Beijing Winter Olympics 2022.
Ring, Ring, Ring, Ring.
pop quiz: the lyric above is from what song and artist? clue: yes, I know I’m one short, but add another one and get the haircut.
The Beijing Winter Olympics are finally here, the Winter Olympics in the Republic of China have begun.
The Winter Olympic Games run from 4th to 20th February and are hosted in three venues around Beijing in China. This is followed by the Paralympic Games which run from the 4th to 13th March.
Beijing is in a unique position, it is the first city to host both Summer and Winter Olympics. Several of the venues from the 2008 Summer Olympics will be re-used for the 2022 Winter Olympics. This was always part of the Beijing Organizing Committee’s Sustainability Plan.
Winter Olympics Venues.
The Beijing zone is where the Olympic cauldron burns. It will host mainly ice sports and the opening and closing ceremonies in a combination of brand new structures and existing venues.
75km North West of Beijing is the Yangqing zone. This zone will play host to the alpine skiing and the sliding events.
Zhangjiakou was an existing Chinese ski resort, around 180km from Beijing. Venues here will host many ski and snowboarding events such as freestyle, ski jumping and cross-country.
Team GB at the Winter Olympics.
For those of us from Great Britain, we are able cheer on our Olympic athletes as some are even in contention and are real medal hopes. TeamGB comprises a total of 50 athletes who are competing in 11 out of the 15 sports; alpine skiing, biathlon, bobsleigh, cross-country skiing, curling, figure skating, freestyle skiing, luge, short track speed skating, skeleton and snowboarding.
From names we know, Eve Muirhead; a member of the curling team going to her 4th Olympics, to names we don’t, James Clugnet, competing in the cross-country skiing, they’ll be someone for us to cheer for on pretty much every day of the Olympic Games.
This from a country whose infrastructure grinds to a halt when there is the merest whiff of snow in the air – how did that happen? From dry slope stars to ‘fridge kids’, Great Britain seems to foster a sense of true grit and determination to excel, even when the odds are against us.
The BBC has coverage of the Olympics and Channel 4 has the Paralympics, and as beijing is 8 hours ahead of the UK early morning TV is beckoning.
