BEIJING, February 4. /TASS/. The 24th Winter Olympic Games will begin amid unprecedented coronavirus-related epidemiological measures in China’s capital Beijing on Friday, under the slogan ‘Together for a shared future."

During the 128th IOC (the International Olympic Committee) session in Kuala Lumpur on July 31, 2015, Beijing was chosen to host the 2022 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games making the Chinese capital the first city ever to host both the Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games (in 2008) as well as the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games (in 2022). Beijing won the right to host the 2022 Olympics and Paralympics in a tight race, beating Kazakhstan’s Almaty in 2015, by chalking up 44 votes against its rival’s 40. Other contenders, including Sweden’s Stockholm, Norway’s Oslo, Ukraine’s Lvov, Spain’s Barcelona withdrew from the race either following a referendum or due to a decision made by local authorities.

A total of 109 sets of Olympic medals will be up for grabs. The program of the 2022 Winter Olympic Games includes 15 disciplines: Alpine Skiing; Biathlon; Bobsleigh; Cross-Country Skiing; Curling; Figure Skating; Freestyle Skiing; Ice Hockey; Luge; Nordic Combined; Short Track Speed Skating; Skeleton; Ski Jumping; Snowboarding; Speed Skating.

The competition began on February 3, with non-medal events in curling, women’s ice hockey and moguls.

The Olympic zone will be split in three clusters: Beijing, its suburb Yanqing and the Zhangjiakou city area.

Competition venues in the Beijing zone include facilities built for the 2008 Summer Olympics, such as the Beijing National Stadium and the Beijing National Aquatics Center (colloquially known as the Water Cube), hosting curling competitions. The Beijing National Indoor Stadium will host ice hockey competitions. Besides, snowboarding and freestyle big air facilities have been built in the area.

Zhangjiakou will host competitions in biathlon, cross-country skiing, ski jumping and Nordic combined, as well as freestyle skiing and snowboarding. The National Alpine Ski Center in Yanqing will host alpine skiing events, while the National Sliding Center will hold competitions in bobsleigh, luge and skeleton.

Omicron strain and boycott

In order to ensure efficient transportation between the three Olympic clusters, a high-speed railway was inaugurated in late December 2019. It was designed for speeds of up to 350 kmph, becoming the first of its kind in China. The cost of the project was not included into the official budget of the Games, amounting to $3.9 billion.

Seven new disciplines are debuting in Beijing - Women's Monobob, Men's and Women's Big Air (Freestyle Skiing), Mixed Team Snowboard Cross, Mixed Team Aerials, Mixed Team Short Track Relay, and Mixed Team Ski Jumping.

For the first time, athletes from Haiti and Saudi Arabia are taking part in Winter Olympics.

The novel coronavirus pandemic had a huge effect on the way the games were organized. The emergence of the new Omicron variant of the novel coronavirus led to a surge in cases and a lockdown in at least three Chinese cities.

In order to prevent the infection from spreading like wildfire during the Olympic Games, organizers introduced the concept of a ‘bio-secure bubble,’ incorporating all Olympic facilities: competition venues, the media center and Olympic villages. Nearly all inward and outward traffic is prohibited, all athletes are be required to remain inside the ‘safe zone’ for the duration of their participation, and undergo COVID-19 PCR tests on a daily basis.

Those tough measures led to calls of postponing the Games, as was the case with the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo. In January, the organizing committee decided to cancel ticket sales for the general public. Access to the grandstands will be granted only to certain categories of spectators, by invitation only. Overall, about 150,000 people living outside the ‘bubble’ will have a chance to attend Olympic events.

On December 6, 2021, the United States announced a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics over China’s alleged human rights abuses in the Xinjiang autonomous region. The decision means that no officials will accompany US athletes, who will still take part in the Games, to China. The US initiative was supported by Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada and Denmark.

In response, China slammed the US decision as a political ploy that ran counter to the Olympic Charter and vowed to take retaliatory measures.

Frontrunners still the same

The most represented team at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing will be the team from the United States boasting a total of 224 athletes on its national roster. The ROC (the Russian Olympic Committee) Team sent 212 athletes, while hosts China will be represented by 176 athletes.

President of the Russian Olympic Committee Stanislav Pozdnyakov said the ROC team is capable of finishing within the top-three in the overall medals’ standings. Russia’s medal hopes are linked to figure skating, cross-country skiing, biathlon and men’s ice hockey.

Russian speed skater Olga Fatkulina and ice hockey player Vadim Shipachyov were elected to be the ROC flagbearers.

Due to international sanctions against Russian sports, athletes from Russia are competing in the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing under the flag and logo of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) instead of the Russian national flag and state emblem. The national anthem of Russia is also under sanctions at the Olympics in China. The First Piano Concerto by Pyotr Tchaikovsky was selected to be played at awarding ceremonies for Russian Olympians in Beijing.

Russian President Vladimir Putin will attend the Olympic opening ceremony. Prior to that, he will have his first in-person meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in two years. No other contacts or public appearances are planned for the Russian leader in Beijing.