Day: February 21, 2022

BEIJING, Feb. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — The Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics has changed winter sports “fundamentally,” International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach said on Sunday, hours before the closing ceremony of the Games.

It would leave the world with a legacy of a new global winter sports, Bach told China Media Group (CMG).

“Winter sports will fundamentally change after this Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022, with engagement of more than 300 million of Chinese people in winter sports,” he said.

“This is an amazing figure,” he added.

According to statistics by China’s National Bureau of Statistics, over 346 million Chinese people have participated in winter sports activities since Beijing’s successful bid for the Games in 2015, showing that China has fulfilled its commitment.

‘Olympics beyond political disputes’

Noting that the Games took place when the world saw “high political tensions,” Bach said that the success of the Games proved that Olympics transcends political disputes.

He told CMG what the Beijing 2022 had impressed him most was the moments when Ukrainian and Russian athletes embracing each other, when Chinese athletes offering pin signs to their American counterparts to show their hospitality, and when athletes clapping for Chinese volunteers of the Games.

“They have demonstrated the Olympic Spirit,” he said. “They have been ambassadors for friendship, understanding and peace.”

CMG coverage ‘unprecedented success’

The IOC chief also hailed CMG’s coverage of the Games through all its platforms, describing it as an “unprecedented success.”

CMG’s Beijing Winter Olympics-related coverage had achieved a total of over 48.4 billion views, according to available data as of February 17, three days before the Game’s close, a number higher than the total figures from Tokyo 2020 (hosted in 2021 due to the pandemic), which stood at 47.9 billion.

The IOC also appreciated the role CMG has played in promoting bigger understanding of the Olympics among the Chinese people, Bach said.

“CMG really managed to make the Chinese people more enthusiastic about the Games,” he said.

The IOC on Saturday awarded the Olympic Cup to the Chinese people in recognition of their support for the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games.

https://news.cgtn.com/news/2022-02-20/Bach-Winter-sports-fundamentally-changed-after-Beijing-2022-17O86wL1qKc/index.html

Video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0U_5b9KOAY

BEIJING, Feb. 20, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — The 2022 Winter Olympic Games came to a close at National Stadium in Beijing on Sunday night after over two weeks of competitions in 109 events of 15 disciplines over seven sports in the three competition zones of Beijing, Yanqing and Zhangjiakou.

Chinese President Xi Jinping attended the ceremony with International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach.

China, as the host, won a record 15 medals in total including nine golds. They ranked third on the medal table, behind Norway which set a new all-time record by securing 16 golds, and Germany that dominated the sliding competitions to pocket 12 golds.

A total of 2,871 athletes participated in the 2022 Winter Games and over 2,000 of them attended the closing ceremony. Chief director of the ceremony Zhang Yimou called the closing event a “big party” for athletes.

“The truly exceptional Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 were the beginning of a new era for global winter sport,” Bach said in his speech.

Of course, athletes wouldn’t be able to achieve their incredible performance without the support and assistance from the organizing committee. Some 27,000 volunteers have been recruited for the 2022 Winter Olympics. They were always there, ready to help every participant in the Games. Many of the delegations spoke highly of the service from the volunteers.

“They have demonstrated the Olympic Spirit. They have been ambassadors for friendship, understanding and peace,” Bach said in a previous interview with China Media Group.

As part of the tradition, the Olympic flag was lowered down in the middle of the closing ceremony, and then passed by Chen Jining, mayor of Beijing, to Bach who passed the flag to Chen’s counterparts in the Italian cities of Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Beppe Sala and Gianpietro Gedina, respectively, that will jointly host the next Winter Games dubbed as Milano-Cortina 2026.

The two representatives from the host country also made an eight-minute introductory presentation to welcome the 2026 Winter Olympics.

Bach declared the curtain dropped for Beijing 2022 at the end of his speech.

As the ceremony was coming to an end, a huge snow flake, which also carried the Winter Olympic flame, was lowered down and finally went out, marking the end of the Beijing 2022 time as well as the start of the four-year countdown for Milano-Cortina 2026.

https://news.cgtn.com/news/2022-02-20/Beijing-2022-Winter-Olympics-closing-ceremony-begins-17Ok5LgyH04/index.html

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