On June 8th, a special screening salon for the documentary "AI World Cup," a collaboration between Lenovo Group and FIFA, was held in Beijing. Gymnastics Olympic champion Liu Xuan attended and delivered a speech.
"Having just watched the 'AI World Cup' documentary, I am deeply moved," Liu Xuan stated. She noted that public attention on the World Cup has traditionally focused on star players and thrilling matches, but this documentary unveils the behind-the-scenes story. It shows the entire process of the technical team's cross-border攻坚 and multi-party negotiations, allowing everyone to genuinely feel the warm and close connection between technology and sports.
Reflecting on the evolution of sports training models, Liu Xuan expressed profound感慨 based on her own experience. She candidly shared that with nearly eighteen years in gymnastics, preparing for the Olympics in the past relied entirely on coaches' visual observation and经验判断 for动作打磨 and technical error correction. Taking the uneven bars as an example, a deviation of 15 degrees in the handstand angle would lead to point deductions. Such细微偏差 could only be corrected by coaches repeatedly watching录像 and providing guidance based on experience, without the aid of digital tools, making training复盘 extremely difficult.
The AI application scenarios showcased in the documentary left her deeply impressed. According to the介绍, leveraging AI technology, staff can complete the digital modeling of a single player in just two to three seconds, enabling automated modeling for over a thousand players. What used to take a coaching team one or two days to complete in terms of match复盘 can now be accomplished with AI in two hours for full-scenario analysis. "In the past, sports relied on hard work and physical endurance. Now, AI has become an intelligent assistant for coaches and athletes," Liu Xuan remarked. She believes this technology is equally applicable to gymnastics, capable of precisely capturing movement details and identifying technical shortcomings. She looks forward to such technology trickling down to youth training and school sports fields, breaking down barriers to优质体育资源 and allowing普通青少年 to also enjoy the便利 brought by technology.
The segment in the documentary where Lenovo assisted in the domestic broadcast of the World Cup also deeply touched Liu Xuan. When broadcast negotiations reached a僵局 and fans faced viewing difficulties, Lenovo proactively acted as a沟通桥梁, safeguarding the passion of hundreds of millions of football fans. In her view, passion is the unchanging core of sports, and it is this初心 that allows everyone to come together for the绿茵之约.
The composition of the project's R&D team became a highlight of the event. Liu Xuan特别提到 that two-thirds of the members of this World Cup AI project team were female engineers, with several core leads also held by women. Handling跨时区沟通, algorithm debugging, on-site equipment运维, and应急处置, these female technical personnel withstood high-intensity pressure and completed the construction of the entire event digitalization system.
"For a long time, many people have believed that hardcore tech fields are male-dominated," said Liu Xuan, resonating deeply with this as the former captain of the national women's gymnastics team. She stated that female athletes, besides overcoming technical challenges in training, also have to face生理带来的挑战. To achieve results, they need to付出更多坚持与隐忍. The female engineers at Lenovo have broken biases with their capabilities,凭借耐心,细心与韧劲, bringing Chinese AI technology to the world stage. "Athletes and researchers are in different lanes, but the core of their perseverance is相通. Women are never supporting roles in any industry," she直言, adding that this蓬勃的女性力量 is an格外温暖的部分 of the documentary.
Regarding the future of technology and sports integration, Liu Xuan is full of期待. She stated that the World Cup is not the终点 of AI empowering sports but a全新起点. Currently, she is deeply involved in青少年体育普及与大众运动推广 work. She hopes the端到端 AI technology accumulated by Lenovo from international competitions can be implemented in scenarios like智能场馆,大众健身, and青训训练, lowering the barrier to entry for sports and attracting more children to fall in love with sports.
"Technology will never replace people's passion for sports, but it can safeguard and amplify that passion," Liu Xuan said. Technological advancement can help athletes突破极限, maintain赛事公平, and also enrich the ways the public participates in sports, expanding更多可能性 for the industry.