Beijing all set for Olympic encore
With fewer than 100 days to go to Winter Games, optimism as high as trial events run like clockwork. Sun Xiaochen reports
With the torch relit, venues being tested and operational drills underway, Beijing is all set for its encore as an Olympic host after the 100-day countdown to the opening of the Winter Olympics began.
Thirteen years after the curtain was lowered on the 2008 Summer Games, the Olympic flame returned to the Chinese capital as Beijing’s preparations for the Winter Olympics entered the home stretch, with operational details, legacy and, most importantly, safety amid the pandemic given priority.
As part of the 100-day countdown celebrations, organizers unveiled designs of the Olympic and Paralympic medals on Oct 26, just a week after welcoming the torch back from Greece, the birthplace of the ancient Games where it was lit, triggering worldwide anticipation for the opening ceremony on Feb 4.
The medals for the 2022 Winter Olympics, inspired by yu bi, a circular Chinese jade artifact dating back 5,000 years, have carvings of the Olympic rings on one side and are inscribed with “XXIV Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022”. Engravings of cloud patterns, an element used on the torch of the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, snowflakes and ice markings fill the outer rings.
The other side of the medals has the Beijing 2022 emblem at the center. The outer rings are dotted with 24 stars strung together by circles, representing the 24th edition of the Winter Olympics.
Sharing the same design, but with slight differences, the 2022 Paralympic Winter Games medals were also unveiled, with the International Paralympic Committee’s logo carved on one side and the Beijing 2022 Paralympic emblem on the other.
“Hopefully, by enriching the Winter Olympic elements with Chinese characteristics, we can leave a Chinese mark on the promotion of the Olympic spirit and build more excitement around the opening of the Games,” said Cai Qi, secretary of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China and president of the organizing committee.
The International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach said in a video message played at the ceremony: “With all these great efforts and the outstanding preparations we can already see now, we can really say ‘together for a shared future’, and this shared future will be a bright one for winter sports worldwide.”
To ensure that operations at all 12 competition venues meet Olympic standards, the Beijing 2022 organizing committee began evaluating facilities, organization and services across three zones — downtown Beijing, the Yanqing district in the city’s northwest and the co-host city Zhangjiakou, Hebei province — through a series of international test events beginning on Oct 8.
From Oct 21 to 24 the Capital Indoor Stadium, a 53-year-old arena that has been renovated for Beijing 2022, impressed athletes and officials alike when it staged a spectator-less leg of the International Skating Union short-track speed skating World Cup.
Canadian skater Courtney Sarault heaped praise on the venue’s readiness, citing ideal ice conditions during the test event.
“I love this rink. I really love the ice,” said Sarault, a silver medalist in the women’s 1,500m at the world championships in March. “It’s really grippy. I feel like I can hold my corners ... I’m excited that the Olympic Games are here.”
About 90 kilometers northwest of downtown, an international testing program for bobsled and skeleton was held at Yanqing National Sliding Center last month, with foreign athletes experiencing the 1.9-kilometer Olympic track for the first time since it was completed this summer.
“The first responses we have from the athletes taking part in these test events are extremely positive,” Bach told China Central Television in Greece after the flame was lit on Oct 18.
However, Games organizers reiterated that it was not time to relax.
“Even having received a lot of positive feedback, we still need to stay clearheaded in our review of the test events and make quick fixes wherever needed as carefully as we can,” said Yao Hui, venue management director of the organizing committee.
About 2,900 athletes representing about 85 countries and regions are expected to compete in the Games. Organizers are firmly focused on trialing customized COVID-19 containment measures as the Games approach and making any necessary adjustments for a safe yet comfortable experience for all participants.
Under protocols presented to the International Olympic Committee last month, all athletes and participants at next year’s Games will be urged to be fully vaccinated before arriving in China. Those who arrive unvaccinated will have to observe a 21-day quarantine, as is required for ordinary international visitors.
All Games’ participants will be required to stay within a bio-secure bubble at all times under closedloop management and be subject to daily testing and health checks. They will be permitted to travel between their designated accommodation and the sports venues on official transport only, organizers said.
The bubble operation will start on Jan 23, almost two weeks before the opening ceremony, and remain in effect until the end of the Paralympics on March 13.
“With all these great efforts and the outstanding preparations we can already see now, we can really say ‘together for a shared future’, and this shared future will be a bright one for winter sports worldwide.”
THOMAS BACH, International Olympic Committee President