Groundwork for Beijing Winter Olympics underway

China 24

In five years, athletes will gather in Beijing for the Winter Olympics, following the triumph of the 2008 summer games. Preparations are already underway to get the venues ready.

CGTN’s Frances Kuo reports.

Blazing a trail for the Beijing Winter Olympics resort in nearby Hebei province, where some of the events will take place for the 2022 games. Chinese President Xi Jinping visited the site this week.

President Xi encouraged Olympic organizers to help make the games a “remarkable” event, while being practical about using resources and money and being environmentally conscious. Nearly 200 staff members been hired already to serve on the Olympic organizing committee, and construction is underway on some facilities.

In 2015, Beijing won the Olympic bid over Almaty, Kazakhstan, successfully calming concerns about whether there would be enough snow and proper infrastructure.

The fact is that it has played Olympic host before for the 2008 summer games, which earned widespread praise. The head of the International Olympic Committee said Beijing is on track to do the same this time around.

Beijing’s bid also included a pledge to encourage 300 million people to participate in winter sports ahead of the games.In that spirit, more than 100 ski resorts have been built in china in the past year or so.

The plan for the Games is for construction work to be complete by 2019, so test events can kick off in 2020. When all is said and done, a total of 25 competition and non-competition venues will be ready for the Olympic athletes.


Robert Boland discusses the Beijing Winter Olympic Games

To discuss the spotlight shinning on Beijing and it’s preparation for the Winter Olympic Games, CGTN’s Elaine Reyes spoke to Robert Boland, executive-in-residence of department of sports administration, Ohio University.