Eileen Gu heaped praise on the venue after qualifying for the final.

«The venue is fantastic. Look around, there is no snow anywhere else yet somehow when you're skiing on this jump you feel like you're on a glacier somewhere,» she said.

«It is amazing what everybody was able to do here.

»Aesthetically, scientifically, technically to be able to pull this off in