On February 2, the torch relay of the Beijing Winter Olympic Games was officially launched. ProfessorKang Yan, the president of West China Tianfu Hospital of Sichuan University, participated in the relay at the start point inside the Winter Olympic Park and acted as the 17th torchbearer.

Kang Yan said: “I was thrilled to take part in the torch relay. It was the first time that I got involved in the Olympic Games.As a doctor, we pass the Olympic torch to convey the Olympic spirit and make our due contribution to the fight against the pandemic.”

Being known as one of the “eight master doctors of the Critical Care Unit, Kang has made nine different trips to Wuhan, Suifenhe in Heilongjiang province, Urumqi, Qingdao, Kashi in Xingjiang, Shijiazhuang, Yangzhou, Inner Mongolia and Xi'an to assist the local medicine staffs in the intensive medical treatment of COVID-19 patients.

In addition, several SCU alumni also served as torchbearers of the winter Olympic Games. For instance, Cao Youlong, a Class 1983 alumnus of the Biology Department and director of the Gouqi Institute of Ningxia Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, participated in the Winter Olympic torch relay on behalf of grass-roots scientific researchers. He has led his research team to build the world's only Gouqi (Lycium barbarum seed) nursery and bred 10 new varieties.