A few days ago, a 9-year-old girl in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, fell while ice skating at a local rink and had her right pinky finger severed by the blade. According to local media, a similar personal injury incident also occurred at the same rink last summer. From the rink operator’s perspective, they claim to have fulfilled their duty of providing safety warnings. But in high-risk sports like ice skating, can mere awareness of responsibility from the operator truly ensure reliable safety for ordinary participants?
Recently, a reporter visited an ice skating rink in Beijing. A large safety notice board was placed at the entrance, specifying physical requirements for skaters and the necessary footwear and protective gear. The on-site TV screens also repeatedly played safety warnings for first-time skaters and promotional videos on how to protect oneself. Yet, on the ice, the reporter still observed skaters not wearing any protective gear and adults and children frequently falling. Rink staff explained that aside from requiring skates to enter, other safety rules are essentially unenforceable—meaning skaters without any gear or even complete beginners ("ice-blind") can still step onto the ice. In the years since the rink opened, while no severe injuries have occurred, minor falls and scrapes among skaters are common. However, the rink claims it has fulfilled its duty to inform, leaving those who get injured to mostly accept their misfortune.
Skiing, a sport that has gained popularity in recent years, has also seen frequent accidents among skiers. A skiing enthusiast in Beijing told reporters he has witnessed beginners who haven’t mastered braking or self-protection techniques rushing onto intermediate or even advanced slopes, only to end up with fractures. Industry insiders noted that in recent years, ski resorts around Beijing have seen severe injuries nearly every year, many resulting from overly bold behavior by skiers. A resort manager said that in most cases, resorts can only advise skiers to choose runs based on their abilities, but cannot enforce such decisions.
In recent years, emerging urban sports such as indoor ice skating, skiing, fencing, rock climbing, shooting, and archery have attracted ordinary people with no prior experience in these activities—but these sports have also become hotspots for accidental injuries.
“In the past, the national sports authorities designated 14 sports, including rock climbing and swimming, as high-risk and managed them accordingly, implementing an approval system for the establishment of venues for these sports. These venues were required to not only have the appropriate ‘hardware’ but also the ‘software’ to ensure participant safety. However, after the enactment of the Administrative Licensing Law, if the national sports authorities continued to approve the establishment of high-risk sports venues, it would conflict with the law. As a result, the approval system was abolished. Now, high-risk sports venues only need to meet the relevant regulations set by the industrial and commercial administration to operate,” Zhang Xiaoshi, Secretary-General of the Sports Law Research Center at China University of Political Science and Law, told reporters today.
“From the perspective of protecting participants, high-risk sports venues should have conditions in place to ensure personal safety. If they can open just by having funding and hardware, that clearly poses safety risks,” Zhang said.
Historical experience shows that repeated drowning incidents in swimming venues eventually forced sports authorities to introduce strict management measures: swimming pools must have lifeguards and implement a deep-water certification system.
Zhang Xiaoshi stated that just as the lifeguard system and deep-water certification system have been established in swimming venues, high-risk sports venues should also establish comprehensive rescue mechanisms and participant ability assessment systems—and these mechanisms must be mandatory—to best ensure the safety of ordinary participants. But creating such mechanisms must be based on relevant laws and regulations, and the responsible sports authorities and legislative bodies must take on this duty.