2022 Games venues on schedule and ‘sustainable’
The preparations for the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games are progressing well on all fronts, with construction on schedule and venues being built with sustainability in mind.
Beijing 2022 will use 26 competition and non-competition venues in three zones — Beijing, Yanqing and Zhangjiakou.
International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach believes that Beijing 2022 will set a new standard for sustainability.
“Beijing 2022 can set a new benchmark for a sustainable Olympic Games, on one hand benefiting from the legacy of Beijing 2008, and on the other developing a new winter sports destination in a sustainable way,” Bach told Xinhua at February’s Pyeongchang Winter Games.
With less than two years before the test events, the construction of major competition venues has to be finished before the end of 2019. Some work cannot be carried out in winter, especially in the mountainous Yanqing Zone, making hitting that deadline more difficult.
The Beijing Zone will be home to curling, ice hockey, skating and the newly established Big Air across 13 venues, including eight from the Beijing 2008 Summer Games, four new builds and one temporary.
The Yanqing Zone, located 74 kilometers northwest of downtown Beijing, and with a total of five venues, will host three sports (alpine skiing, bobsleigh/skeleton and luge).
The city of Zhangjiakou, about 180 km from Beijing in Hebei province, will have eight venues in total and will host skiing and biathlon.
The transport infrastructure is also taking shape.
Construction has begun on the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Intercity Railway, which will reduce train-travel time between the two cities by around 40 minutes.
Of the venues from the 2008 Games to be used, the Bird’s Nest Stadium will stage the opening and closing ceremonies, while the National Aquatics Center, aka the Water Cube, will host curling.
Close by in the Olympic Forest Park, the National Speed Skating Oval, dubbed the Ice Ribbon, is under construction and is expected to be completed by the end of 2019.
Twenty-two separate light strands (or ribbons) flow up and around the oval in homage to the sport it will host, creating a stunning spectacle by night.
Other venues will also feature high-tech enhancements. The National Aquatics Center will be repurposed from Water Cube to Ice Cube thanks to the installation of a transferable rink, while the National Skeleton and Luge Center will feature a special roof to protect the track from the rays of the sun in order to save energy.