24th EDITION OF THE OLYMPIC WINTER GAMES IN BEIJING

The 24th edition of the Olympic Winter Games will be held in Beijing (PRC) from February 4 to 20, 2022. Beijing is the host city of the Olympics for the second time. In 2008, it hosted the Summer Games and next February it will host the Winter Olympics.

The selection

The IOC announced on November 15, 2013, the competition for 6 cities to host the 2022 Winter Olympics: Stockholm (Sweden), Krakow (Poland); Oslo (Norway), Lviv (Ukraine), Almaty (Kazakhstan) and Beijing (PRC). In 2014, 3 of them withdrew, Stockholm in January, Krakow in May and Lviv at the end of June. In October, Oslo withdraws, Almaty and Beijing remain in contention. Finally, on July 31, 2015 in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), the IOC chose Beijing in a single round with 44 votes against 40 for Almaty, with one abstention.

I December 2015, the Organizing Committee was created to coordinate the preparation and running of the Olympic Games. Cai Ji, secretary of the Beijing CP was appointed chairman of the Implementation Committee and Zhang Jiandong, deputy of the 13th National People’s Congress, executive vice president.

Logos and Mascots

A first logo was provisional for the candidacy period. For the final Olympic and Paralympic emblems, unveiled in December 2017, the mention « Candidate city » has been removed.

Logo candidature 2022                          Logo J.O Pékin 2022                              Logo J.O Paralympique 2022 

The panda Bing Dwen Dwen (冰墩墩) for the Olympic Games and the lantern Shuey Rhon Rhon (雪容融) for the Paralympic Games are the 2 mascots of the Beijing 2022 Games. They were selected during an international design competition , featuring 5,800 drawings. Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts and Julin University of Arts made the final selections.

Bing Dwen Dwen, the panda Shuey Rhon Rhon the lantern

Olympic Games and Covid-19

The Covid-19 pandemic appears to have manifested in China from November 2019 in Wuhan, Hubei province. The first case was reported at the end of December. From January 2020, the Chinese government places 3 cities in Hubei under quarantine, just like Shanghai and Beijing. From February 2020, China is getting international aid.
France sent 17 tones of medical equipment in February, including masks, disinfectants and gloves. Canada, the United Kingdom, Japan and South Korea are also in solidarity. Containment measures are lifted in April.

After controlling the epidemic, China offered aid to 4 countries and donated 20 million dollars to the WHO, to help developing countries improve their health system.

China then opted for heavy protective actions such as the quarantine of sick people forced to stay at home and checked, particularly in Wuhan, Shanghai and Beijing, where meals were delivered for those who could not go out. Massive screening campaigns have prevented the resurgence of an epidemic wave. and now the number of new contaminations is at a very low level.

As the epicenter of the outbreak shifted to Europe, travelers had to be placed in quarantine, where they had to pay the fee. for 2 months in centers. In December 2021, the OMICRON variant becomes dominant in many states of the world.

After the postponement of the Tokyo Summer Olympics in summer 2021 and the decision of the IOC that they take place behind closed doors in Tokyo, the only exceptions were the Izu site and the Paralympic events.

Regarding Beijing 2022, China said the edition would not be behind closed doors. Only people residing in China will be able to access it, for the moment without a gauge. Restrictive measures are announced to attend ice hockey matches with the obligation for spectators to be vaccinated.

Call for boycott

China’s policy, especially towards Uyghurs in Xiinjiang, calls for a boycott of the Beijing Games. In some countries, we are witnessing a diplomatic boycott In July 2021, the European Parliament passed a resolution asking political and diplomatic figures not to go to the Olympic Games to protest against China’s human rights abuses, notably in Hong Kong, Xinjiang or Tibet. The United States will not have a diplomatic delegation, as will New Zealand, Canada, Japan, Lithuania, the Netherlands and Denmark.

The Olympic flame and the opening ceremony

The torch relay started on October 18, 2021 in Greece. The flame arrived on October 21, 2021 in China and the relay will only take place for 3 days from February 2 to 4 at the various sites.

The Parade of Nations now allows 2 flag bearers (1 woman and 1 man) per national committee. Greece, as the founding country, will lead the way and China, the host country, will bring up the rear. It will be preceded by the next host country, Italy. The countries will scroll in alphabetical order of the language of the organizing country (the same way as in 2008).

Participating countries

• For this Olympiad, Russia is still excluded by the Anti-Doping Agency for organized doping. However, Russians may participate under the neutral banner « ROC » (Russian Olympic Committee)
• Suspended September 2021, until the end of 2022, for refusing to send athletes to Tokyo, and violating the Olympic charter, North Korea may be able to send neutral athletes under the Olympic flag.
• Haiti and Saudi Arabia will enter the Winter Games.

A total of 91 countries will take part in this 24th Olympiad: Africa (6), America (14), Asia (18), Europe (50) and Oceania (3).

The tests

These games include 109 events: 52 men’s, 46 women’s and 11 mixed for 15 disciplines. including 7 new events:

*Cross by mixed teams on snowboard;
*Women’s single-seater bobsleigh
*Mixed relay in short track speed skating;
*Mixed team jumping in ski jumping
*Big air male and female
*Mixed team jump in freestyle skiing

The 15 disciplines of the 2022 Winter Games:

*Biathlon
*Bobsled
*Nordic combined
*Curling
*Ice Hockey
*Sled
*Figure skating
*Speed ​​skating
*Ski jumping
*Short Track Speed ​​Skating
*Skeleton
*Freestyle skiing
*Alpine skiing
*Cross-country skiing
*Snowboard

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VERONIQUE YANG

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