As the Olympic Summer Games concluded in Tokyo on August 8, it was less than six months before the Olympic Winter Games would take to the slopes in China's capital Beijing and co-host city Zhangjiakou. Preparations for the games, scheduled for February 4-20, 2022, have now entered a sprint to the finish line.

From July to August, the Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (BOCOG) dispatched its staff to the Tokyo Olympics in a bid to observe and learn from their hosting experiences.

Wang Jun, head of the delegation of committee observers, told China Sports Daily that one particular purpose of going to Tokyo was to study the methods of COVID-19 prevention and control for the Olympic Games. Wang Tongguo, deputy director of a medical and health division of BOCOG said they have learned some useful tips, such as the installation of foot-operated hand sanitizer to avoid cross-infection, and the assigning of separate areas, each marked by a different color, in hotel lobbies to guests who have arrived less than 14 days and those who have arrived more than 14 days prior to check-in.

Chang Yu, head of the opening and closing ceremonies department of the committee, watched the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics on site. He said in spite of the pandemic's influence, the opening ceremony still boasted many highlights. Today, the BOCOG's preparations are in full swing to put on spectacular opening and closing ceremonies while ensuring epidemic control, he added.

Laying the groundwork 

Sports venue construction is the foundation and the most important part of the groundwork for the Winter Olympics.

A total of 39 venues will host the various events, 12 of which are competition venues, while the rest are for training and other non-competition events such as award ceremonies. Construction of the new venues started in 2016 and as of late last year, the construction of all competition venues had been completed.

February and April saw several trial runs assessing the snow and ice sports facilities, including the ice making, air conditioning, light, snowmaking and cableway systems. All venues successfully passed the test.

The preparations of non-competition venues, too, are right on track. Some of the venues have already been put into operation, such as the offices of the organizing committee headquarters. Others are undergoing renovations, including the iconic National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest, which will host the opening and closing ceremonies of the Winter Olympics and Paralympics, and will be ready in October.

Over 30 supporting infrastructure projects had been completed by June, including transportation projects such as the 174-km-long Beijing-Zhangjiakou high-speed railway. The new train tracks first opened to the public on December 30, 2019, cutting travel time between the two host cities from more than three hours to under one hour. Additionally, more than 10 electric power projects have also been finalized, such as the Zhangbei flexible direct current power grid transmitting power generated by wind and solar energy in Zhangbei, a county in Zhangjiakou, all the way to Beijing. The project makes the Beijing Winter Olympics the first winter games ever to use 100 percent green and clean energy.

Facilities such as the Beijing-Zhangjiakou high-speed railway will not only serve the Olympics, but also provide long-term support for the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, said Yu Dequan, Deputy Director of the Beijing Major Projects Construction Headquarters Office. He made the remarks at a recent press conference held by the BOCOG on the progress of the Winter Olympic venues. He added that the subways connecting all the Beijing-based competition venues will continue to operate after the games.

Moreover, Yu said several of the venues are the first of their kind in China, like the National Alpine Skiing Center in Beijing's Yanqing District. These venues are expected to host more future high-level ice and snow sports competitions, at the same time satisfying local demand for more sports and leisure features.

Getting ready 

In addition to venue construction, preparations in terms of transportation, medical services and ecological restoration have also slid into the final phases. For instance, in Yanqing, all cableways of the National Alpine Skiing Center recently passed the safety checks.

Yanqing features two competition venues: the National Alpine Skiing Center and the National Sliding Center, both of which passed their initial assessments on July 23. The area further boasts three non-competition venues—an Olympic and Paralympic village, a registration center and an open area to stage the award ceremonies.

The cableways connecting the Olympic and Paralympic village, where athletes will live during the competitions, with various areas of the National Alpine Skiing Center, stretches over 4,800 meters. It takes only 30 minutes to travel from the Olympic and Paralympic village to the top of Mountain Xiaohaituo, where the alpine skiing center is located, by cableway.

During the games, over 200 cable cars with each one able to accommodate eight people will shuttle back and forth, transporting a maximum of 3,200 people per hour. Wu Gaosheng, a staff member of the National Alpine Skiing Center, told Beijing Evening News that these are the most advanced cable cars in the world. Every car comes with a slot for storing skis and the seats are heated in winter to provide athletes and staff members with the utmost comfort.

Of all the Winter Olympic disciplines, alpine skiing comes with the highest requirements for meteorological conditions. To meet the demands, 17 automatic weather stations have been installed at Mountain Xiaohaituo to monitor more than 10 weather elements, including wind speed, precipitation, air temperature and evaporation.

A medical service center for the Olympics and Paralympics has been set up inside the Yanqing District Hospital. A medical team made up of 58 medical workers from the hospital and 43 experts from the Peking University Third Hospital will provide athletes and coaches with their services for the duration of the games. The service center has a 210-square-meter parking apron which will be used for the transfer of patients.

Last, but not least, the ecological restoration of the Yanqing area, too, has come to a positive close. Yanqing has combined venue construction with ecological protection measures and put in every effort to make the sports venues stand in harmony with the ecosystem of Mountain Xiaohaituo.

As to the flora, Zhao Ruiyong, a landscape engineer with the Yanqing ecological restoration project, said they mostly opted for indigenous plants in reshaping the zone's surroundings. As far as the fauna goes, engineers managed to rebuild the wildlife's natural habitats by reusing waste materials. They have installed 50 artificial bird nests and 29 infrared cameras to monitor the mammals and birds on site.

(Print Edition Title: An Olympic Sprint) 

Copyedited by Elsbeth van Paridon 

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