Despite the increase in COVID-19 cases, the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics are happening. The Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics will bring some of the world’s top athletes together in order to chase gold on the ice. A total of 3,000 competitors from 85 countries and Olympic teams will compete in 109 medal events, setting a new record.
Here is everything you need to know about China’s winter Olympics.
What is the History of China’s Olympics?
China’s first involvement in the Olympics goes all the way back to 1894. Athletes were called to be sent to the first modern Olympiad in Athens. However, China declined due to their unfamiliarity with sports.
In 1931, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) acknowledged the All-China Athletic Association, and China officially entered the Olympic Games. Liu Changchun then became China’s first ever Olympic athlete.
The Chinese Olympiad joined the Asian Olympic Committee in 1973. China then started being more recognized throughout the world.
China sent a 311-athlete team to the 2000 Sydney Olympics and won an astounding 28 gold medals, 16 silver medals, and 15 bronze medals.
China has competed in six summer Olympic games since its readmission to the IOC in 1979. They have won a total of 112 gold medals, 96 silver medals, and 78 bronze medals. Furthermore, Chinese athletes have competed in a total of seven winter Olympics, winning two gold medals, 12 silver medals, and eight bronze medals.
Why Beijing?
Many people have been wondering how Beijing landed the Winter Olympics after it held the Summer Olympics in 2008. However, the answer is quite simple.
Following the doping scandal-riddled 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, potential European cities dropped out of the bidding. Future bidders were also put off by the publicised price figure of $51 billion for Sochi.
Only two bids remained for the International Olympic Committee: Beijing and Almaty, Kazakhstan. Beijing won 44-40 in a close vote.
What are the Challenges for Beijing?
Beijing will become the first city to hold both the Summer and Winter Olympics when it holds the 24th Winter Olympics in February. In the months building up to the games, there seems to be no lack of controversy.
Beijing will have numerous hurdles during the 2022 Winter Olympics. One of which is organising the events under COVID-19 conditions.
The advent of thousands of athletes, coaches, trainers, and journalists from all across the world puts Beijing’s strong COVID-19 preventive procedures under considerable strain.
To avoid the games becoming a huge spreader event, Beijing intends to confine all participants to a “biosecure bubble” near the competition sites, distribute daily COVID-19 testing, quarantine any confirmed cases in hospitals, isolate teammates in hotels, and restrict attendance to PRC residents.
With China’s borders effectively blocked and foreign fans barred from attending, the threat of terrorism or political protest disrupting the competition and embarrassing the leadership has been significantly reduced. A more plausible scenario is that competitions be postponed or cancelled due to the pandemic, which Beijing will be eager to avoid.
Aside from health and political concerns, there are environmental ones. The mountains that surround Beijing usually receive less than a foot of snow per year, so the planning committee will have to devise a method to manufacture enough snow to sustain the outdoor competitions.
What to Expect from The Winter Games
Zhang, the director of the Olympic winter games has said that the spectacle, which will have 3,000 performers — much less than the 15,000 who took part in the 2008 extravaganza — will rely more on technology than sheer organised manpower to impress.
The official opening ceremony is set to happen on February 4 at the Beijing National Stadium. However, it will appear different from previous Games, much like the Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
There will be a grand total of 109 medal events at the Games. These include women’s mono-bob, team competitions, and a number of other things.
Because Beijing sits 12 hours ahead of the Eastern time zone, the opening ceremony of the 2022 Winter Olympics will air on the morning of February 4 in the United States. The show will be broadcast on local NBC stations and streamed on Peacock. In Australia, you can watch all the Olympic action on 7plus!
According to Brad King of Australia-casino.co, watching the Olympics this year is a great way to relax, and enjoy time with family and friends.
One of the better things about the games this year is that a total of forty-five percent of this year’s competitors are women. This means that this is the most equally gender-based the Olympics has ever been.
Despite the many disadvantages as well as advantages of hosting the Olympics in China, it’s going to happen. Due to COVID-19 and a number of other factors, these games will not be like anything we’ve seen before in China.
Although this year’s Winter Olympics will be different, we can only hope for the best.