Italy's sports equipment makers consider Beijing Winter Olympics a shopwindow to world

ROME, Feb. 18 (Xinhua) -- Besides the athletes, the manufacturers of winter sports equipment also engage in cut-throat competition at the Olympic Winter Games.

For the Italian makers of professional sports gear and accessories, the 2022 Games in Beijing proved to be a rewarding business.

Maurizio Tedesco, who works at the public relations department of Italian equipment maker Leitner, said that for companies like his, the Olympics are a "shopwindow to the world."

Established 134 years ago, Leitner is a major manufacturer of snow groomers, ski lifts, funiculars and other equipment. The company is based in the Alpine town of Vipiteno in northern Italy.

"The World Cup, championship events and especially the Olympics are essential for a company like ours to be seen and to show the quality of our products," Tedesco told Xinhua.

The Beijing Winter Olympics, which started on Feb. 4 and will run through Sunday, are a prime example. In 2019, Leitner won a bid to supply (sell and lease) a fleet of snow groomers for the Beijing Games. Snow groomers are used to prepare slopes for winter sports.

"This deal was a source of professional pride for the company," Tedesco said. "This is one of the reasons we work so hard to refine and develop our products."

Leitner employs around 3,800 people and sells its products worldwide, Tedesco said.

Other Italian companies that had important roles to play at the Beijing Winter Olympics included TechnoAlpin, which provided snowmaking systems, or the iconic fashion brand Giorgio Armani, which created the uniforms for Italy's Winter Olympic team.

According to Olivero Fiorini, an economist and trade analyst with ABS Securities in Milan, the manufacturers of top-quality sports equipment compete to develop new technologies that will give athletes an edge, or infrastructure that will exceed in terms of durability, efficiency and ease of use.

The Olympic Games, he told Xinhua, are a showcase of that work.

"The Olympics are about the best, whether it is the best athletes, the best venues or the best equipment," Fiorini said.