Beijing 2022 Games praised by IOC

Almost 10 months after it closed to worldwide acclaim, the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics have received more recognition from the International Olympic Committee, which acknowledged the safe and successful delivery of the event in its official final review.

The IOC Coordination Commission for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics delivered its closing report during an IOC executive board meeting on Tuesday. The winter sports gala was an inspirational success for the exceptional sporting performances it delivered and the organizers' safe and smooth staging of the Games amid the challenging circumstances of a pandemic, the report said.

The 69-page report, based on data analysis and debriefs with organizers and stakeholders, praised Beijing's sustainable practices. Shining examples that are expected to benefit the future of the Olympic Movement include reusing existing facilities — mostly 2008 Summer Games' venues — incorporating preparations for the event into urban development projects and planning for operation of the venues after the Games.

"In addition to delivering a safe and successful Games, the Beijing 2022 organizing committee's ambitious vision and promises were achieved and exceeded," Juan Antonio Samaranch, chair of the coordination commission, said while presenting the report during a virtual meeting on Tuesday.

As the Winter Games were hit by the COVID-19 outbreak midway through preparation, Chinese organizers made innovative efforts to jointly develop a "closed-loop" system with the IOC, the International Paralympic Committee, the World Health Organization and all stakeholders to ensure the Games opened on time, the report said.

Thanks to implementation of the closed loop, imported COVID cases were kept under control throughout the Games. Under the system, athletes and other essential personnel were restricted to official hotels and Games venues, and carried on designated transport services. The safety measures kept the Olympians separated from the local communities.

A feasible and vigilant set of thoughtful COVID countermeasures, despite logistical challenges, proved a major highlight of the Beijing Winter Games, said Zhang Jiandong, a vice-mayor of Beijing and executive vice-president of the organizing committee.

"We honored our promise to stage the Games on time, even facing unprecedented challenges caused by the pandemic. To successfully guarantee the safety of all participants as well as the health of the Chinese public was one of our major accomplishments," Zhang said during the online meeting.

Sustainability and the Games' legacies were other key contributors to the success of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, the report said. All Games venues were powered by renewable energy for the first time in the history of the Olympics. Five of the 26 venues needed for the Games, which were held in Beijing's northwest Yanqing district and co-host Zhangjiakou, Hebei province, were facilities that were used at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Other major legacies of Beijing 2022 include promoting winter sports participation among 346 million Chinese people in the lead-up to the Games and creating a burgeoning market for winter sports and related activities.

sunxiaochen@chinadaily.com.cn